Everyone has a home. Regardless of its location, it is a place of acceptance and belonging. In a sense its where the heart is. Though in The Odyssey, the concept of home is blurry and for the most part incomplete, it is the most important thing to Odysseus, and he is willing to go through utter hell to return to his home.
Telemachus and Penelope reside in an incomplete home. In book one Telemachus speaks to Mentes, the clear-eyed goddess Athena in disguise, mother has always told me Im his son, its true, but I am not so certain. Telemachus, although frequently enlightened of his fathers heroic character, knows not the slightest bit about his father, and he has contemplated whether or not Odysseus really is his father having never seen him. Growing up fatherless, having only a mother, nurse, and annoying suitors in his life, Telemachus feels incomplete, as does his mother Penelope, who hasnt seen her husband for over twenty years. Every Achaean, war hero, and friend of Odysseus knows and retells of his brilliance, but it will take more than just stories of his famous father to make Telemachus feel complete.
Odysseus wants more than anything to go home, which will complete their home. He boasts his yearning in book five, I long—I pine, all my days—to travel home and see the dawn of my return. Odysseus response is to Athenas offer of immortality if he will stay with her on Ogygia. His everything resides in his Ithacan home and even the bewitching nymph, Calypso, realizes Odysseus desire to go home. Even when offered an endless life, Odysseus believes a life without Penelope, Telemachus and his home, even an endless one, is worthless.
The strong will of Odysseus kept his fire burning towards reaching him home and continuing his mortal life. When preparing to leave Ogygia in book five, Odysseus exclaims, if a god will wreck me yet again on the wine-dark sea, I can bear that too; much have I suffered, labored hard and long by now in the waves and war, add this to the total—bring on the trial! Odysseus is prepared to go up against anything that tries to keep him from his home and his loved ones. He is motivated to return to Ithaca and is giving off his message of throw everything youve got at me, because you cant diminish my will and determination to get home. Odysseus is real, and he wont let any challenges or obstacles be unconquered. Hes going home!
Odysseus endurance wouldnt die down, and because of that, he made it home and completed their family as well as their home. The reason Odysseus was victorious in his battles against monsters and supernatural storms was he knew what he was fighting for, going back to familiarity. Because his heart was in the right place, Odysseus went to Troy and did what he was supposed to. Although he took some detours en route back to Ithaca, he will forever be known for his glorious adventures within an adventure.
