The Island of Odysseus

Ordinary World: The peaceful island of Ithaca is the ordinary world of Odysseus. Here Odysseus is the well respected and loved king of the island. He is married to his love, Penelope, whom he adores with his heart (Anderson, 1991)

1. Call to Adventure: Odysseus is summoned to join Agamemnon and other Achaeans to attackthe city of Troy. They are going to Troy to retrieve the wife of Menelaus, Helen, after she istaken by Paris, the prince of Troy (Pucci, 1998).
2. Refusal of the Call: At first Odysseus refuses this invitation because he does not want to leavehis quiet and peaceful homeland and leave behindhis wife and his newly born son
3. Mentor: The mentor of Odysseus is, without a doubt, Pallas Athena, the bright-eyed goddess.Athena helps Odysseus innumerable times throughout his travels. The daughter of Zeus endowsOdysseus with advice for which he is greatly faithful and devoted to her
4. First Threshold: The Trojan War is the first threshold of Odysseus. At the war Odysseusbecomes renowned for his cunning, bravery, prowess, and this mind. His mental and physicalattributes are of equal importance to these heroes (Heubeck, 1990).
5. Test, Allies, Enemies : The journey home is an amalgam of tests, allies, and enemies forOdysseus. There are many tests, not to mention many temptations, through which Odysseusthrives through. The people which befriend Odysseus are the ones who give him food, clothes,and shelter like King Alcinous, and Circe. Obviously throughout the story there is one mainenemy who is against Odysseus, this is Poseidon. There are also many small enemies whoOdysseus meets on his travels. Scylla, Charybdis, and the Lastrygonians are some of hisadversaries, but the most important is the cyclops, Polythemus, who condemns Odysseus to hislong, arduous journey home. Primarily speaking Odysseus encounters new tests, allies, andenemies on each new land he falls upon on his trek back to Ithaca
6. Approach to Inmost Cave: The approach to the inmost cave is when the son of Laertes,Odysseus, finally arrives home at last. At first he does not acknowledge the fact that he is home. When he does come to that fact, he knows he cannot run home and exclaim that he is back. Heknows he must bury his great feelings until the time is right
7. Supreme Ordeal: Getting back to his peaceful home of Ithaca and reuniting with Penelope and Telemachus is the ultimate ordeal of Odysseus. Before he can do that, he must drive the carelesssuitors from his once proud household.
8. Reward: The reward for Odysseus is when he arrives home and then defeats the complacentsuitors. Also Odysseus is abounding with riches inpresents from the aristocrats of Phaeacia.
9. Road Back: The road back for our hero, Odysseus, is when he cleanses his house of theincarnadine stains from the vile blood of the suitors and removing their bodies to the outside.After this is done, Odysseus goes to see his sick and emaciated father to bring his spirits back tolife.
10. Resurrection: Now Odysseus is once again in his rightful position as King of Ithaca. This canbe seen as a resurrection for Odysseus.
11. Return with Elixir: The returning with elixir for Odysseus is partly when he restores peaceand tranquility to his house. The other part that fulfills this is when Odysseus is reunited tocrestfallen Penelope (and his father later on) he brings back happiness to them once again

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