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The Gods And Goddesses In Bernard Evslin's 'Ulysses'

456 Words2 Pages

Isabella Gritz - Period 2 Mrs. Shea
3/8/23

Help or hinder Essay

Have you ever wondered what your life would be like without certain people or actions? In the book The Adventures of Ulysses by Bernard Evslin, the main character Ulysses conquers Troy and has a journey home to Ithaca, where he has many experiences with gods and goddesses that affect his life in good and bad ways. In this essay, I will put forward the claim that the gods and goddesses play essential roles in The Adventures of Ulysses and often intervene in Ulysses’ journey and either help or hinder him. For instance, the goddess Athene assisted his journey back home by telling Poseiden that a ship coming from Ithaca is Telemachus when, in reality, the ship is a bunch of suitors. Poseidon wound a thick black mist around the ship, causing the suitors trouble while Telemachus sailed past them. She also helps Ulysses' journey by changing herself into a young swineherd and hailing Telemachus, telling him, "Greetings, my lord." "I am sent by your servant, Eumaeus; they beg you to come to his hut before you go to the castle. He has important news to tell." If she didn’t do that, Ulysses' whole plan would have never been accomplished, and Ulysses wouldn’t have seen his son. But, not all of the gods affected Ulysses' journey positively.
A god that negatively affected Ulysses' journey …show more content…

But, even though Poseidon was portrayed as an antagonist, he also ends up helping Ulysses unintentionally like in the chapter The Return, “The suitors’ ship lay helpless in the mist, and Telemachus, sailing past them, ignorant of the danger, put into a part and disembarked.” In this part of the story, Poseidon thought he was causing Telemachus trouble but really, he was causing the suitors trouble which in the end, helped Ulysses. So as you can see, the gods in this book didn’t just help Ulysses, they also hurt

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