What Is Perseverance In The Odyssey

“The Odyssey” is an epic poem written by a Greek Minstrel named Homer and it is one of the most influential pieces of literature. It is a sequel to “The Iliad” and it is about a soldier from the Greek army named Odysseus. His goal was to get back home from the Trojan War, but he has many casualties along the way that delays his trip to last 20 years. Odysseus is a mortal man that embodies traits of a hero that help him through his daunting journey. Odysseus’s journey is one of perseverance because he has to fight many dangers, both external and internal, to get back home and take back his rightful place as King of Ithaca. Odysseus, a brave soldier, is determined to progress through his journey and overcome any obstacles knowing there will be

There was much Odysseus already had to stress on, but everything changed when he visited the Land of the Dead. The trait that Odysseus has in this event is mental strength as the text states, "Then I tried to find some way of embracing my mother's ghost. Thrice I sprang towards her and tried to clasp her in my arms, but each time she flitted from my embrace as it were a dream or phantom, and being touched to the quick I said to her, 'Mother, why do you not stay still when I would embrace you? If we could throw our arms around one another we might find sad comfort in the sharing of our sorrows even in the house of Hades; does Persephone want to lay a still further load of grief upon me by mocking me with a phantom only?” (The Land of the Dead, Book 11) Hence, this shows Odysseus’ internal conflict because you could see that Odysseus’ can’t accept the fact that his mother is dead and that his home is run over by suitors. Another internal conflict in the story is in the beginning of the story when he is on the island of Ogygia with a nymph named Calypso. The conflict was that he wanted to go home to Penelope but he also liked it on the island. Furthermore, the text states “... and racked his own heart groaning, with his eyes wet.’(73-74) “... he lay with her each night, for she compelled him.”(83) Thus, this shows that he is fighting whether to stay or go. The trait he uses here is loyalty because he decides to take the raft and leave the island for Penelope. Odysseus is an epic hero who endures a lot of stress for his goal of home, but reaches it by acquiring great feats with his skills of a thinker and a