WORLD MYTHOLOGY-HUM 115

The Myth of Odysseus

I found the myth of Odysseus as a legendary story which appeared like an epic narrating the adventures of a person considered to be a hero. It happened to be an epic poem by the name “The Odyssey.” The epic was a popular story back in the eighth Century. Most of the ancient societies such as the Greeks were interested in the myth because they learned a lot from the themes of the myth. The main character in this narrative is Odysseus who became famous out of intelligence in the Trojan War. The roles Odysseus played in Trojan War reflected different lessons learned not only by the Greeks societies but also by several cultures around the world. Though the tale people would learn qualities such as wisdom, resourcefulness, courage, endurance, eloquence, leadership, shrewdness, and intelligence among others. That is why the name Odysseus remained to be a great hero identity in Greek mythology (Jolley 22).

The tale begins by having two parents from the Greeks known as Anticleia and Laertes who gave birth to a “clever and quick mind” child by the name Odysseus. The parents believed that their clever child imitated his famous grandfather who was a skilled chief from Peloponnese. At a young age, Odysseus is believed to develop unique characters such as courage, cunning trickster and eloquence speaker. He grew up under Greek custom and married Penelope. They got a son called Telemachos. Penelope is believed to develop intelligence and cunning character that marched his husband, Odysseus. So I think Greek mythology tried to bring out the theme of gender. The story continues mentioning how Odysseus became a good master who served his country with all heart and dedication. He became a military commander who led many battles and won. Despite other people seeing Odysseus as a proud and arrogant person, the Greek saw his distinguished character and the significant role he played in Greek society. Odysseus led the Greeks to win the victory over Troy and bring the long Trojan War to an end. Beside the Trojan War, Odysseus is believed to get involved in different episodes of wise and intelligence counseling to the Greek people (Gale 13).

Before Odysseus became a king of Ithaca, I found several ideal traits which carry the theme of heroism. The Greek trusted and made in a king due to his wisdom, courage, craftiness, and intelligence. Odysseus is also mentioned to have a spirit of adventure which I took it as “heroic cycle,” an important pattern I learned from Joseph Campbell. In the Trojan War, Odysseus had a mission to accomplish and embark a ten-year “hero’s journey” before returning home to Ithaca. As a great hero, he was to use his strength, wisdom, and courage in the adventure. It started by the day Troy a Kingdom in Paris abducted one of the wife of Menelaus, a king of Sparta from Greece. The king had seen heroism character from the king of Ithaca, Odysseus. So he asked Odysseus to go and rescue Helen, the wife of Menelaus from the hands of the Trojans. Odysseus as a legendary and intelligence warrior set out for his mission but he needed help from the Achilles the invincible warrior, Teucer the master archer and Agamemnon the lord of men. The role of Odysseus was to act as an intelligence and cunning advisor during the adventure (Jolley 43).

The recruitment of Achilles, Teucer and Agamemnon were meant to bring the Troy Kingdom down. Achilles was very reluctant to take part in the Greek expedition to Troy and his royal family took part in hiding him away so that he will not participate in the war. He came from the Island of Skyros and several kings such as Nestor, a wise king of Pylos had predicted that Achilles is one of the great warriors who can help Odysseus conquer the city of Troy. Achilles with his private army Myrmidons of Thessaly decided to accompany Odysseus to war. The second great warrior Odysseus persuaded to join him in the war was King Agamemnon. The king was not willing to leave his family and go for war. Through persuading the three kings, Achilles, Teucer and Agamemnon, I found the theme of love. King Agamemnon love his wife and son until he did not want to leave his family for war. Another incident which falls under the theme of love is when Agamemnon decided to sacrifice his daughter Iphigeneia to gods so that they can have a safe voyage to Troy. The theme of reward can be as a result of sacrifice. King Agamemnon loved his people and wanted him and his fellow warriors to accomplish their mission. I also think Odysseus left his family and to go and fight at Troy (Jolley 32).

In the “heroic cycle,” Joseph Campbell pointed out that during the hero’s journey, their hero must persevere before the achievements. The same idea was seen in the legendary story of the Odysseus. He faced a lot of challenges which include the killing of his great warrior Achilles in the war.  Before Achilles got killed in the war, he believed to have also killed one of the Trojans warrior known as Hector. But Achilles annoyed the gods by dragging the body of Hector behind his chariot instead of burying him according to their custom. There is a motive behind the actions of Achilles because it reveals the cultural practice of honoring the dead. The gods also punished those who desecrate the dead. It is also believed that some Greek warriors retreated from the battlefield and went back home. The Trojan War lasted for ten years and it is through the wise ideas of Odysseus which made them conquer the Trojans (Karduliab 23).

During the Trojan War, Odysseus proved to be intelligence and tricky when he builds a huge wooden horse which was hollow and took it to Trojan War with his soldiers. He used the wooden horse to hide his soldiers and send to Trojan as a sign of peace offering. The Trojans were happy to receive it and brought it inside the city. As the Trojans were celebrating with wine, the Greek warriors emerged from the horse and slewed a lot of Trojans and took their city. After conjuring Troy, Odysseus went on and destroyed the gods in Troy city and burned all the altars.  The gods were angry and send a fierce storm which scattered and killed some of the Greek warriors. I found the theme of nature within this incident. Fierce storms in the Greek belief was as a result of angering the gods. The theme of punishment can also be seen in this scenario. Therefore, the use of Trojan horse was an intelligent and tricky plan used by Odysseus to gain entrance of the Troy. So by entering the city which was a no go zone for many years was a great achievement to Odysseus and Greek Warriors.  Hence, the intelligence of “Trojan Horse” remained to be famous in the tales of Odysseus (Gale 16). I think the idea of creating a gigantic Trojan horse with wheels exemplified Odysseus’s craftiness which nobody had thought of in the Greek society.

After accomplishing his mission, Odysseus and his men planned to return home. The journey back to Ithaca was full of adventures. The first city they came across was the city of Cicones. Odysseus and his men attacked the city and conquered it. It again angered the gods. God Zeus send another fierce storm and wind to Odysseus and killed some of his men. The journey continued until they reach another land known as the land of the “Lotus-Eaters.” In this land, they drunk and forgot to their mission of returning home. Odysseus was wise so he knew if the enemies found his men are drunk they all will be killed. He dragged the drunk men to ships sailed to the land of Cyclops. Here they explored the land and met a giant in the caves of the Cyclops. The giant welcomed Odysseus but later on started eating his men one by one. Odysseus escaped and came to the land of Aeolus. In this land he men the king of the winds. The king gave Odysseus some wind which would help him sail to Ithaca. Odysseus failed to control the winds so his ships were dragged to Laestrygonians, a land of giants and cannibals. The Giants attacked and killed his men. He managed to escape again with his crew and landed an island which belonged to a witch. The witch stayed in the palace of Circe and through his powers he helped Odysseus to restore his men who had died back to life. This is also a good example of a crafty character of Odysseus because he later used prophet Tiresias to get access to the underworld. (Jolley 42).

From the tale, we have seen how tale Odysseus wandered for more than twenty years before he reached in Ithaca. The people of Ithaca were happy to have a celebration with Odysseus. The Greek culture allowed hospitality and celebration for their heroes. I also found it as a motif in this tale. Odysseus got a reunion with his family and lived happily. More stories emerged that Odysseus married another wife Callidice in the kingdom of Thesprotia. The several themes I found in the legendary story of Odysseus; Heroism, Love, Nature, Gender, Reward, and Punishment reflects the cultural practices found in the ancient Greek mythology. Both the themes and motifs carried the cultural implications revealed in most of the myths in ancient Greece (Daly 110).

Work Cited

Daly, Kathleen N., and Marian Rengel. Greek and Roman mythology, A to Z. Infobase Publishing, 2009.

Gale, Cengage Learning. A Study Guide for Joseph Brodsky’s” Odysseus to Telemachus”. Gale, Cengage Learning, 2016.

Jolley, Dan. Odysseus: Escaping Poseidon’s Curse [A Greek Legend]. Graphic Universe™, 2017.

Kardulias, Dianna Rhyan. “Odysseus in Ino’s Veil: Feminine Headdress and the Hero in Odyssey 5.” Transactions of the American Philological Association. Vol. 131. No. 1. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.