Lofty Subject Matter

[Christina Beharry]

Book VIII Lines 487-534


This part of “The Odyssey” has the retelling of the epic battle of
Troy. Odysseus asks the bard at the feast to tell the story of how the
war was won, though he breaks down crying as the bard speaks of how he
single-handedly took over the citadel of Troy. He is remembering his
victory, and lamenting the fact that he “lost” his family once he was
captured by Calypso.

The elevated theme in the book “The Odyssey” is that of the warrior
fighting for his people. The warrior in this case is Odysseus. As the
hero of the story, Odysseus must complete the “hero’s journey”. He is
at the point in which he is trying to come home, though it hasn’t been
made easy for him, as Poseidon does not want him to return. However,
all Odysseus did, the whole point his journey was to win the war for
his people, which he did. It is an important theme presented and
allured towards throughout the entire book.