Homecoming in Homer's "Odyssey"

Paper Summary:

This paper focuses on the religious significance of Odysseus' homecoming in Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey". The paper discusses how, in the context of the poem, we can understand the religious significance of the homecoming and thus realize that, for the Greeks, the homecoming is but a manifestation of the striving towards inner peace and harmony. The paper highlights the fact that homecoming is the substance of Greek religion, and that the poem is essentially a religious drama. The gods are shown with human foibles, while humans are also made out to be godlike.

From the Paper:

"The very first scene in the Odyssey in a conference among the gods, presided by Zeus and directed by his daughter Athena. It established the background to the epic, and sets the moral tone in the most forceful way possible. The guardians of morality, the gods themselves, are convening to set the moral tone. It is made clear that we are in the aftermath of the tale told in The Iliad. The Trojan fleet has been defeated, the abducted Helen has been recovered, and the Achaean warrior kings are all on their way home, to their respective kingdoms scattered across the Aegean Sea. Athena has singled out Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, for his outstanding courage and strength of character on the battlefield. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Chesterton, Gilbert Keith. Tremendous Trifles. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2004.
• Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by Augustus Taber Murray. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1966.
• Plato. Ion. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2004.

More papers on Homecoming in Homer's "Odyssey":

• Book Review # 74929 : "Aeschylus' "Agamemnon" and Homer's "Odyssey"
• Essay # 73890 : "The Odyssey"
• Analytical Essay # 54666 : "Woman of the "Odyssey"

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