Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’ has been passed down for millennia, and the story is foundational for Western thought and storytelling.
What drives the poetic journey and has kept it relevant for listeners and readers is the namesake character Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithica, and his five principal virtues: Perseverance, loyalty, wisdom, piety, and justice.
The poem describes Odysseus’s journey home following his siege of Troy (utilising the clever ‘Trojan Horse’ tactic), then wandering the Mediterranean for 10 years, fighting mythical beasts, and overcoming god-sent challenges.
When the hero finally returns home, he still must face down his wife’s suitors who had been draining his wealth as well as pursuing his wife, Penelope.
The 12,109-line epic poem is credited to the legendary Greek poet Homer, and was composed some time short of 3,000 years ago.
The journey of Odysseus has been adapted to the big screen by director Christopher Nolan, and has refocussed attention on the ancient tale.
Here’s what can be learnt from the heroic Greek warrior and king.
Perseverance
The clearest trait of Odysseus from a general overview of his tale is his sheer perseverance and will to return home. He hits challenge after insurmountable challenge and never gives up, even when he has lost everything.
Odysseus left his island kingdom of Ithaca to lead his men in the Trojan War for 10 years, and the journey home cost another 10 years and the death and loss of all his crew and possessions.
Odysseus’s fleet wandered the waters until they arrived at the fortress of Lamus.
Eleven of the twelve ships were destroyed by the violent giants that inhabited the land, throwing rocks and spears down on the harboured ships. Only Odysseus’s ship escaped the island.
Odysseus didn’t let the loss hold him back. He persevered; he kept on his journey home, and he never gave up. Not when he lost his fleet, not when he lost his last crew and ship, and not when he was imprisoned for seven years; he kept struggling forward.
Knowing what Odysseus endured to get home has inspired people across millennia and many heroes after him.
Loyalty
What fueled Odysseus’s perseverance was his loyalty to his family and home. For 20 years, he fought both the obstacles and the temptations that threw him off his path.
Odysseus showed where his priorities lay at the island of the lotus eaters, where people ate the bliss-inducing, honey-sweet fruit of the lotus.
The taste of the fruit was so fine that eating it wiped away all memories of home.
Several of Odysseus’s men ate the fruit and had to be dragged back to the ships, wailing and crying. They were tied below deck because all they wanted was to return to eating the lotus fruit.
Odysseus rallied his ships off the island as soon as he found out about the dangerous temptation. He could have let his crew wallow in the blissful fruit for the rest of their lives and avoided the long journey ahead.
Instead, Odysseus led his men out, commanding, “Don’t eat that lotus! It makes you forget about home! Weigh anchors! We sail!”
On the island of the goddess Calypso, years after the ships of Odysseus had been smashed by sea and stone, the lost king made an ultimate show of loyalty by rejecting the offer of immortality.
Calypso kept Odysseus on her island alone for seven years, wishing to make him her husband. Zeus pitied him and demanded that he be let free to make his way home.
The goddess offered Odysseus immortality if he stayed on the island as her lover. He rejected her, enshrining his will to go home.
When Calypso points out that his wife, Penelope, is nothing compared to the beauty of a goddess, Odysseus acknowledges and accepts that truth.
The loyalty Odysseus shows to his family and home is beyond feelings; it’s his way of life. He stayed true to his goal through 20 gruelling years of temptation and hardship.
Wisdom
It is telling that the first description of Odysseus in the epic is the “man who survived on his wits.” He has long been an icon of the smart and savvy hero on a quest.
The forward planning and quick wittedness of Odysseus is shown spectacularly in how he saved himself and his men from the cyclops’ cave.
The leader and his band of men stumbled into the cave of the cyclops while exploring an island. The one-eyed giant owner of the cave, Polyphemus, caught them in the act of making off with his goat cheese, and closed the cave with a massive rock that Odysseus knew would be impossible for the men to move.
The cyclops asked Odysseus where his ship was, and Odysseus, suspecting a trap, lied that they were shipwrecked. The cyclops did not go looking to destroy their nearby anchored ship, and instead ate two of Odysseus’s men and fell asleep.
Odysseus’s first thought was to stab Polyphemus in the lung while he slept. The hero’s wisdom shone through when he realized it would be unwise to take out the monster at that moment, as they could not open the cave without the hulking brute. He had to come up with a way to both move the rock and defeat the cyclops.
Odysseus found a tree the cyclops had left to dry in the cave, and got to work cutting, sharpening, and hardening it in a fire. He hid the finished work before Polyphemus came back with all his sheep and goats.
Now when the monster ate two more men, Odysseus offered it a bowl of mythically strong wine he had brought from the ship.
Polyphemus drank three bowls of the delicious liquid, and became intoxicated.
While Polyphemus slept a drunk, deep sleep, Odysseus and his men used the great wooden spear to stab the giant’s eye out. Polyphemus woke up screaming.
Odysseus’s final act of genius was his plan to smuggle the men out unnoticed.
Polyphemus moved the rock and sat at the mouth of the cave, waiting blindly with his hands out to catch any man that tried to pass.
Odysseus tied his men to the belly of the rams that the ogre kept in his cave, three rams per man.
Polyphemus dumbly felt the backs of the sheep as they trotted out of the cave, carrying their human cargo undetected.
Realising he had been fooled, Polyphemus begged his father, the god Poseidon, to bring revenge on Odysseus, which caused his tragic journey home.
Piety
Odysseus displayed constant piety and respect towards the gods, and received help because of it.
Odysseus didn’t just ask the gods for assistance, he also looked to see if they approved of his plans.
The dawn before he was to slaughter the suitors ruining his house, he asked Zeus if this was what he was meant to do. He wished to have an omen to say that it was right.
Zeus heard him and instantly let loose thunder in the cloudless sky and sent an omen to Odysseus. A slave woman passing him prayed out loud that this would be the final day and meal of the suitors.
Odysseus knew at once, “They’ve wronged me, but vengeance is mine.”
After successfully stringing his great bow in a contest that none of the suitors could complete, he successfully proved his identity to Penelope.
For people of faith, Odysseus is a shining example of remembering the divine in the darkest times and respecting its power.
Justice
The Odyssey is the tale of a man delivering justice to the people invading his home.
More specifically, Odysseus, his son Telemachus, and two loyal servants killed more than 100 suitors and a dozen disloyal maids.
This is justice according to the moral code ‘xenia’, which were the Greek sacred laws between host and guest. Property owners were supposed to welcome everyone, providing food and drink to wandering beggars or traveling kings.
Guests were expected to honour their hosts, give gifts, and not impose for too long.
Breakers of xenia were believed to be punished by Zeus, king of the gods in ancient Greek mythology.
The suitors pursuing Odysseus’s wife, Penelope, were terrible guests. They stayed in his house for years, feasting daily, sleeping with the maids, and plotting to kill his son.
To the ancient Greeks, the suitors got what they deserved.
Summary
The Odyssey is a deep and foundational story that, thanks to both its captivating story and strong virtues, has outlived most civilizations.
In Ancient Greece, it was honoured with statues, in classical Europe, with brilliant paintings, and in the modern day, with film adaptations.
Throughout it all are the virtues of Odysseus, the hero king of Ithaca.
This abbreviated and slightly amended article first appeared in The Epoch Times and was attributed to Oliver Mantyk with translation by Michael Solot.
The lead image is an 18th century oil on canvas painting by Giuseppe Bottani. ‘A Fantastic Cave with Odysseus and Calypso’ painting is oil on canvas, circa 1616, painted by Jan Brueghel the Elder and Hendrick de Clerck. ‘Odysseus and Penelope’ is a painting by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein.
