Obstacles In The Odyssey
In Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey”, the hero Odysseus faces several perils on his journey to return to Ithaca. My own life models this path, with my goal of success being hindered. I face several perils; temptation, longing and coming of age. All of these elements attempt to discourage me from ultimately achieving what I desire most.
Temptation ranks among the most classic distractions in literature and in our own lives. It continually lures focused people away from what they most desire, for most this is success or love. In “The Odyssey” the hero Odysseus encounters a group of creatures known as Lotus Eaters. The Lotus Eaters’ tactic is to give their prey the Lotus flower, which makes the person who ate it forget their greatest desire and instead wander aimlessly. This can be compared to social media in my life, as it continuously acts a distractor that normally causes me to delay work. In the case of “The Odyssey” it is much more extreme, with the person affected forgetting their quest to return home. In my life, I consider forgetting work and not being successful my greatest fear. An inability to remain focused and attentive to my work often causes …show more content…
While for Odysseus it is a driving force to return home to Ithaca, it acts as the opposite force for me. When I moved from Germany to Florida I left a lot of family members there, and the thought that I can go back any time sometimes causes me to believe that my work has no effect on my life later on. It really is strange to me that Odysseus allows his longing for Penelope to boost him while for me it weakens my ultimate goal of success. This opposite effect is interesting to follow during the circumstances. For example, if I wanted to return to Germany I would use my longing to help me get there faster and sooner. The opposite also applies, if I wanted to stay in the USA then it would naturally hinder me from giving my
Temptation ranks among the most classic distractions in literature and in our own lives. It continually lures focused people away from what they most desire, for most this is success or love. In “The Odyssey” the hero Odysseus encounters a group of creatures known as Lotus Eaters. The Lotus Eaters’ tactic is to give their prey the Lotus flower, which makes the person who ate it forget their greatest desire and instead wander aimlessly. This can be compared to social media in my life, as it continuously acts a distractor that normally causes me to delay work. In the case of “The Odyssey” it is much more extreme, with the person affected forgetting their quest to return home. In my life, I consider forgetting work and not being successful my greatest fear. An inability to remain focused and attentive to my work often causes …show more content…
While for Odysseus it is a driving force to return home to Ithaca, it acts as the opposite force for me. When I moved from Germany to Florida I left a lot of family members there, and the thought that I can go back any time sometimes causes me to believe that my work has no effect on my life later on. It really is strange to me that Odysseus allows his longing for Penelope to boost him while for me it weakens my ultimate goal of success. This opposite effect is interesting to follow during the circumstances. For example, if I wanted to return to Germany I would use my longing to help me get there faster and sooner. The opposite also applies, if I wanted to stay in the USA then it would naturally hinder me from giving my