Odyssey Epic

An epic is a long, narrative poem in an elevated style that celebrates heroic achievement and treats themes of historical, national, religious, or legendary significance. To be qualified as an epic, the piece must contain these twelve stages: the ordinary world, the call to adventure, refusal of the call, meeting with the mentor, crossing the threshold, tests, allies and enemies, approach, the ordeal, the reward, the road back, the resurrection and the return with the elixir. Numerous stages were introduced in the first three books of The Odyssey such as the ordinary world, the call to adventure and meeting with the mentor. To begin with, the initial stage is the ordinary world. The hero, uneasy and uncomfortable, is introduced to the audience with a dilemma; some of the hero’s personal history is presented. At the start of The Odyssey, Odysseus is introduced sympathetically. The setting reveals that he has not come back home for ten years after the Trojan War. His son, Telemachus, has grown up, and his wife, Penelope, has a mob of suitors courting her. By now, they have lost hope and convinced themselves that Odysseus is dead. This example proves the first stage because Odysseus is announced along with his predicament. Moreover, the second stage is the call to adventure. Something unexpected occurs and the hero must adjust to the change. For instance, Athena, with the consent of Zeus, travels to Ithaca to tell Telemachus that his father is possibly still alive and will return soon. Although he is hesitant, Telemachus agrees to go search for Odysseus. Athena has Telemachus call for the suitors to leave and to begin setting off on a journey to Pylos and Sparta. The event demonstrated shows how unexpectedly, Telemachus’s father is now assumed alive. Now, he must go out and search for Odysseus. Lastly, the fourth stage of an epic is meeting with the mentor. At that event, the hero comes across an experienced traveler who gives him or her training, equipment or guidance that will help on the journey. In this case, Athena is the mentor. As Telemachus prepares himself for his trip, Athena disguised as Mentor, encourages him on his journey, telling him it will be fruitful. She collects a crew to man his ship and gives him advice on how to find his father. This incident verifies the fourth stage of events. Athena, the mentor, advises Telemachus as well as finding him a crew. In conclusion, an epic is composed of twelve stages with the same pattern of events. Homer’s, The Odyssey, is a prominent epic with many qualities of an epic. In the first three books, several of the stages were presented, including the ordinary world, the call to adventure and meeting with the mentor. More are presented later in the epic.