Comparing Homer's Odysseus and Tennyson's Ulysses
Homer's Odyssey depicts the life of a middle-aged, while Tennyson's "Ulysses" describes Ulysses as an old man. The character's role in his son's life shifts. With maturity, Telemachus does not require as much guidance from his father. However, time does not alter the caring fellowship the man has with his crew, nor the willpower that he possesses in achieving his goals.
While Odysseus and his son are united and face the world together, Ulysses sees himself and his son as two different people living separate lives. When he returns, Odysseus has a close, personal relationship with his son; he becomes Telemachus' mentor. Odysseus realizes Telemachus' resemblance to himself - both are noble men of action who value justice. Together, they devise a plan to avenge the arrogant suitors who have abused their household for the past three years. Finally, "he [Odysseus] found the whole company lying in heaps in the blood and dust..." (Homer, 22.383). Father and son are victorious together. Conversely, as Ulysses ages, he and his son are disunited. Ulysses is confident that he has trained his son to be a benevolent ruler. He praises Telemachus's patience, gentleness, and prudence - all outstanding qualities that he is lacking. Ulysses acknowledges that he and his son are opposite people. He is adventurous, while Telemachus is sedate. "He works his work, I mine" (Tennyson, Line 43) suggests acceptance of a destiny; the father and son must lead separate lives because of their differences. Despite changing roles the man plays in Telemachus' life, he successfully raises his son to become a respectable leader.
Although the father-son relationship differs, Ody...
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...old age or barriers, he will always strive to fulfill his goals. The experiences of Odysseus and Ulysses are tributes to the power of the human spirit; one can achieve much if they are determined.
Odysseus and Ulysses have differences, but also similarities. The man's role in his son's life shifts once Telemachus matures. However, Odysseus and Ulysses portray similar characteristics - their love for their crew and their determination in achieving goals. The man is a born leader; he shows leadership in raising his son, caring for his crew, and ultimately, in taking charge of his life. The poets acclaim men who have direction in life to strive and attain goals.
Works Cited
Homer. Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Vintage, 1961.
Tennyson, Alfred. "Ulysses." The Norton Introduction to Literature. Eds. Jerome Beaty and J. Paul Hunter. 7th ed.
Odysseus and Ullysseus Everett McGill are similar characters because of their perseverance, cleverness, and their leadership abilities. In The Odyssey, Odysseus portrays an important trait to the story, perseverance. His perseverance really stands out as something that he has and always will have. On his long journey home, he never gives up and just stays where he is, no matter how tempting.
“O muse! Sing in me, and through me tell the story...Of that man skilled in all the ways of contending...A wanderer, harried for years on end…” (Homer). These are the opening words of The Odyssey. This is also in the opening scene of O Brother Where Art Thou?. O Brother is a reception of the revered story of Odysseus’ journey with a bit of a twist. The works have similarities that only a person well informed of the Odyssey could see. The Odyssey and O Brother highlight the trials of the main character’s journeys. While the Odyssey was written in the eighth century, O Brother is set during the 1930s in the deep south. Each of the trials that the characters face is supposed to make them quit their journey, but they proceed with greater determination.
He also finds something he least expected: his father alive and well. Telemachus is overjoyed to see Odysseus, the man who could not be there to help him grow into a man. Even though he did not have a father, though. Telemachus has grown up in a very short amount of time due to his faith in the gods and the help of Athena. Together, Odysseus and Telemachus come up with a plan to take revenge on the suitors by killing them. One part of this plan was to make sure that the suitors did not get any weapons by closing the door to the room in Odysseus’ house where weapons were stored. Telemachus, however, accidentally leaves the door open. He shows his maturity in this situation by telling his father that he had left the door open, rather than keeping quiet about it. A real man will always confess his mistakes. Then, Odysseus set to work on taking vengeance against the suitors, and Telemachus, with his new-found courage, helped
In Odyssey, Homer creates a parallel between Odysseus and Telemachos, father and son. The two are compared in the poem from every aspect. One parallel was the quest of Telemachos, in correlation with the journey of his father. In this, Odysseus is developed from a childish, passive, and untested boy, to a young man preparing to stand by his father's side. This is directly connected to the voyage of Odysseus, in that they both lead to the same finale, and are both stepping-stones towards wisdom, manhood, and scholarship.
At some point in their life, many people experience feelings of inadequacy or uncertainty. In “The Odyssey” by Homer, one of the main characters Telemachus experiences both of these feelings. He feels that he is not good enough, especially compared to his father, Odysseus, who many people refer to as a great leader. In the beginning of “The Odyssey”, Telemachus’ home has been taken over by suitors, each with the goal of winning over his mother, in hopes to marry her and become king. Telemachus is not fond of these men in his home, but does not have the confidence to get rid of them. Lastly, at this point in the story, Odysseus, Telemachus’ father, has been gone for approximately twenty years, most of Telemachus’ life. Telemachus has been
Telemachus demonstrates his new maturity when he explains his plan if he discovers his father is dead. “I can come back to my own dear country/ and raise a mound for him, and burn his gear,/ with all the funeral honors that benefit him,/ and give my mother a husband”(2.231-234). Telemachus changes because of the responsibility that he is taking on and the mature decision that he is prepared to make. Telemachus also exemplifies this step into manhood when he acknowledges that he must find a way to overcome his obstacle of the suitors. He takes on the quest to find his father, which is important to him. If he fails to fulfill his responsibility to his mother, he has to face the consequences of losing her to one of the suitors. Telemachus maturely discusses his request of the suitors’ departure with the main suitor. “After the death of King Odysseus./All I insist on is that I rule over our house/ and rule the slaves that my father won for me”(1.447-449). Telemachus is calmly asks if he can take responsibility for the house if his father is dead. His ability to discuss his problems instead of resorting to immediate violence indicates he is changing. His readiness and persistence after he is denied is
In Homer’s The Odyssey, the main character, Odysseus, is stranded at sea after the Trojan War. He must overcome many obstacles in order to reach his home, Ithaca. Throughout the book, we see the many admirable qualities that Odysseus possesses that makes him such an influential literary character: among them being cleverness and loyalty. However, every hero also has his weaknesses, and Odysseus’s main weakness is his pride. We can learn how to live our life from a hero’s good traits and bad traits
In The Odyssey, Homer highlights the character development of Telemahkos, the son of Odysseus. In the beginning of the book, Telemahkos is described as, “...for he, too, /was sitting there unhappy among the suitors,/ a boy, daydreaming.” (1, 144-146) He doesn’t know much about his identity, and doubts that he is the son of the great Odysseus. With some help from Athena, by the end of the book Telemahkos is sure of who he is, and takes pride in knowing that he is the son of Odysseus. When given a challenge, Telemahkos is able to thrive and prove he is strong, brave, and a leader.
The Hero’s Journey is never an easy one. This particular journey, as detailed in Homer’s The Odyssey, is one of struggle, loss, heartache, pain, growth and triumph. It is comprised of many steps that Odysseus has to overcome and battle through in order to achieve his final goal of reaching his home and his loved ones. From the Call to Adventure to the Freedom or Gift of living, Odysseus conquered them all. The story begins in the middle of the story, as many of the oral Greek traditions did, with the Journey of Telemachus to find his father. Although Telemachus has not yet met his father, it is almost as if they are journeying together, where the end of both of their journeys results in being reunited. Telemachus journeys from being a boy to becoming a man, while out in the sea Odysseus is battling Poseidon to return to the home that wife that he loves and the home he has left behind.
Over their travels in the epic The Odyssey, both Odysseus’ and his son Telemachus’ adventures were parallel but at the same time different. These travels led them both to grow and change drastically, and both learned some very important life lessons over the course of this epic.
The reader first finds the character of Telemachus sitting among the suitors in his father’s palace. This seemingly unimportant detail yields information regarding his temperament. The suitors, whom Homer portrays as malicious usurpers, continue to take advantage of Telemachus’ hospitality. Instead of defending his home, his mother, and his belongings from these men, Telemachus numbers among them. This lack of assertiveness displays his frailty and his helplessness given the overwhelming circumstances. At this point, Athena, disguised as Odysseus’ old friend Mentes, visits Telemachus in order to “inspire his heart with courage” (I.105). The two share a meal and engage in a lengthy conversation. The goddess discusses how Telemachus should handle the troublesome suitors and suggests a journey to try to ascertain the whereabouts of Odysseus. The conversation appears to immediately galvanize the young man’s resolve. In fact, immediately after her departure, he summons the courage to confront the suitors, demanding that they are to leave his house at once. The assertiveness that Telemachus displays in this instance is a dramatic departure from ...
Prince Telemachus of Ithaca was living in a world of greed and disrespect during his father's twenty-year hiatus. His father, King Odysseus, had set off to fight along with fellow Greeks in the Trojan War. After the war, all the Greeks who did not perish during the battles had made it back to their homelands, with the exception of Odysseus. During this time suitors had taken over Odysseus' palace and were courting his wife. It was time for Telemachus to take action against the crude suitors and become a mature adult. In "The Odyssey" by Homer, a young prince sets off to learn news about his father. At the same time Telemachus meets influential people who introduce him to a whole new world, which propels him to become a mature and respected individual.
...sniveling coward who would faint at the sight of blood, or worse yet, a traitor who would warn the suitors of Odysseus' plans. Apparently, Odysseus believes that since Telemachus was his son that was a good enough reason to trust him. (jackhdavid)” This quote shows how that even though Telemachus didn’t know his father, right when he found out who he was, he loved him automatically like if he knew him for years and stood by his side to do anything he needed to make Ithaca better for his family and his people. This father-son relationship is different than any other, they actually spend more time apart than they do together, and it is through distance that they develop respect and love for one another.
In the Odyssey, Telemachus, son of great hero Odysseus, who grows up in the world of greed and disrespect where the suitors take over his palace and court his mother, is one of the most significant character throughout the whole epic. His father, Odysseus, leaving the land Ithaca for 20 years, is the only warrior alive in Trojan war who hasn’t make his return home. During Telemachus’ expedition to search for the news of his father, he is under a process of maturation from the beginning in which he is mere a shadow of his father to the end in which he becomes more and more like him in terms of initiative, sensitivity and socialization.
middle of paper ... ... In Homer’s Odyssey, both Odysseus and his son Telemachus embark on long, difficult journeys; Odysseus trying to return from Troy to his home in Ithaca, escaping Calypso and the island of Ogygia, and Telemachus from Ithaca to Pylos and Sparta in search of his lost father. While The Odyssey tells of the courage both men demonstrate during their respective travels, their quests are the results of the intentions and desires of gods. Odysseus is trapped in exile on Ogygia by the will of Poseidon, whose anger Odysseus attracts when he blinds the Cyclops Polyphemus, son of Poseidon, and by the love of Calypso, who wishes to make Odysseus her husband.