Odysseus' Final Problem

Odysseus faced quite a large number of challenges in his time but his most challenging obstacle is undoubtedly the land of the dead.

The land of the dead brought many challenges to the table that truly disturbed Odysseus in great ways.When at the land of the dead he just seemed distracted and disturbed.There are many examples that show this is the case. First of all the land of the dead is Odysees most challenging difficulty. This island brings back all this grief to him that he had long ago buried.

For example on line 28 that “Now when I saw him I wept for pity”. This really shows that the past grief in his heart that he had long banished has resurfaced. This is made evident by the crying. Grief also had a big factor in why he’s crying. Grief. Grief can have such a devastating effect on the strongest of people.

This is embodies by Odysseus’s actions on the land of the dead. This is a man that has defeated tons of monsters and watched friends and fellow soldiers.Yet even with this impressive resume he weeps upon arrival of this evil place. Grief can cripple even the toughest of men.See it doesn’t matter if you have two hundred pounds of muscle on you. If your mind is weak and broken then there is no power to control these powers and your rendered useless.

What use is all the physical power in the world if you are broken inside or even dead inside? If your mental state and physical state were compared side to side based on importance then the former would win every time. The latter in this situation is useless without control.Also mental pain is much worse than physical pain .If you break your leg then you are bound to endure physical pain for a period of time but it is always stuck in your mind.You mind will recall that memory over and over again until it is seared to your soul and your everyday life.

This is a form of trauma. Trauma is much worse than any type of physical pain.For instance There was a soccer player by the name of Jake Griggs and that was the only thing that he ever loved . He loved it more than anything else in his life. In fact you could say it was his life, that was sometimes the only thing that made him happy.

But then at one practice of his, he goes down in a heap and as soon as he goes down he knows it’s bad. Something just feels wrong to him and then he goes to his physical specialist. They perform all sorts of tests on him and then they tell him the news that he had been dreading. He has torn his acl this injury is recoverable but it is very much long term The doctors tell him he might not play for two years but most probably one year. When they tell him this devastating news he is shook. On the outside he just smiles and acts like he understands and is fine but on the inside he is weeping and feels empty all of a sudden.

This injury has taken his life from him essentially. He loses all happiness and caring for anything. The next day there are lots of soccer games on and he tries to watch but he can’t. When he does attempt to watch these games he gets flashbacks of his injury and just starts crying inside. That isa form of physical and mental pain.

The pain will last fora while but the mental pain will last for ever. For ever and ever.This type of physical pain can cause psychological trauma . As stated on National institute of General medical sciences webpage Psychological trauma is an emotional or psychological injury. It usually results from an extremely stressful situation. This shows that experiences can cause trauma.

The Final reason that the land of the dead was the most difficult challenge for Odysseus is because when he encounters this land he learns some things that was not good for his state of mind.He encounters his mother and his old comrade that goes by the name of Elpenor. Since they are in the land of the dead that means that they are both dead.On line 60 its says that “Now came the soul of Anticlea,dead,my mother,daughter of autolycus, dead now , though living still when I took ship for Holy Troy. Seeing this ghost I grieved , but held her off, through pang on pang of tear “. This piece of text really shows the emotional effect that it has on him.

Just imagine hearing that your mother had died whilst you thinking that she was still alive . That would havesignificant effect on your thoughts. Although this is the case some may think that grief is not as serious as a physical pain. However this is not case because while in the moment physical pain is sure to hurt but eventually it will subside and time will do its thing and it will heal undoubtedly. Grief on the other hand will continue to haunt you almost like a form or drama.Grief can cause crying and sighing, headaches, loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping, weakness, fatigue, feelings of heaviness, aches, pains, and other stress-related ailments.

This shows that grief can cause constant physical pains in all sorts of ways. Others might also argue that other points in his journey might be more threatening than the underworld or the land of the dead. This is a false claim of course because although the other places but stress and weighed him down physically , none caused him as much emotional heart ache as the land of the dead. Here was a strong warrior who had fought sea monsters, evil gods and goddess, fought large cyclops, and armies yet hearing about two deaths breaks him suddenly.He breaks down and it weeping with great intensity.This shows that for him being injured on the outside is not nearly the same as being tortured inside.

To conclude the land of the death is definitely the most dangerous challenge he faced in the land of the dead.This means that there should be no doubt what his greatest challenge was. The land of the dead was his greatest challenge.