Odysseus Journey Home Essay Example

Dear Zeus, God of the sky and men. 

I have recently read about the situation regarding Odysseus, and whether or not he should be able to go to his home in Ithaca. After seeing and contemplating everything he had said and done throughout his time away, Odysseus should have the right to be able to go home.

When Odysseus was sent off to fight in the Trojan war, he was young and had just become a father, leaving his wife and newly born son was probably the last thing on his mind, especially because he didn’t know when he would be able to come home, or if he would. Yet Odysseus did because he had a job to do, and as a leader, he must fight for his people and his alliances. Also as a leader, he has to take care of his land; Ithaca. Odysseus has a home he must take care of and without him there any longer, his land may not be anything anymore due to the suitors who have come and are pestering his poor wife and taking his food like it is their own. From a very reliable source, I heard that Odysseus told his wife that she can remarry if he doesn’t return, but to wait till their son has a beard, which gives off the impression that if he were to live, he would try to get home before Telemachus was a man(The Odyssey movie). Odysseus knew if he wasn’t back when his son was a man that his wife would remarry for Ithaca and to feel the loneliness of her husband's “death”, and he did everything he could with the consequences of things he’d been given to get home.

Speaking of Odysseus’s wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus, he must go home to take care of them and watch Telemachus grow, even though Odysseus had been gone for so long and Telemachus is already halfway there to becoming a man, there is still much to see from him. Now I know what you’re thinking, “Didn’t Odysseus cheat on his wife, twice?” Yes, he did and he is very wrong for doing so and should get some sort of punishment, but not to the extent of not being able to go home. While talking to Alcinous, ruler of Phaeacia, Odysseus did say, “but in my heart I never gave consent. Where shall a man find sweetness to surpass his own home parents? In far lands, he shall not, though he had found a house of gold.”( lines 457-460) As you can see, Odysseus knew what he did was wrong, and no one could replace the love he has for his home and his wife. Odysseus was also sort of forced into both affairs too, for instance, when he was on Circe island, she had turned his men into animals and to get them back, Circe had made the proposition that Odysseus must sleep with her for his men to be turned back. When Odysseus was with Calypso, she wouldn’t even let him leave her island, even after he tried to, which she then seduced him until he gave in. In other words, Odysseus should be able to go home for his family, but not without some sort of revenge for his wife for being unfaithful.

Lastly, through all the punishments and grief he had received, Odysseus has always been determined to get home. When Odysseus was at sea for ten years after angering Poseidon by saying he did not need Gods because he is greater than them, throughout that time he had made sure to keep him and his men alive so that they could all go home together. Odysseus however, did taunt Polyphemus, who is Poseidon’s son about how he is smarter and greater than Polyphemus for tricking him, which made Poseidon even angrier. Yet after those things, he did pay for his consequences and got what he deserved. Odysseus’ men had also made horrible decisions throughout their journey that Odysseus had been punished for. In the book it says, “while he fought only to save his life. To bring his shipmates home. But not by will nor valor could he have saved them, for their own recklessness destroyed them.”(Lines 8-11) Not only did he pay for what his men did, but he also witnessed them die, all in front of him. The man deserves to go home and see what he knows he has left.

In conclusion, not only did Odysseus get forced to leave and battle in the war, watch all of his friends die in his hands, he was also taken away from his home and family. Although I don’t agree with the actions he had made through the years he was gone, he has owned up to his faults and had gotten what he deserves. It is only fair for him to go back to his wife and son in Ithaca. I would love to hear from you and the decisions you have made towards the man, but please take these reasons to account. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely.