Odyssey Thematic Writing

Throughout the Odyssey, a common theme of valuing loyalty is shown.
In Book 22, the theme of loyalty is shown by Odysseus killing all of the suitors. When he was gone, they believed he was dead, so they became disloyal to their leader and started acting like they were leaders themselves. When Odysseus returned, he was not pleased. "You dogs! you never imagined I'd return from Troy-- so cocksure that you bled my house to death, ravished my serving-women--wooed my wife behind my back while I was still alive!" (pg. 440, 35-39). The suitors were disloyal to their superior, and they paid the full price. Through the adventures of Odysseus and his people while he was away, The Odyssey shows us that loyalty is something to be valued.

Book 12 also illustrates the theme of loyalty through the crew of Odysseus. Odysseus commands his crew to not eat the cattle, because they belong to Helios, and they would be killed if they did. They decided to be disloyal to Odysseus' commands and ate the cattle, but were promptly killed by Helios. "Unless they pay me back in blood for the butchery of my herds, down I go to the House of Death and blaze among the dead!" (pg. 283, 411-412). When the crew disobeyed Odysseus' orders, they proved themselves to be disloyal and paid the price of their lives. With this Book, it is clear to us that being disloyal can have very serious consequences.

Book 19 is a tale of disloyalty that reveals the harsh consequences if you don't obey your superiors. Odysseus returns to his palace disguised as a beggar to test the loyalty of the suitors and his wife. All of the suitors are revealed to be disloyal to Odysseus, but Penelope appears to still be very loyal to him. “I yearn for Odysseus, always, my heart pines away” (pg. 394, 151). Odysseus, enraged by the suitors, slaughters all of them for their disloyalty, while leaving Penelope alive for her loyalty. The outcome of this Book, finishing with all suitors dead and Penelope alive, helps illustrate how loyalty plays a large part in The Odyssey.

Siddhartha Blog

I have learned and observed many life-lessons through my reading of Siddhartha.  The theme that is most prominent to me is that teachers are an inferior medium through which you gain knowledge compared to your own individual actions.  Throughout the book, Siddhartha is struggling to attain his clear goal of enlightenment, mainly due to his doubtfulness of his teachers.  He realizes that these teachers are trying to teach him the ways of the world, but their teachings are confined to words and could never teach the lesson trying to be conveyed.  Siddhartha thinks to himself, "He has robbed me of my friend, who believed in me and who now believes in him; he was my shadow and is now Gotama's shadow.  But he has given to me Siddhartha, myself" (36).  Siddhartha realizes through his doubt of Gotama's teachings that he himself is the only teacher he needs and the one that will teach him the most valuable lessons.  At the end of the book, Siddhartha is ironically teaching Govinda that wisdom cannot be communicated, and that you must experience it yourself to fully understand the meaning of something.  "I learned through my body and soul that it was necessary for me to sin, that I needed lust. . . in order to learn to love the world, and no longer compare it with some kind of desired imaginary world, some imaginary vision of perfection, but to leave it as it s, to love it and be glad to belong to it" (144).  Siddhartha learned that he must experience these sins and actions to understand their importance.  To really learn, you must realize that you are the best teacher you will ever have and that you need to experience what you are learning to understand it.