The Odyssey as a Quest and a Test.
The Odyssey is a quest after matrimonial blessings and a test of Odysseus' courage and endurance.
On the one hand, The Odyssey is a quest after matrimonial blessings. Odysseus is a traveling sailor who searches for the hearth, which means the blessing of home. He has a deep desire ?to see the hearth-smoke leaping upward from his own island.? Actually, the word ?hearth? appears many times in this epic and people at that time are used to swear by its name as if it is something divine. Anyway, before landing in Ithaca, Odysseus wishes to see the hearth-smoke, the sign of domestic life and matrimonial warmth.
Odysseus?s return to Ithaca represents the fulfillment of his sole wish to return to his family and to his island. When he meets the members of his family, he gradually resumes his duties towards them. When he inhales the air of Ithaca, his homeland, he feels as if he is reborn again and as if his soul is revived. He gains comfort and rest just because he returns to people and places he is familiar with.
On the other hand, The Odyssey is a test of Odysseus? amount of resolution to return home. He faces many obstacles that hinder him from fulfilling his aim of returning to his island and also to his family. Nevertheless, he shows great relentlessness and continuity and this book is a testimony of his ability of endurance and forbearing.
Odysseus went through many dangerous and difficult experiences before he gets to his home. He shows unprecedented national zest and enthusiasm when he rejects Calypso?s offer of immortality. When this nymph knows the decision of the gods, which is to speed Odysseus on his way home, she finds him weeping longing for his homeland. She tries to persuade him to stay with her and she even offers him immortality, but he refuses it and favors returning home. He replies: ? I myself know well that discreet Penelope is meaner to look at than you in beauty and stature. For she is mortal and you are immortal and know not age. But ever so I desire and long everyday to go home and see the day of my return.? Look at this gentle reply; he is a very decent and honorable man because he doesn?t want to hurt her feeling by rejecting her offer to him. His rejection proves his true commitment to returning home.
The Odyssey is an epic that favors man?s love and loyalty to his country and to his family. Despite his love of venture and his boundless curiosity of knowledge, Odysseus has a deep love for home; he has such a strange patriotic feelings and nostalgia for his homeland. With great courage and endurance, he proves his heroism by mastering all obstacles that encounter him in his home back journey. In a word, this epic emphasizes that man?s love for his country and his family is an ultimate value that is worth fulfilling.
