Freewill In The Odyssey

In this quote from the Odyssey:
We have not yet come to the end of our trials./There is still a long, hard task for me to complete,/As the spirit of Tiresias foretold to me/On the day I went down to the house of Hades/To ask him about my companions’ return/And my own. But come to bed now,/And we’ll close our eyes in the pleasure of sleep. (Homer, 23.255-261)
Odysseus explains to his wife, Penelope, that he must leave Ithaca again to fulfill his destiny, or his fate. Odysseus’s choice to face his fate and follow the path prophesied to him shows his bravery and strength as a hero. Odysseus took every challenge the gods threw at him, including the violent Cyclops’ lair, the enchanting hold of the Sirens, and even going to the Underworld. While …show more content…
This passage is an excellent summary of the entire epic poem. In the Odyssey, it is sometimes hard to tell whether fate or freewill control Odysseus' journey. Sometimes, characters make actions using their own freewill, but this often leads to consequences. Other times, the character's fate is laid out for them, and they simply have to accept it and follow it. This is evident when Odysseus tells Penelope of his fate, prophesied to him when he went to the Underworld. It would be obvious that fate would have a great role in the epic poem, considering the Greeks strongly believed in the god’s role in their lives. Fate is also evident in other lines of the poem, such as: "So, thanks to their reckless ways, they die their deaths." This line almost shows that freewill, or a character's actions, lead to their fate. This idea of fate versus freewill is brought up in the poem many times. These passages from book 23 of the Odyssey have revealed things about Greek society and culture, and have also helped us determine the role of nature versus reason and fate versus freewill in the epic poem. From examining a short quote from Book 23,

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