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The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines perseverance as the continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition. In today’s society, there are so many walls and barriers that prevent humans from achieving their dreams and goals and people begin giving up. However, great poets such as Homer and famous music groups such as Mumford and Sons have used the strife of humanity to compose works that can be used to inspire and institute hope for humanity. With perseverance, there are three key aspects, struggle, loyalty, and strength. The struggle is what allows humans to learn, grow, and better themselves, the loyalty demonstrated provides motivation for success, and the personal strength allows the person to build …show more content…
By staying loyal to someone while fighting one’s troubles, the motivation for success is amplified due to the fact that one does not want to disappoint their significant person, and he committed to achieving what he must in order to succeed. With Odysseus, he remains loyal to his wife, Penelope, even though there twenty years and thousands of miles between them; however, when Odysseus encounters one of his many obstacles, he has the willpower to succeed because he wants to be home with his wife. For example, after spending seven intimate years with the lustrous goddess Calypso, Odysseus still loves his wife, and it is the thought of Penelope that keeps Odysseus going. By not returning home to Ithaca, Odysseus would not just be disappointing Penelope, he would be devastating her; therefore, Odysseus wants to get home! Equivalently in “The Cave”, there is a repeated line in which the speaker is talking to the main character and says, “And I won’t let you choke, On that noose around your neck...” In this case, with the loyalty of the speaker, the main character is given support and motivation which allows him to continue the fight for an enlightened life. The speaker’s loyalty is demonstrated with the fact that he is supporting the main character no matter what negative situation that person is in, and that the speaker won’t let the person fail even if the main character wants to give up. Loyalty
Odysseus showed loyalty when on the island of the cyclopes by getting his men out of the cave. Odysseus had his men hide under the cyclops sheep. He tied his men to the sheep so they wouldn’t fall off, which left him unable to be tied up. He was also left untied so he could untie his men once they got out. This is just one way he showed loyalty.
One of Odysseus's many qualities is determination. He remains determined throughout the entire saga to get back to his family. During Odysseus's Odyssey he encounters many obstacles, beast, god, and nature. Odysseus must get through all of these hardships before he can make it back to his family and home. On his way back Odysseus is next to Charybdis and she swallows his boat. He must holds on to the branches of a fig tree to survive, "But I clung grimly, thinking my mast and keel would come back to the surface when she spouted. And ah! How long, with what desiree, I waited! Till, at the twilight hour...the long poles at last reared from the sea"(12.560-64). Odysseus shows his determination to get home, because it would be easy for him to just let go and drown, but no Odysseus hangs on so he can see his wife again. Once he is at home he finds suitors at his house. Odysseus kills one of them and the others beg for mercy, ??Not for the whole treasure of your fathers, all you enjoy, lands, flocks, or any gold put up by others, would I hold my hand??(22.65-67). Odysseus is determined to get revenge on all of the suitors and he will not be satisfied until they are all dead. Without his strong will and determination Odysseus would not have made it through his trials. Although determination is a must for a journey such as Odysseus?s cunning is also just as essential.
While in books I-IV of Homer's Odyssey, Telemakhos has learned that perseverance and asserting himself is important when becoming a hero and he still needs to learn about the importance of managing his temper.
Loyalty, as defined in the Odyssey seems to be the constant devotion to someone, the hopefully longing of their return and victory. Homer seems to value loyalty over many of the other human traits, as Eumaeus gets not only Homer’s famous “you” but his own book as well. The swineherd is not the only character that Homer uses to show loyalty, Penelope and Telemachus show unyielding faithfulness to Odysseus throughout the epic poem; as do many other characters even gods. Homer demonstrates the value he places on loyalty through the use of these characters with their devotion to Odysseus. Through the use of these characters Homer shows the value of loyalty by their loyalty to Odysseus.
While Odysseus is trapped on Calypso’s Island, he learns that people should have hope even in their most depressing days. Calypso holds Odysseus captive for seven years and he has been eager to get home. When Zeus commands her to release him, Calypso tells Odysseus, “Here you need not grieve no more; you need not feel your life consumed here; I have pondered it, and I shall help you go” (Homer 1.91-93). Odysseus keeps hope and prays that his captivity comes to an end. Although he fears he would be there the rest of his life, he never loses the hope of getting back home and being emancipated. Another example is when Odysseus reveals himself to his wife Penelope when he finally makes it home,but she does not believe it is Odysseus standing before her. When he proves himself to her, “ her knees grew tremulous and her weak, her heart had failed her. With eyes brimming with tears she ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck, and she kissed him” (Homer 3.501-504). He learns not to lose faith from this when he notices his wife has lost her faith in his return. Penelope is willing to marry again before she realizes Odysseus is back. He learns to keep faith because he is disheartened when his wife has when she denies his presence in the manor. Calypso and Penelope both teach him the lesson of keeping faith in something.
Some people are born with it, others are not so lucky. It’s the feeling of raw bravery and a want to be the best. A way of always seeing the light even before the dawn. People often mistake it for just “never giving up”, but this is much more, almost a superpower. Perseverance is not just the optimisty of dreamers it’s knowing how to live, even when you’d rather be dead.
Odysseus has been away from home for nearly two decades and is being held captive by the Nymph Calypso. Calypso is holding Odysseus on her island for her sensational desires. Odysseus yearns to get home, it deeply saddens him that he has been away for his kingdom, home, and family. Odysseus says “Yet, it is true, each day I long for home, long for the sight of home.” (X 228-229). By this he means that he never stops thinking about home and his wife, Penelope. Ithaka is constantly on his mind. He will do anything to see his home or to touch foot on its soil. An epithet showing Odysseus’ determination is “much-enduring” (VII 107) . By Homer calling Odysseus to much-enduring he is saying Odysseus can handle anything and everything, which goes to make him extremely determined. To endure is to continue through tough times, determination is the trait that posses endurance. This endurance and yearning for home makes Odysseus
Up to this point in The Odyssey, Homer has introduced several characters, including the gods, Telemachus, Odysseus, and several more. The Gods first appear when they discuss what they should do about Odysseus’s turmoil as he attempts to get home to his wife and, now grown, son. Afterward, Athena appears to Telemachus as Mentor, an old companion of his father, Odysseus. She convinces Telemachus that he should set sail in order to find out if his father is dead or alive and also to take back control of his father’s kingdom from his mother, Penelope’s, suitors. Upon confrontation by Telemachus, Antinous, one of Penelope’s suitors, informs Telemachus of Penelope’s deception toward them. After hearing this, Telemachus continued to stand up for
Imagine having your father being ripped from your arms and hauled away to prison, and having to be someone else to help your loved ones. As all of this goes on you have to push past your limits and stay brave and strong to get through these hard times. Perseverance is steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. The book The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis is about how young Parvana continues in inconvenient times. The author reveals in The Breadwinner how Parvana shows perseverance throughout the book.
One of the major themes in the Odyssey is the idea of loyalty and the way it is portrayed in each of the characters in the poem. Penelope is positive example of loyalty, as she waited twenty years for the love of her life to return home from battle. During that time she remained faithful, even among the impatient suitors that were waiting for her. “By day I'd weave at my great and growing web-by night, by the night of the torches set besides me, I would unravel all I'd done (Homer 167 ).” Through the amount of schemes that she plotted against the suitors
Given the tough times that everyone goes through at some point in life, one might think that perseverance dies off—that perseverance is no longer a goal. But in fact, there are those that manage to look through the dark tough times and achieve a goal.
In Homer’s Odyssey Odysseus shows his yearning for adventure and that challenging himself brings him happiness through his actions not his thoughts. Even in the clutches of a raging cyclopes Odysseus’ accepts the challenge at hand and persevere through the loss of some of his men. “My name is Nohbdy,” he tells Polyphemus who is drunk from the liquor Odysseus had given him before. The giant “reeled and tumbled backward,”. He son fell asleep and the next stages of his plan fell into place. When the sharpened log was hot enough for his liking he and a few other men “bored that great eye socket,”(380). Instead of letting his men die while he cracked under the pressure Odysseus remained calm and allowed himself to think. Having achieved his goal of defeating the mighty cyclopes he rejoiced in his valiancy. Odysseus exuded happiness when most of his men got out alive. Odysseus’ habits of getting his men into seemingly inescapable predicaments continues on the island of Cersei. At the gate of the witch’s island his need for adventure takes the best of his judgement. Against the advice of Eurylochus Odysseus “rushes to save his men from the enchantress,” (387). Odysseus’ need for thrill and excitement draws him onto the island. He knows that he will suffer the same fate but makes a decision in the heat of the moment that could've made him unable to return home, but he wasn’t thinking of home, he purely wanted to get his men back. Throughout his journey Odysseus perfectly represents the bond between a man’s adventures and the challenges they bring to
book takes place in, is called to action and set in motion on his Hero
Often times in life we search for a companion, someone to share our love and life with. Odysseus and Penelope's lasting relationship is an obvious representation of love in the Odyssey. Although Odysseus is gone for twenty years he never forgets his faithful wife in Ithaca. This love helps him persevere through the many hardships that he encounters on his journey home. Penelope also exemplifies this same kind of love for Odysseus. At home in Ithaca, she stays loyal to Odysseus by unraveling his shroud and delaying her marriage to the suitors that are courting her. She always keeps the hope that her love, Odysseus, will return. Odysseus and Penelope's marriage clearly illustrates the theme of love.
If anyone wants something bad enough, there will always be a way to obtain it. One intriguing case of perseverance lies in the story of Poon Lim, who survived 133 days lost at sea; one of the longest times anyone had survived being lost at sea. During the time of World War II, Lim worked as a steward on the SS Benlomond, but the ship sank into the sea after it had been hit by a German torpedo. Lim ended up being the only survivor and spent his time adrift at sea with only limited supplies and his wits to help him survive. Nevertheless, how did one man survive at sea on a small raft alone from the time before Thanksgiving until after St. Patrick’s Day? Lim lived because he powered through his troubles and hardships. Lim luckily yet persistently found a raft with supplies, set up a rain catcher for water, made a fishing line for food, and survived everything that the world threw at him. If Lim just decided to drown due to a sense of hopelessness, fundamentally speaking, the entire course of history would have changed, and he would not have become what people remember of him now if he did not persevere. Perseverance gives willpower to the frail, so that hope can be born inside of them and gives them what they need to make an influential mark as a human