The Importance Of Perseverance In 'Odyssey And The Cave'

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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

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