The Odyssey final essay PDF

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The Odyssey

Alexander Pham Great Books Seminar 1 28 September 2016

In the following section of The Odyssey, a theme that stuck out to me was the idea of family bond and love. Through the event of Odysseus freaking out about the bed being moved, this triggered him to act out of place, which made Penelope know that it was him. After she had discovered that Odysseus finally returned, they sat down and had a conversation in which both of them caught up. Soon after, Odysseus decides to go visit his father, Laertes. At first glance, Odysseus sees his father gardening and does not confront him as his son. He continues to disguise himself from his father as they continue to talk. It wasn’t until the started talking that his father, Laertes, reveals to him that he has missed his son and begins to cry and put dirt over his head that Odysseus finally reveals himself to his father. His father was at first astonished by the fact that his son was right in front of him that he did not believe. However, Odysseus reassures him by showing him the boar scar that he had received as a kid when he was attacked. Even after the period of time of separation, the love and family bond that these two shared were remarkable. Nothing can stop the love between a father and a son. In the end, peace was the ultimate ending. One quote that particular stuck out to me was the following, “he spoke, and the black cloud of sorrow closed on Laertes. In both hands he caught up the grimy dust and poured it over his face and grizzled head, groaning incessantly. The spirit rose up in Odysseus, and now in his nostrils there was a shock of bitter force as he looked on his father. He sprang to him and embraced him and kissed him” (24: 315-319). The following quote describes the very last scene where Odysseus sees his father gardening as stated before and approaches him in disguise. After brief conversation, he finally reveals his identity. When this happens the burst of emotion from both of the characters is displayed in the following quote. Odysseus bursts into tears as he finally reaches out to his father, gives him a hug and starts to cry. His father has the same impact due to

the time separated from his son. His father was also very distressed because he having a grown up son was pretty much the only social security that the people had for most of human history. This idea of a family bond and love ties into all times of life because it is relevant. A bond between any family member is unbreakable. In this case, it was the relationship between a father and a son. For example, I have been in college and have not been home to Texas for about 4 weeks, and this brief separation has already been quite hard even though I didn’t think it would be. The idea of being away from hard was hard but I never thought I would be this homesick. When Odysseus sees his father, he bursts into tears because he sees how much stress he has put his father through. As a son, all we want to do is to make our parents proud, and that was apart of Odysseus mindset, but along the way many distractions put him on the wrong road. Overall, the idea of family ties and love is apparent across any time period....