Essay on The Odyssey: Surmounting External and Internal Enemies

Introduction

Composed almost at the tail-end of the 8th century BC, the poem The Odyssey is was an epic in the ancient Greek times and a pacesetter in the modern-day literary world. The poem is about Odysseus, a Greek hero, and the king of Ithaca. It also gives the story of his return home after the city of Troy fell (Levaniouk 187-189). The book runs on several themes, and one of them is heroism. The term heroism implies surmounting both the external and internal enemies and opposition. Odysseus, the lead character of the epic poem, encounters several temptations, foes, and challenges in his journey back home. He, however, overcomes both the external enemies and the internal conflicts that tried to distract him from his mission home (Levaniouk 190-192). This essay will look at the theme heroism, as depicted by Odysseus. It will draw a parallel with the same as shown in the journey of Barrack Obama, the immediate former president of the United States of America, as he made his way to the presidency.

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Heroism

While making public his intention to run for the presidency on February 10, 2007, Barack Obama was still a junior Senator from the state of Illinois. At this point, he was still little known and also a novice in the field of politics. He would show seriousness when he started holding campaign rallies and raising funds to finance his campaign. This resilience would see him beat his Republican opponent John McCain, to win the coveted prize, the US presidency (Wilson 12-15). Obama shares a lot of characteristics with Odyssey that makes the two comparable.

First, Odyssey outwits Cyclopes, offering him a powerful wine as a gift, which makes him quite drunk. To escape, he and his men hold the underbelly of the sheep, and as they walk out to pasture, they carry away Odyssey and his men (Miller 426-428). Obama also did outwit his nemesis in his pursuit. The racists kept wondering how a black man, whose father was not an original American but a mere international student, would ascend to power. Obama was not a household surname. When the primaries began, his main opponent was Hillary Clinton-with all the money, a Washington insider and a big name to boot. And just like Odyssey faced Scylla and Charybdis with courage, Obama dared Hillary, not fearing her money, fame, and networks (Wilson 22-29).

Odyssey displayed a lot of patience when dealing with Circe, a witch and an immortal goddess who tried obstructing Odysseus's return. He entertains Circe's hospitality to evade any evil spell from her, but when it was time to leave for home, he surely did without seriously upsetting her (Segal 50-54). Obama displayed considerable patience with the racist under an amorphous name of the 'birthers' who, after seeing his imminent victory, started to question if he was born within the borders of the United States as the constitution requires of anyone vying for the presidency. Without engaging them in verbal rhetoric, he politely released his birth certificate to the public, which indicated that he was indeed born in America (Wilson 32-37).

Conclusion

These act of heroism that is not combatant but diplomatic, exhibited through the qualities of wit, courage, and patience is what made Odyssey reach home safely and be with his adored wife Penelope, son Telemachus and his kin. The same three characteristics saw Barrack Obama later beat John McCain, the Republican Party contender, to win the coveted seat.

Works Cited

Levaniouk, Olga. "West The Making of the Odyssey. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. Pp. 315. 70. 9780197818369." The Journal of Hellenic Studies 136 (2016): 187-198. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-hellenic-studies/article/west-ml-the-making-of-the-odyssey-oxford-oxford-university-press-2014, pp. 315-70-9780197818369/BC0473260ECB918A63FA43C5E24B8177

Miller, Ian S. "An Odyssey: A Father, a Son and an Epic, by Daniel Mendelsohn, William Collins, London, 2017, 305pp." The American Journal of Psychoanalysis 79.3 (2019): 426-430. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s11231-019-09199-x

Segal, Charles. Singers, Heroes, and Gods in the" Odyssey". Cornell University Press, 2018. Pp. 1-239. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=tJNlDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=odyssey+and+patience&ots=eYLnj5XsdZ&sig=3dkhsYPClH2N50uWzr5fGh330O8&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=odyssey%20and%20patience&f=false

Wilson, John. Barack Obama: This Improbable Quest. Routledge, 2016. Pp. 1-165. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=JwhZCwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=barack+obama&ots=CxF6uyOd-n&sig=f59h6g__O7Xxi0ESutGA1QTZ570&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=barack%20obama&f=false