The Universal Human Story of the Fulfillment of the Plan Designed by the Gods - Literature review Example

The Odyssey: The universal human story of the fulfillment of the plan designed by the gods. The story about Odyssey has been written by several authors explaining how the gods use human beings to fulfill their powers without human understanding. It is evident that the spirit world exists and the gods exist. We owe the gods some respect and they are able to control and predict the future. All this is according to the Greek tradition which gave respect to the gods. It was mandatory that the living show respect to the dead. This aspect has been captured by Homer the author of this poem. The poem is about the Greek coastal religion and various characters have been personified as gods. For example Athena is referred in this poem as goddess, Zeus asking of gods, and Odysseus’ enemy as the god of sea Poseidon (Fagles 26). The author has also been able to use foreshadow as a means of showing the gods plan for the future. This is evident when Poisedon curses Odysseus and tells him he will wonder for 10 years before returning home and he will only return home by assistance of other people (Fagles 4). This paper is going to analyze how the gods plan the future and their desire for human fulfillment. The paper also looks at how the gods are able to guide Odysseus as he returns home in order to fulfill their wishes. This paper will also conclude that the gods are able to guide human nature to fulfill some of their wishes like when they made Odysseus to wander for 10 years before returning home. The Odysseus The poem is about Odysseus returning from home after the Trojan War. Odysseus wishes to see his son who is now 20 years old and her wife Penelope. The gods are against the idea that Odysseus position be taken away while he is still alive. Since Odysseus had failed to come home after the war it was assumed that he had died on the war and therefore suitors had lined up to take his position. Besides that the suitors were eating his wealth something that the gods did not take kindly. For this reason, the gods design the escape of Odysseus from captivity back home. The author narrates how Odysseus was always pleasing to women. His attraction to women granted him the chance to escape captivity in Phaeacian after spending7 years in captivity in Calypso’s Island (Fagles 78). The fulfillment of the universal plan of gods is seen in this part when Calypso falls deeply in love with Odysseus. While still in love she is persuaded by Hermes who is the messenger of god and also Odysseus great grandfather to free Odysseus. Hermes tells Calypso that he has been sent by Zeus because of Athena’s plea. From this it is evident that the gods are aware that Odysseus is in captivity and they are willing to negotiate for his freedom. The gods having been personified in this poem are either real and sometimes can express themselves in forms of dreams and visions. Evidence of the gods plan for human universal fulfillment of certain things in the world is when the author narrates the ordeal of Odysseus escape. After escaping Odysseus attract yet another attention of some girls who were going to the river. He pleads with them to take care of him of which they do. It is also during his stay in the new home does the gods reveal their plans. Arete and Alcinous welcomes Odysseus and encourage him to participate in pentathlon but they forgot to ask him his name (Fagles 45). During his stay in the new home the gods reveals themselves and their plans for Odysseus through the blind girl’s poems. One of the poems the girl narrates is the Demodocus Achilles while the second poem is about the love affair between Ares and Aphrodite. Both in these poems Odysseus is mentioned by the girl. It is ironical that the girl performing the poems and the listeners are not aware that the person mentioned as Odysseus is in their midst. The fulfillment of the god’s wishes is also evident when the sailors open Odysseus leather bag given to him by Aeolus the god of wind and all the winds escape from the bag. The bag that contained the wind was an assurance that Odysseus would return home safely. However, when it was opened and the wind escaped the plans of the god that Odysseus will wander for 10 years become evident. The aftermath of the wind disappearing was that their ship lost direction and they only realized that they were back to where they had come from when Ithaca came to sight (Fagles 17). We also see the fulfillment of the gods when Hermes warned Odysseus about circle who had turned all his men into swine by constantly feeding them on cheese and wine. In addition to this we also see the gods protection and leadership when it comes to Odysseus. For example, all his ships were destroyed apart from his when they entered the harbor of the Laestrygonian Island. Throughout the poem we also see the author expressing Odysseus as a religious man. He constantly consults the gods. For example, after crossing the harbor to the western edge of the world he offers a sacrifice to the dead. In addition to this Elplenor’s ghost had informed Odysseus to bury him something that he does. Besides this, the author also highlights incidences where Odysseus consults the gods. For example, Odysseus summons the spirit of the old prophet Tiresias for advice on how he can appease the gods so that he can return home safely (Fagles 32). Moreover, the author still tells us that Odysseus still met his mother’s spirit who died grieving for his son’s long absences. It is during this time that Odysseus learns about the news of the suitors back at his home. The author has been able to personify the dead and making them humans. For this reason, the author has been able to create a close connection between the spirit world and the humans. Due to this close connection it becomes easy for the spirits to fulfill their mission and plans they have in place. The journey back home after 10 years is a tough journey full of temptations. Throughout the journey we experience the god’s willingness to help Odysseus find his way back home. Under most circumstances, Odysseus ship does not suffer any wreck or destroyed but other ships belonging to his men are destroyed as a result of disobedience to the gods. Conclusion It is evident that the story of Odysseus is a fulfillment of the plan by the gods. According to the Greeks the word Odysseus means trouble. Throughout the poem Odysseus has been a subject of trouble after having been cursed and told that he will not come back home from the war and will wander for 10 years. This prophecy indeed happens and we only see Odysseus making his way back home after 10 years. For this reason, this paper concluded that this was a universal human story designed by the gods to fulfill some of their ambitions. This is evident through the constant consultation of the gods by Odysseus. Besides this, there has also been a close relationship and distance between the gods and Odysseus throughout this poem as a means of trying to fulfill the mission of the gods. This story is a success story since Odysseus comes back home and finds out that her wife Penelope has been faithful all the time he had been away and his son was still alive. Works Cited Fagles, Robert. The Odyssey translated from Homer. New York : Penguin Books, 1996. Read More