Odyssey Argumentative Essay As Christopher Columbus once said, "By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination." The journey, and how those obstacles and distractions are overcome, is what holds the valuable life lessons that help us reach the destination. Ultimately, it is not the overall goal, but the decisions we make and the turns we take during the journey that help shape and define who we are as people. In Homer's The Odyssey, the theme of the epic is about how war can change a person. It is evident that the journey is more important than the goal to the development of Odysseus's character and the theme of the epic when Odysseus learns the importance of humility, the value …show more content…
Without this, he may never have made it home or been able to defeat the suitors. After blinding the Cyclops Polyphemus, son of Poseidon, Odysseus makes a crucial mistake in revealing his identity just as he and his men are escaping from Polyphemus’s grasps. Odysseus’s men try to stop him but he “would not heed them in [his] glorying spirit” (9.969). Instead, he screams out:
‘Cyclops,
if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes’ son, whose home’s on Ithaca!’ (9.970-974)
By letting his pride get the best of him, Odysseus puts the fate of the rest of his journey in the Cyclops’ hands. The sea god Poseidon makes sure that Odysseus’s passage home is not easy. Many years later, Odysseus finds himself laying naked in the land of the Phaeacians, no longer so proud of his image. With the help of Athena, Princess Nausicaa finds him and Odysseus says to her, “So now, my lady, I stand in awe so great I cannot take your knees,” (6.491-92). The taking of knees is an act of respect and humility, showing that Odysseus desires help. By admitting that he is in need of assistance, he shows that he is learning to put his hubris aside. This is important because burying his pride is part of the reason why Odysseus is able to protect his family and defeat the suitors later on. Without …show more content…
For seven years, he is held captive on an island belonging to a beautiful nymph named Calypso. Odysseus is careless and sleeps with her all those years. Many people see him as a disloyal and terrible husband, but that is what it took to make him see how important his family was to him. Odysseus admits that “long ago the nymph had ceased to please,” (5.291). Calypso even offers him immortality, but he refuses, saying, “I long for home, long for the sight of home,” (5.328). This shows that even with Calypso’s breathtaking beauty and her tempting offer of eternal life, Odysseus realizes only his family and his home can bring him true happiness and that there is no point in living forever if he cannot be with the people he really loves. This part of his journey leads him to a new perspective on family and he becomes both a better husband and father because of