A Comparison of Homers Odysseus and Tennysons Ulysses - Essay Example

A Comparative Study Between Homer’s Odysseus & and Tennyson’s Ulysses “Ulysses is the Greek form of the name of the hero called in Latin Ulixes and later Ulysses. In Greek legend, he was king of Mhaca, one of the leading heroes on the Greek side in the Trojan War and the type of a resourceful and versatile leader. Many tales were told of his artful devices. During the war Odysseus distinguished himself not only by his prowess in the field but by his wisdom” (Grolier Inc., 1961). A Brief overview of the Plot of Homer’s Odysseus The wanderings of Odyseus after the fall of Troy make up the theme of the Odyssey. After he readied Ithaca, he discovered that during his absence, his wife, Penelope had been harassed by a hundred suitors for her hand in marriage. The shameless ones had established themselves in the royal palace. Disguised in beggar’s clothes, he made himself known only to his son, Telemachus and his loyal swineherd Eumaeus. Making his way into the palace, he was recognized by his old nurse Eurycleia who was cautioned to keep quiet about his identity. Penelope, suspecting the beggar to be her long-lost husband, organized an archery contest, promising herself in marriage to whatever suitor could bend the great bow of her husband. Only Odysseus succeeded who then turned his arrows upon the suitors whom he killed with the help of Telemachus, Eumaeus and a few trusted servants. Meanwhile Zeus sends Athena to restore peace in the land. Secure in his power and reconciled with his clan, Odysseus’ long ordeal comes to an end. Celebration in the palace is described in the following lines: “then the well-ordered hall was filled with rejoicing. The minstrel drew from his lyre and waked in all the longing for the dance. Gaily they trod a measure, men and fair-robed women till the great house around them rang with their footfalls. For Odysseus at last after long wandering had come home and every heart was glad.” (Hamilton, 1942). thematic analysis of tennyson’s “ulysses” “Ulysses” by Alfred Lord Tennyson was first written in 1833. It was published in its final form in 1842 is a poem about the famous epic hero, Ulysses (Greek Odysseus). The Ulysses in Book XI of Homer’s Odyssey is informed that after subduing the suitors of Penelope, he has to embark on a last sea voyage. The Ulysses in Canto XXVI of Dante’s Inferno is made to narrate the details of his mysterious journey. The Ulysses of Tennyson comes up with his own version. He borrows from two sources – ancient (Homer) and medieval (Dante). In this manner, he weaves a tale of social relevance to the Victorian age and also one which touches on Tennyson’s own personal life “Tennyson acknowledged a strong autobiographical context for this poem. It was written at the same period in which he was struggling with the loss of Arthur Henry Hallam and this personal context makes Tennyson’s poem a work of mourning for a dearly cherished friend. It also helps to explain its format which is the dramatic dialogue, a genre where the narrator speaks alone, creating a sense of distance between the speaker and his audience, a way of stepping back from a difficult emotional situation (Bloom, 1999). Homer’s tale of Odysseus ends on a note of gladness, hope and eagerness to resume life as before: Whereas Tennyson’s Ulysses proves to be the opposite. Homer’s story leaves off where Tennyson’s tale begins with all its sorrow and helplessness. Because the audience or addressee is implied, the speaker is never isolated. Since the audience exists in the mind of the speaker, the single voice in the dramatic monologue represents its own point of view and interpretation of the events in the narrative. The speaker, Ulysses (who is no other than Tennyson himself) is striving for a solution to a problem shared among members of a society after assuming his role as ruler. This useless existence is the opposite of that of Homer’s Odysseus who has a bright future spread out before him after reuniting with his family. The excerpt from Tennyson’s poem are personally relevant since they reveal not just less and incompleteness but an inner craving to be together with his beloved friend who has passed away. The Odysseus of Homer concludes with the hero longing for a peaceful life with his wife and son. He is tired of his erstwhile existence filled with war, action and danger but all these have changed. Odysseus is not an old man but strangely overwhelmed still with longing, “a hungry heart” to travel beyond knowledge and experience – to map out- that untravelled world –life after death, which in Dante’s account, anyone who ventured forth, had to finally suffer as punishment in the end. Homer’s Odysseus, feeling the approach of old age would no longer be ambitious, but Tennyson’s Ulysses is ambitious in the sense that he unaccountably seeks immortality. To follow knowledge “like a sinking star”. The sinking star has reference to the them of his quest. In wishing to reunite with his friend, Hallam, Ulysses expresses a death wish. In the introductory portion of the poem, Ulysses speaks to himself, dwelling on all that is lamentable with his homecoming from a previous voyage. He has lost contact over his people and even with his family. Homer’s Ulysses asserts his rightful place with his wife, Penelope and ready to fight her suitors with the aid of his son, Telemachus together with Eumaeus and a few trusted servants. Tennyson’s Ulysses feels empty and useless inside; “By this still hearth, among these barren rags/ matched with an aged wife…”. Instead, he wants to leave the world behind and seek renewal in the next. This is contrasted with his confidence and eagerness to bond again with his wife Penelope towards the conclusion in Homer’s Odyssey. When Telemachus chided his mother for holding herself aloof when her man came home after twenty years… ”’My son’, she answered, “I have no strength to move. If this is in truth Odysseus, then we tow have ways of knowing each other.” At this, Odysseus smiled and bade Telemachus to leave her alone. “We will find out each other presently”, he said” (Hamilton: 219) Although so far, contrasts have been drawn in the treatments of Odysseus according to Homer and that of Ulysses of Tennyson, one comparison may be made: the sizing-up of the character of Telemachus by the goddess Athena and that by Tennyson’s Ulysses appear to be very similar (Vlahos, 2007). “She (Athena) was exceedingly fond of Telemachus, not only because he was her dear Odysseus’ son, but because he was a sober, discreet young man, steady and prudent and dependable” (Hamilton: 205). Part II (lines 33-43) of the dramatic monologue is a direct address by Ulysses to an undefined audience, concerning his son Telemachus. His speech justifies his decision to abdicate, delegating all authority to Telemachus: “This is my son, mine own Telemachus to whom I leave the scepter and the isle.” Telemachus is well-balanced and firmly rooted in this world. (“Most blameless is he centred in the sphere”.) Telemachus is described as an ideal ruler, cautious in his decisions and who can be depended upon to treat his subjects in a just manner (“discerning to fulfill this labor by slow prudence”). He is able to evoke harmony among his people (“Thro soft degrees subdue them to the useful and the good”) Ulysses regards the amassing of experience as an endless passageway (“an arch wherethro’ gleams the untravelled world”) endlessly prodding to move onward. Ulysses no longer possesses the leadership qualities he claims his son has; nor does he hesitate to claim as much to himself or to his audience. His message is characterized by a great sense of urgency since each moment of delay will only increase the burden of time. In Part III, Ulysses addresses his fellow mariners, urging them to continue walking until they die – “Free hearts, free foreheads – you and I are old …. Death closes all, but something ere the end, Some work of noble note, may yet be done.” They are to begin a journey – a voyage toward death and that voyage is a scary discovery of the unknown, where “gloom the dark, broad seas.” Despite dark forebodings, Ulysses reasons out with his fellow mariners. First, the voyage to the next world is as unavoidable as the passage of time, “the long day wanes; the slow moon climbs, the deep. Moans sound with many voices”. Second, that the next life holds no certainty: “It may be that the gulfs will wash us down; It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles” In Ulysses’ perspective, what is to come is much more preferable than the death –in-life he is presently experiencing and that inevitably comes with old age. The theme of Tennyson’s dramatic monologue may be summed up in his advice to the battle-weary mariners: Lead a purposeful existence while remaining aware of the value of time. Time must always be regarded as a precious commodity (Norhnberg, n.d.). The message of Ulysses (or Tennyson, for that matter) is universal and applies to both the young and the old. The Significance of the “Odyssey” It is true that Odysseus distinguished himself as a warrior and as a Greek leader during the Trojan War and was instrumental in winning victory for the Greek army but ten years had elapsed since Odysseus left his island kingdom to join Menelaus and the others and he still has not reached his homeland, Ithaca. To all appearances, he was already dead. Actually he was in the clutches of the nymphy Calypso who refused to let him go. Ulysses was helpless since he had no men to help him escape. A point which cannot be disputed here is that the divinities on Mt. Olympus were responsible for enabling him to escape and continue his journey home. First of all, there is Athena, Odysseus’ staunchest ally. She vowed to act on his behalf. It was she who enlisted the aid of Telemachus whom she prepares for travel to the countries of Odysseus’ companions during the war – King Menelaus and Nestor. They inform Telemachus that his father was still alive but trapped on the island of Calypso. Zeus sent Hermes to rescue Odysseus from Calypso who in turn relented. She allowed him to build his ship and later, to leave. When this came to the knowledge of Poseidon, god of the sea, he sent a storm to destroy Odysseus in retaliation for gouging out the only eye of the Cyclops Polyphemus, Poseidon’s son. Again, Athena manages to rescue Odysseus,, but by wafting his vessel to the Kingdom of Nausicaa, the Phaecian princess. Odysseus is warmly received by the parents of the princess , the king and queen of Phaeacia when they learned that he was the famed hero of the Trojan War. They guaranteed his safe passage home to Ithaca. They prevailed upon him to regale them with stories of his exploits. Odysseus narraged to them his travel to the Land of the Lotus eaters; his battle with the Cyclops; his love encounter with the witch, Circe; his temptation by the deadly Sirens; his journey into Hades and his battle with the sea monster, Scylla. It goes without saying that Odysseus owed a debt of gratitude not ony to powerful people aside from certain nymphs (with whom he formed romantic alliances) but most especially to the Gods of Mt. Olympus (most especially Athena). Without them, probably there would not have come into being – the great narrative called the Odyssey. Odysseus did not lose his life during the Trojan War but if he did suffer as much as some of the Greeks, he suffered longer than them all. He wandered for ten years more before he finally landed on his kingdom. When he reached familiar shores, the little son he had left had grown to manhood. Twenty long years had passed since Odysseus sailed for Troy (Hamilton, 1942). “The theme of a piece is analogous to the moral of one of Aesop’s fables. The theme must simply express some conviction or belief about the way things are. Frequently, this conviction may be stated in a preposition such as Goethe offered for Homer’s great of war: the lesson of the Iliad is that on earth man must enact Hell” (Colwell: 17). It also might as well be a theme of the Odyssey. Works Cited Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia; 1996, p747-748, 2p Bloom, H., Bloom's Major Poets: Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1999, pp. 90-92. Colwell, C.C., A Student’s Guide to Literature. Simon & Schuster, Inc. 1968. Grolier Incorporated, Grolier Encyclopedia, 1961 Hamilton, E., Mythology. New York: The New American Library, 1942 Nohrnberg, J. Eight Reflections of Tennyson’s “Ulysses”, Victorian Poetry, West Virginia University Press. Vlahos, J.B., Homer's "Odyssey," Books 19 and 23: Early Recognition; A Solution to the Enigmas of Ivory and Horns, and the Test of the Bed. College Literature, Spring 2007, Vol. 34 Issue 2, p107-131, Read More