The Odyssey

The Odyssey

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

The Wanderer

Odysseus shows his adventurousness and self-reliance when he enters the home of Queen Arete and King Alkinoos to beg for Queen Arete’s help so he could return home. “He went straight throught the court, still hidden by the cloak of darkness in which Athena had enveloped him, till he reached Arete and King Alkinoos; then he laid his hands upon the knees of the queen, and at that moment the miraculous darkness fell away from him and he became visible. Every one was speechless with surprise at seeing a man there, but Odysseus began at once with his petition.

            “Queen Arete,”he exclaimed, “daughter of great Rhexenor, in my distress I humbly pray you, as also your husband and these your guests to help me home to my own country as soon as possible; for I have been long in trouble and away from my friends.”
           


Odysseus also shows some of his self-reliance when he builds the raft to leave Calypso’s island. “He cut down twenty trees in all and adzed them smooth, squaring them by rule in good workmanlike fashion. Meanwhile Calypso came back with some augers, so he bored holes in them and fitted the timbers together with bolts and rivets. He made the raft as broad as a skilled shipwright makes the beam of a large vessel, and he filed a deck on top of the ribs, and ran a gunwale all round it. He also made a mast with a yard arm, and a rudder to steer with. He fenced the raft all round with wicker hurdles as a protection against the waves, and then he threw on a quantity of wood. By and by Calypso brought him some linen to make the sails, and he made these too, excellently, making them fast with braces and sheets, last of all, with help of levers, he drew the raft down into the water. In four days he had completed the whole work..”

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