Theme Of Perseverance In The Odyssey

In his journey, Odysseus persevered through various hardships and trials. His success of the venture was possible because of the heroic qualities he possessed. Whether Odysseus had been shipwrecked, involved in an argument with the gods, or even on the verge of death, he endured and finally made it home, despite any odds or lack of motivation. Odysseus emulates many of the characteristics which are crucial to an epic hero and is able to survive various wearisome and unfortunate circumstances.

When the story begins, we find Odysseus just starting his adventure home from the war against Troy. However, his arrival home had been delayed due to being held captive on an island. “The poet now tells of Odysseus who is miserable after seven years on

Evidence of this can be seen when he and his men are attempting to escape the island of Cyclopes. Odysseus came up with an escape plan which they put into action one morning. “Blinded, and sick with pain from his head wound, the master stroked each ram, then let it pass, but my men riding on the pectoral fleece the giant’s blind hands blundering never found.” Thanks to the quick and clever thinking of Odysseus, he and his crew were able to make it out of the Cyclops’s cave, safe and ready to continue with their great voyage back to their beloved home. Later, the men crossed paths with sirens who were known to lure sailors to their deaths with their singing. “You are to tie me up, tight as a splint, erect along the mast, lashed to the mast, and if I shout and beg to be untied, take more turns of the rope to muffle me,” Odysseus instructed his men. He then told them to cover their ears with wax so they couldn’t hear the sirens. Success was achieved by Odysseus’s wit once again. Without his cleverness, the men would have died out at sea, with Odysseus consequently falling just short of the “epic hero” title. Quick thinking is a crucial characteristic of epic heroes. It aided Odysseus in his journey home where his son and his wife, who he’d been loyal to for the course of the twenty years during which he had been gone, were waiting for

Qualities such as loyalty are just as crucial in the life of an epic hero, and it is clear in the story that Odysseus possesses this. Odysseus had a constant devotion to his men and their voyage back home to Ithaca. When his men tasted the Lotus, the plant which would make one “lose your hope of home,” instead of simply leaving them behind, he “drove them, all three wailing, to the ships, tied them down under their rowing benches”. Every hero still needs their friends, or in Odysseus’s case his men, to support them along their way to achieving their ambitions, whether they like to admit it or not. Odysseus recognized this and was loyal to his men, regardless of whatever sticky situation they may have found themselves in. He could have easily left his men behind and gotten along with the trip, arriving home sooner, yet he chose to stay faithful to them. Just as he stayed loyal to his men, Odysseus also remained faithful to his wife, Penelope, and son, despite being away for nearly 20 years. While Odysseus was being held captive by Calypso, he claimed that even though “she received me and loved me excessively and cared for me, never so could she win over the heart within me”. As easy as it may have been to let temptation get the best of him, Odysseus remembered his family and wife back home and continued to remain loyal to them all the way