The Odyssey - The Value of Family and Home
Uploaded by Gotskillz on May 05, 2004
Homer’s The Odyssey, Linda Crew’s Children of the River, and Scott O’Dell’s Sing Down the Moon share a common implied theme, which focuses on the importance of family and home. In The Odyssey, Odysseus best demonstrates the importance of family and home. After being absent from his home and family in Ithaca for almost 20 years, he sits daily on the shores of Calypso’s island, Ogygia, “wearing out his soul with lamentation and tears” (63) because he longs to return to his home. Athena, who argues with Zeus to allow Odysseus to go home against the wishes of Poseidon tells her father Odysseus “would be happy to see as much as the smoke leaping up from his native land, and then to die” (12) knows how much he wants to be with his family again.
Odysseus further conveys the significance of his family relationships by refusing the appealing bargain of “Calypso, a radiant creature” (11), which would give him immortality under the stipulation that he must forget his family in Ithaca and stay with her for eternity. When Odysseus is set free from Calypso’s clutches by Hermes and informed that his journey to Ithaca would be a challenging one, he still chooses to depart so that he can be with his family once again. Odysseus’s homeward bound takes ten years and involves several tumultuous experiences with mortals, gods, and monsters. Odysseus saves his men from the blissful drugs of the Lotus-Eaters and the wicked enchantments of Circe. Also, he rescues them from the Laestrygonians, who were a cannibal race of giants. Odysseus led his men pass the enticing Sirens and in addition, he surpasses the six-headed monster Charybdis. He even lands on the treacherous island of Ogygia again after his ship gets wrecked all before stepping foot in Ithaca.
Not only does Odysseus battle his way through hordes of dangerous instances to reach home, he also brawls with the suitors in Ithaca to reclaim his abode. Odysseus valiantly slaughters the sinister suitors who laid siege to his house with help from his son and Athena. This was the greatest obstacle that Odysseus triumphed over so that he could be with his family once more.
Penelope repeatedly illustrates the magnitude of family like her husband Odysseus. She continues to stay faithful even during Odysseus absence because she herself knows that he is an enormous part of their family. Penelope exhibits her fidelity...