The Odyssey teaches us many life lessons.

The Odyssey is a book chalk full of important life lessons. These life lessons can be used in many instances throughout your life. One such life lesson is that if you work really hard in the end you will succeed. This lesson is shown in the Odyssey in many ways. One way this lesson is shown in the Odyssey is that Odysseus tries for many years to attain Ithaca. He goes through many tests and trials such as Scylla, the cattle of the sun god, Troy, Circe’s island and many others. He even has to go through much when he does attain Ithaca. He has to battle the suitors to earn his rightful position as king. Another example is the story of Odysseus’s dog and how it waits for him for 20 long years. After waiting this long period to see his master he finally achieves his goal. These examples show why this lesson of striving hard and in the end you will attain what you were striving for can be applied in many different areas. This lesson can be applied in school activities for grades, in sports to achieve your goals, even in a relationship to get it to a spot that you want it at.

Odysseus and the decisions that he has to make and why he is a good decision maker and why I think they are the right decision.

I personally believe that Odysseus is a very adept decision maker in all things that have to do with decisions. One decision that Odysseus has to make is when they are passing the island of the sirens he has to decide what to do. He, upon Circe’s council, decided to stop all of his shipmate’s ears with wax so they would not be able to hear the sirens enticing song. He himself decides to listen to the song. He orders his men to tie him as tight as they can around the main mast so that even if he hears he cannot leave and try to go to their island. Another important decision that Odysseus needs to make is which monster to face, Scylla or Charybdis, when he is passing through a straight. He decides upon Scylla and not to tell his shipmates because if he does he feels each crewmember will try to save himself and hide. He goes past Scylla and sure enough she eats 6 men. After I read this I felt that he had made a good decision because if had gone on Charybdis’ side they would have all died and if he had told his men they would have hid. These are 2 examples of why I think Odysseus is a great decision maker and a steadfast leader.

Odysseus and the decisions/trials he faces