Lessons Learned from a Journey
Nathan A. Kirkpatrick
whether the journey is more important than the destination. Obviously,
for Odysseus, his journey would not exist if not for trying to return
home.
Yet before he can accomplish this, he must change as he enjoys two
extremes of existence on his journey. For each time that Odysseus must
chose to leave a place where he is enjoying a privileged existence
(almost exclusively alongside a female god), it is then followed by a
period of dark isolation. The "dark isolation" is best captured during
his descent to Hades, yet Odysseus must find some reason within
himself to justify his attempts to return to Ithaca.
It is thought that the growth one undergoes during tribulations will
make them stronger in the end. This idea of learning from experience
and putting the lessons learned to good use is an idea that is very
prevalent in our modern society. Yet did the Greeks feel the same?
When the epic ends, the audience is not able to see how Odysseus'
changes will benefit his regular, day-to-day life.
The lessons of "denying oneself" must not be very important if
Odysseus could discard them upon his arrival. During the journey, he
must change his actions and mindset if he is to return home. Penelope
refers to him as a "strange man" upon the revelation of his true
identity. It is commonly accepted that war will change people, and
upon reading the Odyssey, equally clear that a tumultuous journey will
change a person. It could be possible that the Greeks embraced both of
these ideas and realized that attempting to show the ways that a
journey would change one's life would be a story until itself. Alas,
there is no Homeric tale to describe King Odysseus after his return to
Ithaca, yet the story still ends on the note that something has been
learned, and that even the most cunning man alive has things yet to
learn.