The Hero's Journey Of Odysseus In The Odyssey

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The man of twists and turns, Odysseus travels through many life threatening journeys and comes out alive and a changed person in all of them. In the separation stage, Odysseus has to overcome two powerful forces, one that loves him and never wants him to leave and another that hates him and wants him to die. In the initiation stage, Odysseus has to explain himself in front of an entire kingdom. In the returning stage, Odysseus is welcomed home by having to kill everyone in his castle. In each of these phases Odysseus is still changing, but he changes most in the returning stage. In The Odyssey by Homer, the man of twists and turns uses the separation, the initiation, and the returning stages to demonstrate the archetype of the Hero’s Journey …show more content…
Arete and Alcinous invite Odysseus to stay for the sport tournaments that they are having. Odysseus begins to cry because the bard is singing about Odysseus and Achilles fighting in the Trojan War and hopes that no one notices. Alcinous notices him but he does not say anything about it. When the discus tournament begins Odysseus does not participate, but when Broadsea insults him he needs to prove himself. Broadsea says “Nor is he past or prime, just beaten down by too many blows” (8.158-159). Odysseus play discus and ends up setting the record. The man of twists and turns is showing his ego, that if someone says that he cannot do something he must prove them wrong and beat them. Odysseus overcomes a trial of beating the Phaeacians at their own game, but he does not overcome his unmaintainable ego. After, Alcinous and Arete invite Odysseus for a feast. At this feast the bard is singing about the love affair of Ares and Aphrodite, since Odysseus was crying at the song about the Trojan War. Towards the end of the feast, Odysseus asks the bard to sing about the Trojan War again. So the bard does what he is told and sings, then Odysseus begins to cry again. Finally the Phaeacian king asks “Did one of your kinsmen die before the walls of Troy, some brave man-a son by marriage? father by marriage?” (8.652-653). Odysseus has to explain …show more content…
Odysseus thinks that the Phaeacians left him in the middle of nowhere. He becomes very angry, and he shows a characteristic that he has previously shown. The shepherd boy is Athena, then she transforms into a beautiful lady and says, “Pallas Athena, daughter of Zeus-who always stands beside you, shields you in every exploit” (13.341-342). Now, Athena will act once again as Odysseus's supernatural aid. Then Athena tells him that he needs to dress up like a beggar, and not return home immediately. The old Odysseus would have not wanted to go along with this, he would have not listened to Athena and he would have ruined his return and Athena’s plans. After his long journey he is a changed man, so he decides to listen to Athena become a beggar. He goes to his home where Telemachus is hosting a feast with all of the suitors. When Odysseus gets there he is greeted by Telemachus and he tells him to go and beg goods from the suitors. This is a part of Athena’s plans because she wants him to test which suitors are loyal and which suitors are disloyal. When the beggar comes across Antinous things go downhill fast. Antinous says “God Forbid. Take and give to the beggar. I don’t grudge it-I’d even urge on you” (17.439-441). Antinous refuses to give anything to Odysseus and then a fight arises. The man of twists and turns has to overcome his returning
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