Cycles Of Suffering – The True Mark Of A Homeric Hero?

Cycles of Suffering – The True Mark of a Homeric Hero?

Traditionally, in Homer’s Epic poem the Odyssey the eponymous hero Odysseus is perceived as one who’s positive qualities enable him to overcome a plethora of trials and achieve his goal of nostos – a return home. However, Odysseus’s function as the hero is not to achieve this goal but rather participate in the journey to reach nostos without ever truly finding succession. In this way, he is validated as a Homeric hero – one who is presented as destined to experience a cycle of suffering and overcoming tests, finding his only release in death. This is exemplified by the passage from Book 23 (translated into prose by Walter Shrewing), where Odysseus finally reunites with his wife Penelope,

The lines following Odysseus’s passage affirming his identity to Penelope see a distinct change of tone as he succeeds the challenge. “So he spoke. Her knees failed her, her heart melted then” (281). Penelope loses her cold façade and instead falls into an embrace with Odysseus. This imagery of affection coupled with the metaphor of her ‘melting heart’ sets the shift in tone and sees the hero rewarded for his suffering. Therefore, the challenges are depicted positively to the audience, who can interpret them as not furthering the Odysseus from his goal but as a vital part of his experience thus validating his role in the

This suffering is so intrinsic to Odysseus’s character that he describes himself as ‘bound to endure’ its cycles until death releases him. The result of this foreshadowing is the characterisation of a Homeric hero as one who needs to suffer and overcome suffering in order to actualise himself as a hero in the narrative.

The following passage that describes Odysseus’s prophesy is also incredibly reminiscent of his previous adventures. “He said I must pass through many cities, holding in my hands a balanced oar till I came to men who know nothing of the sea” (283). The distinct imagery of Odysseus travelling foreign lands over a prolonged period recalls the events of the narrative that has seen Odysseus in far off places for twenty long years up until this moment. He has to endure physical and metal tribulation, constantly striving for an unattainable end, so that his narrative