Throughout the story of The Odyssey, many themes arise and are shown in the poem. The author uses many different motifs as lessons and expresses them through different ways that relate to the setting and plot of the epic. It is seen that the theme joy of survival is a distinct topic that the plot of Odyssey by Homer is based off of.
In spite of many of the near-death experiences that occur to the characters in the epic, the theme of joy of survival is shown as a state in which they are in at certain points of the story. In the story, Odysseus experiences the joy of survival after Calypso finally lets him leave her island after being contained (and kept from his continuing his journey to reach his family). “Odysseus’ heart sang as he spread sail to the wind”(Homer 77). As a character, Odysseus shows this theme through his expression of happiness, since he is finally able to further travel home, instead of being trapped on the island, dead to the outside world and his family. This example shows how the theme of joy of survival was shown in Odyssey through the state of characters. In addition to being expressed as…show more content… For example, after Odysseus escapes the Cyclops and has begun sailing, he calls out to the monster to rub in that he was able to get away. “When we were offshore but still within earshot, I called out to the Cyclops, just to rub it in:...(138). These words from the novel show how the theme of joy of survival went to Odysseus’ head, and how they exposed his character traits to the point where it had an effect on the story, which in this case, caused Poseidon to despise him and cause other conflicts throughout the novel. This representation of the joy of survival has a direct influence on the characters and the events that occur in the
