Free Essay on Homer's Odyssey: Order vs. Chaos

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Order vs. Chaos in The Odyssey

In The Odyssey, Homer portrays the reoccurring theme of order versus chaos. This theme is particularly evident within the first twelve books of The Odyssey. Homer shows the importance of instilling order where there is chaos or confusion. To eliominate chaos and regain order, a strong hero is needed along with the intelligence to find a solution to the problem. In the first twelve books of The Odyssey Homer shows the need for a cunning hero in order to restore peace where there is chaos through the suitors, the storm off the coast of Scheria, the Kyklopes, and Scylla and Charybdis.

The first and most evident example of chaos in The Odyssey is the presence of the suitors. Since Odysseus never returned form the Trojan War, many suitors who sought to marry Odysseus' wife, Penelope, were disrespecting Odysseus' house. The house was filled with the chaos that the suitors caused. They were there for so long because Penelope was resistant to remarry. While they were there, they continued to consume all of Odysseus' possessions. His wife is besieged with suitors and his entire house is threatening to fall. With the absence of their king, Odysseus, in Ithica his house was being overrun by the greedy suitors. Although order is no restored in Ithica until the end of Odysseus' journey, it is hinted at what is needed to end the confusion within the first four books, or the Telemacheia. Since Telemakhos is still too young and not fully matured enough to restore order in his father's house, it will take Odysseus' return. Even the goddess Athena recognizes the need for Odysseus' warrior strength and intelligence when she says, " bitterly you need Odysseus, then! High time he came back to engage these upstarts. I wish we saw him standing helmeted there in the doorway, holding shield and spear, looking the way he did when I first knew him. (The Odyssey, Homer, Robert Fitzgerald's translation, pp. 9)∝ The rest of the books in this section are dedicated to Odysseus' journey home so that he can restore order to his homeland and be with Penelope.

Homer also shows that a cunning hero is needed when faced with chaos in the episode where Odysseus is stuck in a storm off the coast of Scheria.

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