Roger Cronin
[Redacted]
9th Honors English
11 January 2019

A Literary Analysis of Character Motives in The Odyssey

The poet C. P. Cavafy writes in “Ithaka”, “Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is what you’re destined for.” This quote shows the importance of the destination during a journey, a theme featured prominently in the literary classic The Odyssey, written by ancient Greek poet Homer. The Odyssey is a Greek epic. It details Odysseus and his shipmates’ grueling ten year journey back to either homeland Ithaca after they fought and won the Trojan War. All the while Gods and Goddesses from Olympus both expedite and impede their progress home. The views expressed in “Ithaka” are similar to that of its source work, The Odyssey. The destination is more important to the character development of Odysseus because it reveals that Odysseus is a static character who repeatedly demonstrates that he is greathearted.

Odysseus’ desire for the destination reveals that he is a static character because his homeland Ithaca is the one thing keeping him determined to finish his journey to see his family again. In “Book 5: Calypso, the Sweet Nymph,” Odysseus has been held captive for seven on the island of Calypso, a goddess with the ability to enchant anyone with her almost supernatural dazzling beauty. Calypso has finally given Odysseus the choice to remain with her and be granted eternal life or to return to his family. Odysseus says, “[Calypso], . . . my [wife] . . . would seem a shade before your majesty, death . . . being unknown to you, . . . yet . . . each day I long for home” (Homer 1209). Here it is clear that Odysseus is a loving character. Despite being granted the opportunity to become immortal and wed one of the Gods, Odysseus chooses to return to his wife Penelope and to see Ithaca once again. Only one with true devotion would do that, especially considering Odysseus hasn’t seen Penelope in 17 years. Later, in “Book 12: The Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis,” Odysseus appears before the enchantress Circe after completing a trial set by her. Circe supplies Odysseus and his crew with information on the perils of the evil sirens and the two beasts Scylla and Charybdis. Odysseus says, “‘Only instruct me, goddess, if you will, how, if possible, can I pass Charybdis, or fight off Scylla when she raids my crew?’” (Homer 1233). This quote shows the devotion Odysseus has to his crew. He is faced with the difficult decision of choosing to pass over Scylla or Charybdis, both of whom will certainly take the lives of several, if not all of Odysseus’ crew. Wanting the best, he inquires further as to protect the well being of his shipmates. Many keen readers of The Odyssey are quick to point out several points in the story where Odysseus appears to be self-centered in his decisions, but it is exemplified here that Odysseus really cares about the wellbeing of everyone involved in his journey.

Critics to these views will instead suggest that the journey is more important to the character development of Odysseus because the journey changed him dynamically from an arrogant warrior to a humbled king. In “Book 9: New Coasts and Poseidon's Son,” Odysseus and his shipmates end up on an island populated by human-thirsty Cyclops. One has trapped Odysseus and his shipmates, and they must figure out which of them must kill him with a large spike they fashioned. Odysseus says, “Now came the time to toss for it: who ventured along with me? whose hand could bear to thrust and grind that spike in Cyclops’ eye . . . As luck would have it, the men I would’ve chosen won the toss . . .” (Homer 1217). This quote depicts Odysseus as prideful and almost egotistical. He is way too confident in himself and his crew’s combined effort. Without experiencing heavy-heartedness over the journey, Odysseus is quick to make brash decisions with little consideration of the potential consequences. Later in the text, this point-of-view argues that his actions are much humbler and wise because of everything experienced over his journey. However, Odysseus isn’t nearly as much of a dynamic character as this quote and the next depict him as. In “Book 16: Father and Son,” Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca and meets his son Telemachus. They are very emotional, as Telemachus never had Odysseus as a father while growing up and Odysseus never had Telemachus as a son to father. Homer writes, “Salt tears rose from the wells of longing in both men, and cries burst from both as keen and fluttering as those of the great taloned hawk, whose nestlings farmers take before they fly” (Homer 1247). This quote towards the end of the story depicts Odysseus not as a hero, but as a humble father meeting his son. Some would say that these quotes show the apparent dynamic shift in Odysseus’ character, but I would argue that both of these character traits have been with Odysseus both towards the beginning of the book and towards the end. There are many instances in the first few and the last few books where Odysseus is shown as being egotistical. In his encounter with the Cyclop Polyphemus, he was very confident in his ability. Likewise he was very cocky in thinking that he could kill dozens of suitors with only Telemachus and himself. Similarly, he’s always shown a more emotional side. Throughout the entire journey, he’s always longed for home as evident in the first two quotes used in this essay. Now that he’s finally reached the destination at the end of the epic his emotions can truly show their colors.

With this in mind, the quote “Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is what you’re destined for,” from “Ithaka” by C. P. Cavafy can be applied to The Odyssey. In the context of this poem, Ithaca can be taken to mean any end goal the reader wishes to accomplish. For Odysseus, not only is this arriving at his homeland Ithaca but also to finally see his wife once again and his son for the first time. Odysseus has kept his “Ithaca” in his mind over the course of his journey, and I believe that to be the root cause of his character development. He doesn’t change as a character from the beginning of The Odyssey to the end because his end goal never changes. As long as one constantly keeps their end goal, their “Ithaca”, in their mind, one’s journey will be much less harsh than one who strays off the path of success.