Importance of Family in The Odyssey: an Analysis

Family relationships have evolved in many places and improved immensely, but not for the entire globe. In ‘The Odyssey’ by Homer, life is a journey that is filled with obstacles. Odysseus has been at war for ten years and now he has spent ten years trying to return home. The journey has been long and full of trials, tribulations, and obstacles. In ‘The Odyssey’, the father and the son spend most of their time apart and it is through the distance that they developed admiration and love for each other. So this essay discusses why family is important on the example of The Odyssey.

The role of the family in ‘the Odyssey’ is the reunification of the family, as Odysseus struggles to return home and rejoin his wife and son. Social interaction is one of the most significant reasons why family is important. Homer emphasizes descriptions of food and drinks to celebrate the value of eating together as a family or a group and the opportunity that provides people to engage, interact, and establish new friendships. Homer celebrates the joys of healthy traditional home life. This helps them understand why he is so eager to return home preferring to go through all those troubles rather than staying with Calypso. As the text states “I am at home, for I am he. I bore adversities, but in the twentieth year, I am ashore in my land. I find the two of you, alone among my people, longed for my coming. Prayers I never heard except your own that I might come again” (Odysseus; Book 21). Odysseus denies staying with Calypso, not only because he loves his wife Penelope, but also because he doesn’t want to remain anonymous and lose his social identity. Odysseus defines himself by being part of his family and by his relationships with people. By deriving a sense of belonging home and the surrounding community, he is willing to go through hell until he reunites with his wife and son.

The first father and son bond is preformed by Poseidon and his son, Polyphemus. As the text states, “Hear me, dark-haired Girdler of the earth if indeed I am yours and you my sire. Grant that there be no homecoming for this Odysseus, son of Laertes of Ithaca. Yet if it is fated that he must see his friends once more in his stately house and fatherland, let it be late and miserably, in a strange ship, after losing all his crews. And let him find trouble there in the house” (Homer; Book 21). This shows how Polyphemus is crying out to his father in anger. Not because the Cyclopes is in danger, but because he needs to satisfy his feelings of vengeance. His father, Poseidon answers his request and does everything in his power to make sure Polyphemus’s wishes come true. Poseidon’s feelings towards Odysseus changes, due to the ill behavior shown to Polyphemus. It shows the concern and love Poseidon has for his son.

When Odysseus reveals himself to his son, Telemachus, the reaction of both characters is extremely humane. This monumental knowledge is a time of sentiment and emotion for both Telemachus and his son. Both characters were there for each other despite his self-confidence with the rest of the community. Odysseus breaks down at the sight of his son, As the text states “Then, throwing his arms around this marvel of a father, Telemachus began to weep. 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. So helplessly they cried, pouring out tears, and might have gone on weeping so till sundown. . . (Odyessus; Book 16).This shows how although the reader has never seen this side of Odysseus, this emotional moment showed a huge bound which is compelled by the bonding of his son, the immediate depth one feels for the other. This also shows how similar and different both pairs are because Polyphemus and Telemachus were both crying but both scenes were completely different in terms of emotion and reason.

Homer, on the other hand, portrays the idea of continuity between generations showing the relationship between father-son to be an endless cycle. All the sons were like their fathers, and they will have the same relations their fathers had with each other. As the text states “ For they imagined as they wished — that it was a wild shot, an unintended killing — fools, not to comprehend they were already in the grip of death” (Homer; Book 22). This shows how Telemachus, like his father, was bright and talented. Homer fights for the same goals and aims for what his father fought for. He wants to protect the family estate but is under constant attack from the suitors.

To conclude the essay, Odysseus has had a long journey full of struggles but has regardlessly made his way home to his family and has shown a bond with his son as well as the role of the family in ‘The Odyssey’.