Critical Analysis of the Character of Ulysses

Ulysses is dwelling on his return home after his long and fulfilling journey through the seas and is unsatisfied with what he has returned to. He is longing for the satisfaction of sharing the adventures that he experienced after the Trojan war, however, he is disappointed when his kingdom is nothing but ungrateful. Ulysses feels disrespected when all that the kingdom wants from him is to do what he is expected to as a king. This disregards Ulysses’ wishes as this is not what he wants with his life, rejecting the status quo. He wishes for new experiences that will enhance his life, experiences that will give him the opportunity to travel and figure out what he wants. The thought of watching the world go by is daunting for Ulysses. This is shown when he says, “As though to breathe were life” meaning that just because you may be breathing, that doesn't mean you are necessarily living. To follow his passion and desire of exploring, Ulysses leaves his throne to his son, Telemachus. He feels as though Telemachus is more fit for the position than he ever will be, and will be more passionate and successful when leading the kingdom. Ulysses is aware of what Telemachus' is capable of and he believes his son has a better chance of leading the “rugged people” of Ithaca into civilization. Thus, enabling him to return to the life of adventure with his mariners, accepting the dangers and thrills of the journey.

Ulysses has spent the majority of his life working towards one goal, what he thought to believe to be his purpose in life for an extensive amount of time, returning home to be king. Throughout this journey, he realized it is not about the destination, alternatively, he found value in what it took to get there. This made him realize he did not want the destination of being king, instead his passion was an adventure. Ulysses is not the only one who believed they were destined for something greater than where they currently were. Jeff Bezos, billionaire and founder of Amazon, was not always on the entrepreneurial path. Similar to Ulysses, Bezos began his journey living as what he thought was his purpose. His entrepreneurship that lead to Amazon was not his first passion, Bezos graduated from Princeton then worked on Wall Street in a computer science field. In Jeff's case, it took a road trip rather than a journey to Ithaca, to create the concept of Amazon. Although Jeff was not as aged as Ulysses, he still only found his vocation at a later point in his life. Bezos was only 30 when he quit the job at D.E. Shaw and moved to Seattle, to open a virtual bookstore. It took the journey from NY or SA for Jeff to find his true passion. Today, people are still struggling to figure out what their purpose in life is, and sometimes one may take the wrong path to get to where they want to be. The message being conveyed is that while it may take multiple tries to get there, you should never give up, that is what Ulysses did.

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Rather than being a man that people genuinely knew, Ulysses has become a legend, he has “become a name”. Like all legends, the less important and interesting parts are usually not mentioned often, and he is expressed more as a figure rather than a human being. Although he is known as a legend, it has resulted in people forgetting the fact that he was a person in the first place; viewing him only as a king, expecting him to follow certain standards. Following the standard of “What People will think and Say”, prevents individuals of living the way they desire. The lesson learnt is that real happiness will be felt when we listen to our hearts and feelings. Life is short, so do not waste it in prioritizing other people before yourself, in terms of happiness.

Mother Teresa, an Albanian-Indian Roman Catholic nun and missionary who was honoured in the Catholic Church once said “Be happy in the moment, that's enough. Each moment is all we need, not more.” Life is about doing what makes you happy, you do not need an eternity to find it, all that matters is that you find your happiness, regardless of time, and follow whatever leads you to your happiness. That is what Ulysses desired and accomplished. Despite age, time, and responsibilities, he found out what he wanted with his life and followed through. Ulysses believes there is still honour and work to be done even at this point in his life. This is a lifestyle people spend their entire lives trying to achieve and find meaning towards. Finding what essentially completed your life was and still is a mystery today. People remain clueless about their purpose and this will remain a constant mentality when it comes to humans. To conclude, the solution to this is not to settle, Ulysses did not settle for being king because he knew that he was meant for more.