Odysseus, a Greek hero of the Trojan War and the central character in The Odyssey , is known for his bravery and cleverness. Odysseus’ greatest feat is his journey home to Ithaca, after spending ten years fighting with the Greeks in Troy (see note 1). Odysseus travels through different lands and across bodies of water until he finally reaches his goal of returning to Ithaca. However, Odysseus’ journey home is not without a perilous obstacle: Poseidon, the god of the sea and Odysseus’ sworn enemy.
The battle between Odysseus and Poseidon begins even before Odysseus sets foot on his homeland. By being so specific about where Odysseus will land on Ithaca, Odysseus tricks Poseidon into thinking that he has left more than one place in Ithaca for him to visit. Once Odysseus lands on Ogygia (see note 2) with Calypso, another goddess-nymph who lives there by herself, Odysseus believes that Zeus will not let Poseidon know where Odysseus is (see note 3). Odysseus tricks Poseidon again when Odysseus’ men travel to an island and make a sacrifice there, knowing that Odysseus is nearby.
When Odysseus finally reaches his homeland Ithaca, he finds out that Poseidon had sent a sea monster named Scylla to the strait of Messina in order to wreck Odysseus’ ship and devour Odysseus and his crew. Fortunately for Odysseus, he already knows about the existence of this monster from Menelaos , who told him about it during one of their stops on Ogygia. Odysseus is able to escape Scylla’s attack by means of changing his course, just barely avoiding the monster.
Odysseus continues to survive Poseidon’s attacks until Odysseus finally reaches Ithaca and reveals himself. Odysseus’ reunion with his wife Penelope signals the end of Odysseus’ epic journey home. This paper explores The Odyssey ‘s use of the metaphor of dawn as it relates to Odysseus’ journey home . At each stage in Odysseus’ voyage, he encounters a different obstacle that keeps him from returning home (see note 4). For example, at one point when Odysseus wakes up in Ithaca in Book XIII , he cannot recognize where he is (see note 5).
Odysseus’ difficulty in knowing exactly which country he is in could be a metaphor for the dawn because just as Odysseus cannot see very far away from him due to being close to the island of Ithaca, Odysseus cannot tell the difference between certain islands and countries because Odysseus has been traveling so long that places have become blurry. In Book V , Odysseus’ waking life reflects his dream life. His waking life also contains a mixture of time periods, whether it be from his time at sea battling Poseidon or from his own house where he lives with Penelope.
This blending of different time periods represents Odysseus’ journey home as Odysseus travels from the present back to the past. Odysseus must face many obstacles as he tries to return home; these obstacles could be interpreted as a metaphor for Odysseus’ journey home, where Odysseus is constantly battling against Poseidon and trying to outsmart him at his own game. Odysseus uses different metaphorical tricks throughout The Odyssey , just as Odysseus uses a trick of placing several places in Ithaca so that Poseidon will not know where Odysseus actually is on land.
In Book V , Penelope tells one of her maidservants about a dream she had. In this dream, Penelope saw herself weaving on “a great loom” which was a “tapestry of endless flowers” ( The Odyssey , Book V ). Odysseus thinks about Penelope’s dream and relates it to his own recent experiences, comparing Odysseus’ journey to Penelope’s dream. Odysseus says: “…I have known the pain of longing for what is far away as keenly as you now long for what has stayed behind; my heart ached with grief too” ( The Odyssey , Book V).
Odysseus knows how difficult it can be to be separated from everything one loves by relating his own experience with separation to Odysseus. Odysseus also shows how much he understands about human desire when Odysseus says, “…I know what a man wants: to come back from where he has been, and see his wife again” ( The Odyssey , Book V). Odysseus understands that Odysseus’ pain is just as real as Odysseus’. In the next book of The Odyssey , Penelope starts her own journey by telling Odysseus about Odysseus’ trip to Troy. She describes Odysseus’ voyage home in much detail.
For example, she tells Odysseus how Odysseus sailed past an island where Aeolos lives: “…he gave him a sackful of heavy winds tied up with a silver cord so all the stormy winds would stay inside it; no one could so much as blow on Odysseus’ ships until he wanted them to. Then we sailed past the land of Lamos – and from there we were carried off course by a violent north wind” ( The Odyssey , Book VI). Odysseus is brought up to this point in Odysseus’ journey because Odysseus has been talking about Odysseus’ own voyage home, so it only makes sense for Penelope to talk about Odysseus’ voyage.
Odysseus becomes Odysseus again. Odysseus’s return to his kingdom marks the end of Odysseus’ odyssey, but also Odysseus’ full maturity. The first use of “rosy-fingered dawn” happens when Telemachus is sent by Odysseus to find news about Odysseus’ fate. Penelope prays for her son’s safe return and says, “Earn this… bring back my darling son alive and well… Dawn with her rosy fingers will bring him home. ” Then Athena disguises herself as Telemachus so that he may go to Sparta safely.
The mention of “rosy-fingered dawn” marks Odysseus’s first appearance of his odyssey; Odysseus is Odysseus again, and the beginning of Odysseus’ road to fulfillment. The second time “rosy-fingered dawn” appears is when Odysseus returns home after the Trojan War to be with Penelope. Athena disguises Odysseus as an old beggar so Telemachus will not recognize him. Odysseus encounters Eumaeus, a swineherd on his way to town, and Odysseus blesses him for being kind to him despite Odysseus’ ragged appearance.
After arriving at the palace dinner Odysseus tells the young men at the table stories about Odysseus, and Penelope comes down from her room to listen. Odysseus tries to embrace Odysseus but Odysseus does not recognize him since Odysseus is disguised as a beggar. The next day Telemachus journeys to town and Odysseus sleeps in his own bed for the first time in twenty years. When Odysseus awakes he sees “reddening dawn” and Odysseus knows that this means Odysseus’ wife Penelope has eaten her wedding portions. Odysseus then spends the rest of night sleepless because he is so happy that Odysseus can now embrace Odysseus.
Odysseus wants to go to Odysseus as soon as Odysseus can, and Odysseus has reached a part of his journey between immaturity and maturity. The third time “rosy-fingered dawn” appears is when Odysseus tries to slay Penelope’s suitors with the help of Athena. Odysseus devises a plan to make the suitors drunk enough so that they would send for more wine knowing that it would never run out because Odysseus has placed his men at their supply line; however, the only way this plan could work was if Penelope convinced them by telling them she would marry one of them.
Odysseus, still disguised as a beggar, convinces Penelope’s nursemaid to bring Odysseus’ bow and quiver of arrows down from Odysseus’ room so Odysseus could convince the suitors that Odysseus would marry one of them if they let Odysseus string Odysseus’ bow and shoot through twelve axe shafts. The next day Penelope hints she will marry one of the suitors when Odysseus brings out Odysseus’ bow; only then do the suitors realize that it was Odysseus who had been helping Telemachus against them.
