The Waterways to freedom Essay Example for Free

The Waterways to freedom Essay As human beings, we ought to be endowed with the freedom of choice for we are naturally striving for channels of free will. We have a propensity to perceive life in an individualistic manner as we are all distinct entities. The art of entrapment we see from time to time deprives and suffocates our very being as individuals. However, the struggles we overcome are not always resolved by our own involuntary response to problems, but at times our very survival depends on the help of others to conquer a period of difficulty. Homers The Odyssey is a primary example of the idea of mans reliance on oneself and the occasional need for the assistance of others. Under Calypsos power, Odysseus is entrapped in her possession and loses all hope to escape on his own. After seven lengthy years of Odysseuss imprisonment, Hermes, the messenger of the gods, is sent by the gods to Calypsos island to order the release of Odysseus so that he can continue on with his voyage home. At times throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus did not consider the consequences of his actions and depended on guidance from the gods to steer him in the right direction. This particular passage describes Odysseus as a lowly mortal and reinforces his need of the aid of higher beings to help him surmount his struggles. Homer employs the act of the will to survive with the additional help of the immortals using diction, imagery, and structure to establish an apparent passage that focuses directly on mans struggle for freedom and the belief that man cannot escape his fate. One time or another, everyone has yearned for the comfort of having someone nearby, someone that leaves you feeling reassured and intact. For this need for companionship, the beautiful seductive magical (36) nymph Calypso seizes Odysseus and compels him to live a sensual yet vegetative existence where he wastes seven years of his ten year journey home on the lavish, luxurious island of Ogygia. For ten years, surrounded by men, Odysseus lives out the male heroic ideal image of a warrior and then spends several years further testing himself against life-threatening obstacles. In the process, he loses all of his followers, and has nothing left but the little that remains of himself. Here on Calypsos island, he lives in majestic paradise: A deep wood grew outside, with summer leaves of alder and black poplar, pungent cypress. Ornate birds rested there stretched wing horned owls, falcons, cormorants long-tongued beachcombing birds, and followers of the sea (22-26). With the use of diction Calypsos diatribe on Odysseus can be seen as a reaction to the reality of her life where she is a crooking vine (27) holding purple clusters under ply of green (28). The purple clusters effectively signifies Odysseus identity of a heroic leader, as the color purple represents royalty, who is twisted and detained under Calypsos crooking vine of power. Homer employs the use of his selected words to also establish Odysseus ongoing journey where he took channels here and there (30). Odysseus waterways of home shifts through beds of violets and tender parsley (31), indicating his temptations of sexual relationships with various women, including Calypso, throughout his voyage home. Violet is an enticing color which Homer utilizes to suggest Calypsos love and desire for Odysseus where he is entrapped on her island surrounded by the violet ocean (14). Through Homers establishment of words, he guides us to identify with Odysseus search for freedom under constraints of those who hold him back. Emancipated nature imagery displays the contrast between Odysseus suppressed captivity with the vast open world around him. The images of wild animals and plant life, alder and black poplar, pungent cypress (23) and ornate birds (24), denote Odysseus loss of hope of escape which contrasts with the serene tranquility of the environment around him. The image of birds is constantly utilized in the epic as omens that rely on the perception of Odysseus as an aggressive, predatory creature. With their stretched wings (24) the birds in this passage implies Odysseus stretched capability as a war hero in search of his homeland but is kept back by obstacles, just like the birds are kept from flying further because of their need to rest (24). The comparison of Hermes and Odysseus is evident in the beginning of the passage where it is seen through the imagery of Hermes movement. Whilst Odysseus is racked in confinement with his own heart groaning (42), Hermes is swiftly carried over water and over endless land in a swish of the wind (4). The high-speed action imagery of Hermes is illustrated to imply the higher being of an immortal and the never-ending limits of his freedom as he paced into the air (7), shot down to sea level (8), and veered to skim the swell (9). Odysseus and Hermes, who is wearing ambrosial, golden (3) sandals, which signifies his divine godly position, both possess brilliant godlike features, but differ in that Odysseus is a man of the mortal world while Hermes is immortal. However, although Odysseus and Hermes share common characteristics, in this passage, Odysseus is portrayed as a pitiable human with eyes wet scanning the bare horizon of the sea (42) who is in need of help from a higher being. The image of Hermes rescuing Odysseus is painted with the accompaniment of the seas and personified as the gull patrolling between the wave crests of the desolate sea (9-10). The desolate, barren sea suggests Odysseus loss of hope, loss of perseverance, and loss of will to survive, where the gull, Hermes, swoops down and douse his wings (11) to set Odysseus back on track along his journey home. All of this imagery imparts not only an in-depth depiction of the relationship between the lowly mortal of Odysseus and the glorified immortal being of Hermes, but also reinforces the deepness of his tragedy and depth of his sorrow. With the arrangement of structure, an understanding of the central idea can be communicated where both repetitions of common sounds are used and the order of the passage is recognized to grasp the fundamental concept of Odysseus survival. The repetitive use of s sounds is displayed within every line of the passage and as the poem is being spoken aloud, the s sounds transmits the serenity of the language but at the same time uncertainty of his undetermined fate. Each line is comprised of at least one s sound and can go to as many as four, for instance, scented the farthest shore with cedar smoke (18). The use of s sounds not only bestows the calmness of the atmosphere and the indecisiveness of what is yet to come, but also conveys Odysseus situation of captivity of being held back from his freedom against his own will as a thousand times before (40). The structure of mood within the passage enhances the extremity of Odysseus need for guidance from the gods. With the help of s sounds, the mood is displayed as tranquil and peaceful throughout the beginning of the passage but transitions into a sorrowful mood when Odysseus who sat apart racked with his own heart groaning and with eyes wet, is mentioned. The order of the mood change establishes the atmosphere to the central idea of freedom and Odysseus need for the assistance of a higher being for the outcome of his future. Homer successfully led us to develop a certain predetermined picture of Odysseus journey with the excessive amount of pain and sorrow he endured throughout his voyage home. One of the major themes of The Odyssey is the belief that man cannot escape the destiny which has been fated for him by the gods. Destiny plays an imperative role in the survival of Odysseus throughout his adventures. Finally, after seven years of languishing in Calypsos island, with the help of Hermes, Odysseus continues on with his journey and follows his fate the gods bestowed upon him. Through diction, structure, nature and contrasting imagery, as well as the relationship between mortal and immortals, the theme of mans act of will to survive and the struggle for freedom with the additional help of others is visibly recognized. Some people believe they can make it through life on their own two feet, but at times, the waterway in the course of life needs the assistance of a strong current to push us along and guide us to surpass the slow, immobile areas along the channels to our destination.