Literature and history: intersections and influences

Universal Themes in Homer's The Odyssey

Homer's The Odyssey is an ancient work that has managed to survive up to the present time. Virginia Woolf argues that the themes and situations presented in The Odyssey are universal themes that all humans can relate to, despite the passing of time. A consideration of the themes and situations presented in The Odyssey will show that this is true. While The Odyssey is set in a different time and culture, the basic situations and struggles are ones that apply equally to all people. These themes and events include the struggle of being adolescent, the changing relationship between a mother and son, the process of a boy becoming a man and the changing relationship between family members as time passes. Each of these are universal themes and this is what makes The Odyssey as applicable to modern life as it was to ancient life.

The struggle of being adolescent is represented in the opening of The Odyssey. At the beginning of the work, Telemachus wants to be a man. His mother is being pursued by the suitors and he wants to protect her, yet he is not quite able to. Rather than fighting for his mother's rights, he calls an assembly and asks that the suitors be expelled. Even in doing this he admits his own weakness, "but, had I the power, my will should serve me to exempt this hour from out my life-time. For, past patience, base deeds are done here, that exceed defence of any honor. Falling is my house, which you should shame to see so ruinous" (II, 100-105). In this speech, two things are seen. Firstly, that Telemachus wants to protect his mother's honor, and secondly, that he does not have the power to do that. At the end of his speech he loses his composure, "This said, his sceptre 'gainst the ground he threw, and tears still'd from him; which mov'd all the crew, the court struck silent, not a man did dare to give a word that might offend his ear" (II, 131-135). This further illustrates that while he wants to act like a man, he is not yet able to do so. His act of losing his temper is a childish one and shows his immaturity. Telemachus represents the adolescent who is at the point between being a child and being an adult. Telemachus wants to be a man, but is not quite ready to be one. This period of uncertainty and struggle where the individual wants to be more than they are is a part of the adolescent struggle that every individual undergoes.

The changing relationship between a mother and son is another of the features of The Odyssey. The Odyssey begins with the relationship between Telemachus and Penelope at the point between a mother-child relationship and a mother-adult relationship. Telemachus feels the need to protect his mother, and attempts to do so, but is not quite capable of taking on this role. Rather than being able to protect her he leaves to seek out his father. Another important scene that shows the relationship between Telemachus and Penelope is where Telemachus begs Euryclea not to tell his mother of his journey, "Swear therefore, not to wound my mother's ears with word of this, before from heaven appears th' eleventh or twelfth light, or herself shall please to ask of me, or hears me put to seas, lest her fair body with her woe be wore" (II, 550-554). While it appears that Telemachus is doing this to protect his mother, it also suggests that his mother would try to stop him. This shows that at this point in the story Penelope is the authority figure in the relationship. Telemachus sneaking off to try and defend her, emphasizes that he is also trying to sneak away from her care so that he can become a man. This is an event that any generation can relate to. Every adolescent has a period where they begin the transition from being protected by their mother, to becoming independent and in doing so attempt to sneak away from their mother's control.

The process of the boy becoming a man is one of the major themes of the work, represented by Telemachus's journey to find his father and then be accepted by his father.