The Odyssey's Deeper Meaning

I recently read The Odyssey in my Text and Critics class and thought it would serve as a good topic to blog about, being such an old, classic myth that contains a lot of meaning and symbolism.

Life is full struggles when we try to reach our destination. We might struggle to cross the street because the snow is too deep, or on a larger scale, getting to Europe because our flight was delayed. We also struggle with less literal objectives, such as falling in love, becoming stable, and being ultimately happy. Throughout The Odyssey, Homer uses fantastical and/or imaginative elements to describe obstacles and other events in life and portray ideas.

Odysseus is on a journey home to Ithaca. It had been ten long years since the fall of Troy and he is the only Greek hero that has not returned. He encounters many complications throughout his long journey, but there are a few specific events that are most relatable. When Odysseus reaches the island of the Cyclopes’, his cunning personality is truly revealed. He makes three major decisions that are helpful to him and his crew. First, he decides to blind, not kill, Cyclopes, as he is the only one that has the strength to move to boulder blocking the door aside. He also tells Cyclopes that his name is “Nobody” so his neighbors will not worry when he says “Nobody has hurt me”. Odysseus also uses the sheep to disguise his men. Six of twelve men are lost, but had he not been so clever, all of them would have met their doom. Homer used this event with these characters to convey the importance of intelligence and cleverness, and how it can be just as important, if not more than strength.

Odysseus later runs into two things that both deal with the same thing: temptation. First, he is given assistance by the god of wind, Aeolus, who presents to him a bag of winds, leaving out only the west wind, which will guide him home to Ithaca. He becomes within seeing distance of his land, but is betrayed by his crew, whose curiosity was too much for them to stand. They opened the bag from Aeolus and unleashed the other winds, sending the ship backwards in a violent storm. The second event that deals with temptation is the run-in with the Sirens. He plugs the crew members ears with beeswax and has them bind him to the mast. The seductive, beautiful song of the Sirens becomes so powerful that he begs the crew to release him, but they only bind him tighter.

Both these events describe the outcomes and possible outcomes of temptation. The unbearable curiosity of the crew members led to years and years of prolonging their return home, and had Odysseus not been bound to the mast, he would have given himself to the enticing Sirens. Temptation leads to horrible outcomes in reality as well. For example, cheating, spying, and simply doing exactly what we are told not to. Homer is perhaps warning us what can happen when we give into our every desire and impulse.
The last and most challenging obstacle that Odysseus faces is when he is trapped on Calypso’s island. The idea of being stuck on an island with a seductress such as Calypso, is not an uncommon occurrence when you think about it. Too often we are confronted with feelings of being “trapped” in a relationship or situation. Calypso is in love with Odysseus and will not let him leave, so he is ultimately held prisoner. Many of us are held prisoner by things that seem inviting or pleasant. For example, as a college student, I am well accustomed to procrastination. We do things that are fun and make us happy, instead of writing an essay, such as this one. One could say that we are held prisoner by the easy route, and it leads us astray from our final objectives.

Through The Odyssey, Homer teaches us things and portrays ideas or warnings in an innovative way; he writes of the hero’s journey. Instead of simply saying “do not give into temptation”, he tells a story about someone who did. Describing what someone else goes through is often a good way to get a point across because the audience may put themselves in that position. Visioning an outcome results in either wanting to pursue it or wanting to stray away from it. It these cases that I’ve discussed, he is both warning us to stray away from the mistakes made by the crew and Odysseus as well as use our brains in situations instead of going strictly by instinct.