Homer’s Odyssey is a famous epic that takes the audience on a journey with a happy ending, only to be uprooted in the last book. Odysseus is the king of Ithaca who is traveling home after the Trojan War. The majority of the epic is spent on his adventures with his crew. The last two books seek the resolution that is needed. Book XXIII comes to terms with a perfect ending. However, in the last book all of these established endings seem to be changed. Odysseus is out fighting the men of the town and once again in peril, this time in his own country. This is not only shocking, but disappointing. The story spends a good length of time getting Odysseus home. There are even times when it is uncertain if he will return. The audience is rooting him to make it back to Ithaca. They are rewarded with book twenty-three, but it is all shattered by the last book. Is book twenty-four just a terrible ending or does it convey something deeper? The Odyssey is a story about coming home, or more so, the journey back there. Odysseus will not give up his pursuit of Ithaca. He feels empty and longs to be where he belongs. Readers can relate to him because he is in a circumstance he does not want to be in, much like the ones we ourselves fall into. The story stretches over different difficulties that prolong his journey. He is seen as a …show more content…
She appeared early on in the beginning and has now appeared to wrap up the story. She does this to stop the fighting before it angers Zeus. Athena, however, seemed fond of both Odysseus and Telemachus, and perhaps she stops the fight in order to allow peace in the land. Another good reason could be that she is a goddess and knows her rule will be respected. She may have exercised her power in order to stop another Trojan war that had caused so much destruction. This scene combines both of the epics together since the Iliad is all action and the Odyssey is the