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The Hero's Journey In The Odyssey

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“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination” (Dean, BrainyQuote). Setting our sails to overcome challenges like the wind will help us attain our own destinations. “The Odyssey”, by Homer, details a hero’s journey home from the war in Troy. Odysseus, the main character, has the gods on his side, except for Poseidon. Since Poseidon is the god of the sea, Odysseus and his men, traveling by ship, are doomed from the beginning. Away from home for over two decades, suitors start invading Ithaca, in hope of marrying Odysseus’ wife, and inheriting the role as king. After losing all of his men, it is up to Odysseus to find his way home, and defeat the suitors. “The Journey” reflects on an …show more content…

In sight of home, his men open a bag of winds from the god Aeolus, thinking it contains gold and silver. Consequently, “The bad winds thus escape and blow the ships back to Aeolus’ Island” (Homer 10). Homer includes this detail to provide a challenge that Odysseus must overcome to reach Ithaca. He was within sight of home, and now must find a way to get back. Another confrontation Odysseus must best is passing by Scylla. Scylla is a six-headed monster who will take six of Odysseus’s men. If he tries to avoid her, the ship and all the men will fall into the whirlpool created by Charybdis. He comes to the decision that it is better “‘to mourn six men than lose them all, and the ship, too’” (Homer 12. 69-70 ). This time, it is the Hobson’s Choice that provides another challenge for Odysseus. He wants to make it home with all of his men, but this obstacle says he cannot. He will have to live with this burden on the rest of his journey home. However, one of the reasons why Odysseus makes it to Ithaca, his destination, is because he comes to the epiphany that he had to conquer challenges like these. He learns that overcoming the many challenges he faced was the key to reaching his beloved destination:

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