Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Through A Glass Darkly: Or Why Odysseus is Me
Did you ever have an experience in which you really, really wanted to see or hear something but knew it would be a bad idea? Or perhaps you were "starving" but the only food available was "forbidden fruit"? Did you ever have a dilemma in life's journey in which either choice involved a serious cost? Did you ever enjoy a good time so much that you lost track of time and one year had already passed you by (as in Humanities class)? In what ways can Odysseus' journey and the obstacles he faces and overcomes be a metaphor for life?
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Odysseus’ journey is a metaphor for life in several different ways. The Odyssey shows that often people have problems with resisting temptation, and this causes their downfall. For example, Odysseus had to literally tie himself to his ship in order to keep himself away from the temptation caused by the Sirens. He is also tempted by his curiosity of every island that contributes to why he is so late coming home. This is very similar to Adam and Eve in that they were tempted by their curiosity of the fruit of the tree. One often hears the saying, “Curiosity killed the cat,” and in this case, Odysseus was curious and was tempted to know why. He was tempted to hold knowledge. Even today, many people try things because they are curious, and they want to quench their thirst for knowledge of what would happen if they did do something. Furthermore, the Odyssey is a metaphor for life because so many years go by too fast. I’m sure we have all heard that saying “Time flies when you’re having fun.” This is the same situation with Odyssey in that he is having so much fun; he doesn’t even realize that life is flashing by his eyes.
ReplyDeleteIn life, it is impossible to avoid situations like these where you are faced with a temptation that could save your life. Also, it is in human nature to be curious, and if someone in charge tells you that you can't have something without telling you why, of course you want to find out. In this scenario, common sense is a huge factor. Do I follow this advice because I trust the advice giver? Or do I rebel and think for myself and take what I want? This dilemma has tortured humans even from the days of Adam and Eve. Without debating this exact point, it is arguably G-d's fault for not specifying why Adam and Eve should not eat of the tree of Knowledge. Had he done so, then the people would have known exactly why it was not a good idea to eat of the tree. In the same sense, if G-d had given them a bad reason, or even just the consequences instead of reasons, Adam and Eve may not have listened to the snake. In the end, it is all about incentives to do what is right. If whoever is doing the warning provides sufficient reasons or reprisals for a certain action, then those being warned will heed their warning and avoid whatever it is that has been deemed hazardous.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with you Becca that this epic is a metaphor for temptation and curiosity but I would also say that this book relates to the idea that you will never know were your life will take you and were you will end up and i would say the Odysseus is the ideal example of this because i would think that he did not expect to go to all of the different islands that he went to and that he did not expect to loose all of his men on his journey home. I would say that this would be a metaphor for life can to you anywhere. I would also agree that time flies when your are having fun but i would say the Odysseus is not having fun on his journey home. I would also say that this is a metaphor for having some bumps in the road because each time Odysseus stops or has some of his men die that would be a bump in the road or a wall being placed in front of you and having to climb over the wall.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have wanted to do something even though I knew the outcome was would be bad. Not only did I want to do something, I did do something like that, even if the outcome wasn’t really bad. For example, I sometimes wait until the last day to finish off a project. I knew that this would bad enough because I would be really tired the next day and I may have skipped over some mistakes. I had never felt that I was truly starving, and never had a dilemma in life's journey in which either choice involved a serious cost, or not serious enough in which the problem was not future depending or could not be fixed. I had enjoyed a good time so much that I lost track of time and some hours went by, but not one year. Odysseus and his crew could answer the questions in this blog as yes. Odysseus wanted to hear the sirens, and did, although the outcome was not bad since the crew tied Odysseus up tight enough and restrained from freeing him. The crew members were “starving” and ate the cows of Helios, which were forbidden, while Odysseus was able to refrain from hurting anything. Odysseus had to make a decision between Scylla and Charybdis in which either choice involved a serious cost, the death of his men. Odysseus and his crew had a great time at Circe’s place and a whole year past by. The metaphor of life Odysseus and his crew shows us is that even when there is a problem or an obstacle, one must overcome it in order to get to the next stage of life.
ReplyDeleteOdysseus' journey is a metaphor for greed and the wanting to have a reputation in life. Just like people these days Odysseus makes sure that when he does something he recieves credit for it. Or when someone else jumps he has to prove he can jump higher. Just like many people's realities. Its that whole " I can do anything better than you" concept. Some take that expression and go very far with it, pushing everything to the limit until they are victorious.
ReplyDeleteAnother idea of life the book presents is dont give up, you make mistakes, you will suffer, but dont give up. That is something people are told constantly. It is a given that you are going to make mistakes. The challenge is whether you can continue on or fix them or if you're going to give up. Thats where you have to make a choice. And in the book, Odysseus sometimes makes the wrong decision but he keeps going and ends up home. At the end of the day, like Odysseus, you most likely determine your own destiny.
Being crippled by the unfortunate aftermath of a near sited decision is certainly a situation many can relate to. I certainly have made a bad decision and had to live with the reprucussions, just like everyone else. Odysseus' case is a more blown up form of that pattern. Perhaps this is what made Homer's stories so captivating. He took real life situations we all deal with, and made them epic, made a valliant hero struggle on a larger scale with our same problems. I believe that subconciously people are drawn to his stories because they relate to people's problems. Homer not only relates them, but makes a hero, someone exhibiting all of the most important greek values, struggle with them as well. This makes people feel better about themselves, believing that someone so great as Odysseus could also be so obstructed by the ripples created from a bad decision.
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