Essay on Homers Odyssey: Foreshadowing the Homecoming -- Homer Odysse

The Odyssey  Foreshadowing the Homecoming   The majority of the Odyssey is an account of Odysseus adventures trying to reach his homeland of Ithaka. Several of these adventures are false homecomings, the most prominent of which is his imprisonment on Kalypsos island. This false homecoming is strikingly different from what one would expect of Odysseus real homecoming, but similar enough for parallels to be drawn between the two. homer uses this false homecoming to forecast Odysseus true homecoming. Throughout the Odyssey, homing pigeon presents the reader with certain clues about what Odysseus feels his homecoming should (but not neccessarily will) be like. First of all, Odysseus wants to return to Ithaka. kor goes as far as having Odysseus describe Ithaka There is a mountain there that stands tall, leaf-trembling Neritos, and there are islands settled around it, lying one truly close to another. There is Doulichion and Same, wooded Zakynthos, but my island lies low and away, last of all on the water (Bk. 9, ln. 21-25). Kalypso lives on island, which may indeed resemble Ithaka. In this way, Homer begins to alert the reader that this scene may be a false homecoming. But, simply the fact that Kalypso lives on an island is not enough evidence to draw the end that this may foreshadow Odysseuss true homecoming. Other evidence is needed, and Homer provides it for us. Odysseus expects to return to his family and to the way of life which he is accustomed to. For the most part, Kalypso treats him as he is used to being treatedthere is a certain sense of familiarity here. Returning from ten years of war with Troy and at least some(prenominal) years at sea, Odysseus wants to return to the comfort of home. Her cave has ... ...eople and customs that Odysseus expects to return home to, and Homer is only using Kalypsos fake family and home to foreshadow this. When Odysseus finally reaches Ithaka, all that Homer has foreshadowed using Kalypsos island as a fal se homecoming is realized, and subsequently all of Odysseuss expectations are achieved. Odysseus returns to an island, but it is Ithaka. He is greeted with the inhospitality of the suitors (as Homer foreshadowed), but soon restores order and his own sense of civilization. Odysseus and Penelope (rather than Kalypsos perfect image of a wife) are reunited. Recognized by his son, his wife, and his people, Odysseuss homecoming is completely. No matter how desirable the world Kalypso created for Odysseus appeared, it was only a false homecoming used by Homer for its generalities to foreshadow the specifics of Odysseuss true homecoming.