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Examples Of Perseverance In The Odyssey

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Perseverance is the only thing that will truly keep the world alive. If humans had given up instead of persevering America would not exist, tyranny would reign and slavery would still exist. Several characters throughout literary history, such as Odysseus from Homers’ Odyssey, and Louis Zamperini in Unbroken are the prime examples of perseverance, and they did it through personal strength and determination to not be broken. After all, it is better to persevere and live a hellish life than to relinquish that life in order to live more comfortably in the hands of those who seek to degrade the soul. When Winston Churchill said “if you’re going through hell, keep going,” he might as well have been prophesizing about Louie and reiterating those …show more content…

In The Odyssey, perseverance is an important lesson and is one repeatedly seen throughout the whole play and occurs with more than one character. Odysseus, his wife Penelope, and his son Telemachus all displayed strong actions of perseverance. Odysseus fought through terrors and deadly sins in order to get back to his wife and son, his family, his home. He persevered from the beginning of Homers’ epic all the way through till the end. From his escape from Calypso’s hold to Circes temptations Odysseys was relentless in getting home and never gave up on that. He and his men can in contact with the lotus-eaters and the sirens of the sea, but never once did he stray his course and give up his perseverance. Everything from his way of thinking to his desire to survive and conquer, fall into the promotion of perseverance. When Odysseus finally returns home and finds his wife’s suitors he undermines them and takes his rightful place back on the throne of his house. Odysseus’s wife Penelope exhibits this heaven worthy trait also, by relentlessly pursuing the belief that her husband is not truly dead, and even though she lets her suitors take advantage of her house and her kindness she never once sways in loyalty to her husband. Through tears and grief she persevered and when he finally returned to her, her heart was filled naught with guilt but with love for him because unto him she had done no wrong. Lastly, Telemachus displayed perseverance by pursuing the truth of his father even when his own doubt clouded his judgment. Telemachus went on voyages and discovered the real truth about his biological father all the while growing as a person. Perseverance appears to be one of the strong traits in Homers’ The Odyssey and the fact that several of his characters all have this trait and displays it in different ways and at different times to one another really goes to show how profoundly

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