Homer’s Odyssey is an epic set in 1200 BC. It begins with the victory of the Greeks, which Odysseus is part of, against the Trojans. The victory of the Trojan War which lasts 10 ten years. The next 10 years after the war, are Odysseus’s adventures and challenges to get home to Ithaca. Throughout his adventures, important life lessons are taught, many of which can be related to modern-day conflicts. The actions and decisions that Odysseus makes during the story develop conflicts. Three significant lessons from the story are resisting temptation, being humble, and following directions.
When Odysseus and his men go to the island of the Lotus Eaters they are offered the Lotus, a honeyed plant that tricks their minds into believing they never want to leave. It acts as a drug because once someone eats one they can’t stop, they are addicted. They eat the Lotus as an attempt to get away from their problems, and their exhaustion from traveling. The message is to resist temptation because drugs are only a short-term solution to a long-term problem. This could be compared with the epidemic of the use of drugs and juuling by underage teenagers. Many drink or do drugs to try to get away from problems like schoolwork, depression, or stress. When Odysseus says to the men, “…clear the beach and no one taste— the Lotus, or you lose your hope of home,” it is an example of how drugs don’t help with issues, they only make you lazy and unable to accomplish goals (Homer 214-215).
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Odysseus has problems with being humble repeatedly in the story. A specific example takes place after they won the Trojan War. The men came off victorious, believing they are invincible, getting drunk, and raping, killing, and pillaging the village of the Cicones. This adventure also teaches that all actions have consequences. No one likes someone who can’t be humble and control their ego. Instead of acting out of control, the men could have
Homer’s Odyssey is an epic set in 1200 BC. It begins with the victory of the Greeks, which Odysseus is part of, against the Trojans. The victory of the Trojan War which lasts 10 ten years. The next 10 years after the war, are Odysseus’s adventures and challenges to get home to Ithaca. Throughout his adventures, important life lessons are taught, many of which can be related to modern-day conflicts. The actions and decisions that Odysseus makes during the story develop conflicts. Three significant lessons from the story are resisting temptation, being humble, and following directions.
When Odysseus and his men go to the island of the Lotus Eaters they are offered the Lotus, a honeyed plant that tricks their minds into believing they never want to leave. It acts as a drug because once someone eats one they can’t stop, they are addicted. They eat the Lotus as an attempt to get away from their problems, and their exhaustion from traveling. The message is to resist temptation because drugs are only a short-term solution to a long-term problem. This could be compared with the epidemic of the use of drugs and juuling by underage teenagers. Many drink or do drugs to try to get away from problems like schoolwork, depression, or stress. When Odysseus says to the men, “…clear the beach and no one taste— the Lotus, or you lose your hope of home,” it is an example of how drugs don’t help with issues, they only make you lazy and unable to accomplish goals (Homer 214-215).
Odysseus has problems with being humble repeatedly in the story. A specific example takes place after they won the Trojan War. The men came off victorious, believing they are invincible, getting drunk, and raping, killing, and pillaging the village of the Cicones. This adventure also teaches that all actions have consequences. No one likes someone who can’t be humble and control their ego. Instead of acting out of control, the men could have been humble and modest, kind to the villagers who are letting the men stay on their island. But once the men act up, mainlanders come and try to kill the men. The men are forced to flee the island without some of their men because they were killed. They have to suffer the consequence of having nowhere to stay and having a loss of men because of their inappropriate actions. “Six benches were left empty in every ship— that evening when we pulled away from death,” (Homer 172-173). They grieved over the ones they lost, “…raised a cry, three times, for each poor ghost— unfleshed by the Cicones on that field” (Homer 177-178). It shows that when people aren’t humble and act uncontrolled, their actions will have consequences.
Following directions is a very consequential life skill. In The Odyssey, Odysseus’s men are told to under no circumstance touch or harm Helios’ holy cattle, for he knew that his men would be killed. This adventure also incorporates the lesson of actions have consequences. When the men listen to Eurylochus, Odysseus’s right-hand man, and kill Helios’ cattle. When they do this they anger Helios greatly and Helios wants the man to pay, he wants them dead. By not listening and not following Odysseus’s directions the men cross a god and have to give up their lives. To relate to today, an example is if a parent tells a child not to leave their side and the child wanders off to the candy counter, they could be kidnapped. When the men don’t follow the direction they have a consequence, death.
The Odyssey teaches many different life lessons with the adventures of Odysseus. Many of which can be related to today’s conflicts and can show how to overcome your challenges. The Odyssey is an extraordinary read and shows scenarios where one can use the life lessons within the poem. Resist temptation, being humble, and following directions are just three of the numerous amounts of lessons.
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