Answer one of the questions below.

  1. Discuss Odysseus' wanderings as a series of temptations. Think about both the literal and the symbolic nature of these temptations. Explore how they really parallel the sorts of temptations most people face on their journeys through life. If possible, give some personal examples to support your answer.

    Here's a hint to get you started on this one: The Lotus Eaters offer the men oblivion, escape through consciousness-altering substances--it's very much like any addictive substance that people embrace to escape from the tedium, the stress, the responsibility of day-to-day life.

  2. How does Tennyson's "Ulysses" (by the way, Ulysses is another name for Odysseus) capture the essence of what Homer considered heroic in The Odyssey? Discuss Ulysses' situation at the beginning of Tennyson's poem--how long he's been home in Ithaca, how he feels about Penelope and why, how he feels about his subjects and why, what he intends to do and why. In what ways is this Ulysses similar or different from Homer's Odysseus?

    You may also want to discuss whether or not Ulysses (or Odysseus for that matter) is heroic by contemporary standards. Be sure to cite specific examples.