What Is Following The Elements Of The Odyssey Hero's Journey

Journal Entry 1

Prompt:

Based on our reading of The Odyssey, the movie, and class discussion, explain how The Odyssey is following the elements of the Hero’s Journey.

From the beginning of the movie, we can see the first element of the Hero’s Journey through the Separation (call to adventure, refusal, enter the mentor). Odysseus call to adventure comes into play when the Greeks come to him to report that Greece was at war with Troy, or modern day Turkey in Asia Minor. The country as a whole comes together to form a massive army and sends 2 kings, King Nestor and King Menelaus, to fetch King Odysseus of Ithaca. However, the day the Greeks bring Odysseus the news of war is the same day his son Telemachus was born, making him reluctant

Which god helped Odysseus throughout his journey and how?

There were a few god that helped Odysseus throughout his 20 year journey, such as Hermes, who gave Odysseus advice on how to avoid the witch Circe’s spell, and Aeolus, who gave Odysseus the troublesome winds of the west so that he could sail to Ithaca without the threat of Poseidon. However, the one who was with him the entire time was the goddess of wisdom and war, and his mentor, Athena. She had always taken favor to Odysseus, claiming that he was the smartest man alive and that he could even outsmart one of the gods someday. Athena protected Odysseus from the wrath of Poseidon and his traps, like Circe, Scylla, Charybdis, Helios, and convinced the Zeus to force Calypso to free Odysseus from her island. Athena told Odysseus’ son, Tiresias, to go to Sparta to speak to the King and find news of his father. Athena was the protector and mentor to Odysseus when he was fighting Troy for 10 years and for the 10 years after when Poseidon was plotting against him. She also protected him against the cyclops Polyphemos. Athena protected Odysseus throughout the 20 years during his absence from Ithaca by persuading the gods and demigods in Odysseus

His strengths were many, such as his literal strength, such as physical, which enabled him to fight for so long at Troy and the 10 years after whilst he was trying to reach Ithaca. Other strengths included his mental strength, which helped him outsmart the cyclops Polyphemos and escape his island. Odysseus’ weaknesses, however, proved to take position over his strengths at times. An example of this is when he stayed with the witch Circe for 5 years and slept with her during his stay, even after the original plan for his men’s physical release form their animal form was over. Odysseus’ physical desires took over for those 5 years, and again on Calypso’s island 3 years later. However, his mental strength may have been the greatest strength that he possessed at the time; it helped him outsmart and overcome certain obstacles over the 20 years that he was gone. Troy is a good example of this. At Troy, Odysseus came up with the idea for the Trojan Horse, which would ultimately aid the Greek army in finally defeating the Trojans. On Polyphemos’ island, Odysseus outsmarted the cyclops by giving him a false name and spearing the giant in his eye using a log that he carved into a