Friday, February 10, 2012

The Wanderings of Odysseus Blog 3

Respond to the following questions and then comment on at least one other person's response.  Make sure you use evidence from the novel to support your answer.

When we read about Odysseus's experience with the Cyclops, we talked about the "Road of Trials"  and the series of tests that occur in the journey of a hero.  How are "tests" an important part of the novel from the chapter "Return to Ithaca" to the end of the novel?  Do these "tests" have a similar or a different purpose in the journeys of both Odysseus and the other significant characters?

95 comments:

Patrick Dillon said...

I think that there a lot of tests in the chapter Return To Ithica throughout the end of the book. There is the test that Telemachus can keep his Father's disguise secret, there is a test that Odysseus can slay the suitors, and there are tests in which Penelope gives him to determine if he is Odysseus or not. Throughout this chapter untill the end of the book, there are both physical and mental tests that some of the characters have to go through.
These tests are significant to the tests of the characters when Odysseus and his men are trapped in the cyclops' cave. There are mental tests, such as the plotting of how they were going to escape, and there were physical tests, such as when they stabbed the cyclops in the eye.

Anonymous said...

I think there are many tests throughout the book that Odysseus must face. the big ones at the end of the book include the archery contest, the slaying of the suitors, and keeping a disguise for a period of time. the first two that I mentioned are physical tests of strength and skill. the last test i mentioned was a test of mentality, to see if he could be around his family whom he so desperately wanted to see, but remain disguised until the end.
~RYLAN~

Anonymous said...

Patrick,
I agree with you, there are many trials throughout the book. the tests are very significant to Odysseus' character, as they how who he is and what he stands for.
~RYLAN~

Patrick Dillon said...

Rylan
I agree with you on the tests Odysseus had to face at the end of the book. It was a big test he had to face when he was back in Ithica because he wanted to tell his family that it was him, but he couldn't because he didn't want to put himself in danger.

Anonymous said...

Many of the tests that all of the characters have to face make the story more interesting. Most of the character's loyalties are tested. For instance, Penelope is tested her faithfulness to Odysseus' love. She waits 20 years for Odysseus and she is still loyal to him. Also, Telemachus is loyal to his father because he never gave up on finding his dad. Other tests include having other men fight for Penelope's love which is just a test to make the story more interesting.
Lark

Anonymous said...

Patrick,
I like how you mentioned that there where both mental and physical tests because there totally are. Also, I agree that each test is to test the characters personality and it demonstrates how their character stays the same or changes throughout the book.
Lark

Anonymous said...

I believe that all the tests in the book have a similar purposes. Throughout the entire book Odysseus is faced with many mental and physical challenges. The reason why they are all simialr is because Odysseus faces all these challenges with one goal in mind, to get home to his beluved wife and son. From the chapter "Return to Ithaca" to the end of the book there are many challenges to be faced by, not only Odysseus, but his son and his wife. Ror example, his son is faced with the challenge to keep his fathers disguise a secret, Odysseus is challenged to come up with a plan to win back his kingdom, and Penelope(his wife) has to come up with a contest to crown a new king of Ithaca. So just like we talked about with the road of trails Odysseus and his friends and family are constantly faced with challenges throughout the whole book, for one reason... to get Odysseus home.
Will McConnell

Anonymous said...

Dear Rylan,
I totally agree with you. Odysseus is faced challenges throughout the entire book, but the biggest ones come at the end of the book. Having to keep the beggar mans disguise, the archery contest, and the slaying of the suitors. All of these challenges show that Odysseus will never give up no matter how hard the challende is, mental or physical.
Will McConnell

Anonymous said...

The characters in this story do have to go through many tests. Odysseus must face many challenges towards the end of the book. All of the challenges are similar throughout the story because they are all just keeping him from returning to his family. In the end of the novel the tests are extremely important though because they show how loyal Penelope is, and how Telemachus can keep his father's disguise a secret. Without tests in this novel there would have been no story.
Julia Wong

Anonymous said...

Dear Will,
I agree with you. The challenges at the end of the book are the biggest ones. All of the tests happen for one reason... to get Odysseus home. They are all mental and physical just like you said.
Julia Wong

Anonymous said...

There are many tests from "Return to Ithica" to the end of the book. Some, like the archery contest and slaying the suitors, are phisical. Meanwhile others are mental and emotional. For example, how Telemachus has to keep his father's disguise a secret and Penelope tests Odysseus' knowledge of their past marraige. Odysseus' challenges is what he is going through to return to his life in Ithica and all of the challenges are similar in trying to prevent that from happening.
Tanner S.

Anonymous said...

Lark,
I agree with you that some of the tests are just to make the story more interesting. I also like how you didn't really compare phisical and mental challenges, but you compared the tests of loyalties.
Tanner S.

Charlie H. said...

I think that there are many tests in the chapter "Return to Ithica". These include mental as well as physical tests. One example of a mental challenge is keeping the disquise of Odysseus. Some examples of physical ones are the archery challenge, as well as fighting tons of men. These tests mainly have the same purpose to all characters because everyone who was tested wanted Odysseus back as their king, so they were fighting for basically the same thing.

Charlie H. said...

Will,
I agree with you 100%. I agree with you because there were mental and physical challenges, such as the examples that you told. And they were mostly for one main reason, to get Odysseus home. However, Penelope didn’t exactly know for sure that her husband was still alive, so the challenge that she made wasn’t exactly for that same reason. Everything else was, though.

Anonymous said...

I think all the tests in the end of the book make it very interesting. This makes readers keep wanting to read the book. Also it helps develop the characters more because of the actions they do throughout the tests. Each test is for a different purpose. When Odysseus slays the suitors it helps him regain throne but, for the suitors its the end of the line. This makes the test very important.

Cole G.

Anonymous said...

Tanner,
I agree that there are many test for all characters. Even Eumaeus and Philoetius who have to fight the suitors with their king and his son. Also Odysseus has to chose wheather to kill the to people of his house that begged for mercy and the man who helped the suitors. All the chanlenges Odysseus has faced finally come to a close but, another test still is infront of him to find a man who has never seen an oar. So the road of trials will continue for Odysseus.

Cole G.

Mea fisher said...

i thought there were a kot of important tests for oddysseus from return to ithica to the end of the book. I thought that the main tests were the archery contest and killing the suitors, The disguise was a big chalenge also. I think that they also tested how much he cared about things like his wife, son and ithica. I thought that all the tests phisical and mental were important.

Mea fisher said...

julia
I completely agree with what you said about how all the tests were keeping him away from his family. I also agree with you about how yhey make the story interesting.

Anonymous said...

There are many different trials throughout this novel, some physical others mental, and a few emotional. I think that the trials at the end of this book are very important because it shows how Odysseus’ character develops. I think that the trails at the end of the book are both similar and different. They are all similar because they are keeping him for reaching his home, seeing his wife and regaining his throne. They are all different because each one has a different way of testing him, for example when he had to win the archery contest it tested him physically but when he fought all of the angry suitors it was more emotional because he was angry at them for trying to take his wife. All of the trials similar and different were good ways of showing how the main character develops in the story and make the story interesting. Nikki

Anonymous said...

Dear Tanner,
I really like your post because I think that you explained the different kinds of challenges really well. I also like how at the end you put how the challenges are ways of trying to prevent Odysseus from returning home because it is very true. I think that without the challenges he might not have changed throughout the story and therefore he would not have been a different, more interesting person.
Nikki

Surina Techarukpong said...

There are definetly many different 'tests' in the last section of the book. Telemachus has to keep his father a secret, Penelope has to believe that it is even Odysseus and then he- Odysseus has to regain his throne. I think htese are physical and mental challenges. Throughout the novel I think that they all served a significant purpose. If Odysseus hadn't been stranded, and gone for such a long time, I think he would be a differnet man, and have different responses to the way he acted orior to his return to Ithaca.The tests and trials ended up transforming, and shaping the characters through the whole plot.

Surina Techarukpong

Surina Techarukpong said...

Nikki,
I totally agree with your thought about the characters.If there weren't different trials they wouldn't be who they were. I think that we were thnking the same thing. I think you also made some really good points about how they were mental and physical challenges as well.

Surina Techarukpong

Anonymous said...

There a lot of tests in the chapter Return to Ithaca all the way through the end of the book. Pretty much the whole book is about tests Odysseus has to face to get home. When they are in the cyclopse cave they face mental and physical chalenges such as calling himself nobody and stabbing the cyclops. These are to the story because it is action.
NICK SIMON

Anonymous said...

Patrick, I agree with what you said. I like how you talked about the physical and mental aspects of it. I also agree with what yousaid about the disguise. Nice.

Anonymous said...

NICK SIMON

Anonymous said...

along the book there were many test. about a test every page in his journey! but the biggest of the test were at the end when odysseus needs to keep the disguise a secret, the archery contest, and most of all, if odysseus can slay the the suitors! yes .....a ton of trials
Joe DeLine

Anonymous said...

patrick, i think your comment is spot of. i agree that there are a lot of tests in the book. i really liked how you explained the tests. your comment is long. but not only long, but good!
joe DeLine

Jack Craig said...

There are obviously a lot of test throughout the book. The whole book is really just an extremely long string of test and obstacles. There are an equal number of mental tests and physical tests. In the end however, are where the most difficult tests are presented to Odysseus. One of the hardest being where he must prove to Penelope that he is her husband. Also, all of Odysseus's followers are test to remain faithful in Odysseus. A good example is when his men trusted him in the cave with the cyclops, and when Telemachus must remain silent about Odysseus's disguise. A good example of the consequences when his followers were unfaithful was when his men the the cattle of Hyperion. All his men then died in the huge sea storm.
From beginning to end, Odysseus displays the true definition of endurance and determination throught all his tests in The Odyssey.

Anonymous said...

All of the characters in this book go through many tests, and they are very similar to each other. The tests all are preventing the characters from their goals. An example of this is that the tests for Odysseus are kepping him from coming home. The tests of Telemachus are keeping him from his father. These tests are important because they keep the story interesting. They keep it interesting because they have feelings that we can relate to such as love, when Helen waits a very long time for Odysseus, and hope, when Telemachus believes his father is still alive or when the old lady washes Odysseus' feet and realizes he is there.

Maura

Anonymous said...

Julia,
I agree completely with your comment. I agree that without the tests, there wouldn't be a story. I also agree that they are similar because they are keeping Odysseus from reaching his goals of getting home.

Maura

Jack Craig said...

To Nick S,
I think that your comment is really good.
I agree with you when you say that the whole book was mostly tests and trials. I think that is was good when you pointed out the fact that many of the trials involved both physical challenges and mental challenges.

Grant A. said...

Many of the tests that all the characters face in this novel are to make the story more interesting. For example Telemachus is still loyal to his father because he never gave up on finding him. Also most of the tests in the book have similar purposes, because all these challenges that Odysseus faces has one goal in mind, to get home. Another thing is that most of the loyalties of character's are tested, like how Penelope waits 20 years until her husband gets home. These are all examples of why it just makes the story more interesting.

Grant A.

Grant A. said...

Patrick,
I totally agree with everything that you said. I especially liked how you mentioned that there where both mental and physical tests that went along with the book. I also agree that each test is to test the characters personality. Another thing I liked was how you said that it demonstrates how their character is the same or changes throughout the book. Overall I liked your comment.

Grant A.

Anonymous said...

I think that in the latest part of the novel, the whole thing was basically a huge test. Odysseus had to find a way to get inside his palace without causing a commotion, and then he had to slay all of the suitors trying to that his position, and even on top of that he had to deal with their vengeful kinsmen. Trials are what creates the story, because they are basically the same thing as problems or obstacles that Odysseus had to face. the story was like a rollercoaster, because every time he would finish one test or trial, another would begin.
Connor Frasier

Anonymous said...

Nick,
I liked your response. It gave a complete thought with supporting details. I also liked how you went back to almost the beginning of the book to support your response. yep.
Connor Frasier

Anonymous said...

They are important to the novel because one it adds some intresting action to the novel but, thats not important the tests are a show of mental and phisical strength like whe odyessus fought the cyclops he showed mental and phisical strength by blinding the cyclops and coming up with a plan to escape the cave. he also had the test to stay on the otherkings island or to leave and claim his kingdom. these tests are similar and different to those of his crew they both had to face the same tests untill the storm had killed all of odysseus 'men and he was the only survivor.

Bryan Gilbertson

Anonymous said...

Rylan
I completely agree with you odyseuss had to undergo mental and phisical tests and that he wwas strong throught the ordeal.that waas a great answer but you didnt include the second Question

bryan gilbertson

Anonymous said...

There are quite a few tests throughout the entire book that Odysseus must be challenged by. There are larger ones at the end that includes the archery contest, the slaying of the suitors, and being in disguise. The archery contest and slaying the suitors are tests of physical strength and skill. Being in disguise was a mental test, to see if he could be around his family, but remain in disguise until the end.
-Gillian C.

Anonymous said...

Dear Lark,
I agree that all the tests do make the characters more interesting. Every character who is tested is usually tested for loyalties. Peelope and Telemachus still remain very loryal to Odysseus. I also agree that there are other tests just to make the story more interesting.

Anonymous said...

There was a TON of tests in this book. All of the characters must go through tests to make the book more interesting. If the characters did not go through tests or challenges, there would basically be no book. If Odysseus jusst walked into Ithaca and the suiters just left, the book would not be very exciting at all.

Tess Richey

Anonymous said...

I think that there are a lot of tests but that is sort of the point of the book. The whole idea of the story is that with enough determination, anyone can get past andy test, physical or mental. The tests challenged every part of his intellegence and physical capabilities, from being able to get past his friends' deaths to the archery contest. I think these tests were different for Odysseus than for some of his men because throughout the entire thing, his goal was to see his wife, while many of the men just wanted to stay alive and drink and be merry.

Melissa Requist

Anonymous said...

Odysseus and the other characters had many tests throughout the story, both physical and mental. Some of the physical tests found at the end of the book would be slaying the suitors and the archery contest. Also, Odysseus had to keep perservering and follow all of the intructions he was given, which were mental tests. Also, peoples characteristics were tested. Penelope and Telemachus stayed loyal to Odysseus the whole time, and Odysseus always chose to press on and try to return to his home. There are many challenges and obstacles in the book.
-Margaret

Anonymous said...

Surina

I totally agree with you, these tests are both physical and mental tests.The characters must go through both and they make them a different person.

Tess Richey

Anonymous said...

Lark -
I agree with you. All of the characters are tested in different wawys and they all learn diffferent things from them.

Melissa Requist

Logan Sankey said...

I think that the tests that Odysseus faces after he returns home to Ithaca have a slightly different purpose depending on the character because altough all of Odysseus's tests have to do with returning home and returning to normal life, he is trying to trick the suitors and the other people. For example, the challenge to string the bow and shoot the through the hoops ment returning to normal for Odysseus but something entirely different to Antinous, who was just trying to become the king by winning over Penelope. I think that all the tests for all the characters are both mentally and physically challenging.
Logan

Anonymous said...

Surina,
I agree with you and liked how you said that the trials shaped the characters throughout the book. I also like the examples of trials that you gave.
-Margaret L.

Logan Sankey said...

Will,
I liked how u talked about his wife and son facing similar goals. I think that it is very true because all three of them, plus the sheep hearder are all facing challenges to bring Odysseus home and returning Ithaca back to normal.
Logan

Anonymous said...

I think there are a lot of tests in the rest of the book.There are tests that he faces like; the archery contest, the suitor killing, and diguising him self. those represent both physical and mental challenges.

Will F.

Anonymous said...

rylan,
I agree with everything you said. Great minds think alike,or bad ones do.

Will Firestone

Anonymous said...

I think that there are many tests in the chapter "Return to Ithaca", at the end of the novel. All of the tests in this novel were preventing the characters from reaching their goals. I think that one of the hardest tests for Odysseus is when he has to prove to Penelope that he is her husband. This test is very important because it shows how loyal penelope is to Odysseus. This book had many important tests, that without them, there would have been no story.
Matthew white

Anonymous said...

Patrick, I agree with you 100 percent. You are totally right about all of the tests, and their importace. They are indeed both physical and mentall tests. However, I think you could have included the teast when Odysseus has to prove to Penelope that he is her husband. Besides that, great job.
Matthew White

Anonymous said...

I think that there are many different tests Odysseus must face in the chapter Return to Ithaca. There are some that are mental tests and others that are physical tests. A mental test is when they want to see if Telemachus can keep his father's disguise a secret, and a physical test that Odysseus has to face is when he is involved with the archery contest. Another test that is a mental one is when Penelope, Odysseus's wife, puts him through rigorous tests to find out if it is really the real Odysseus. This is why I think there are many tests, both mental and physical, in the chapter Return to Ithaca.
Andrew M.

Anonymous said...

Matt,
I agree with you when you said that all the different test that Odysseus had to face were there to try to stop him from reaching his goal. I also agree that the hardest test was to prove to Penelope that he was the real Odysseus.
Andrew M.

Anonymous said...

All the tests Odysseus is given throughout the book are all a part of an attemptto go back home. He had to fight Cyclops, sea-creatures, and escape death many times! All these testes were sucessful because he wanted so badly to get home and be back to normal with his wife and son.

In the end of the book he is faced with many challanges and so is his wife and son. I think the reason they all have these challanges is because they want the same thing, to have Odysessus back home. On example of a test the wife is given is: to hold the impossible contest to find the man she will marry. The son has to bring out a plan of stealing weapons too. From the start to the end, everyone is faced with challanges that prove they are heros and bring Odysseus back home.
Meg A

Anonymous said...

Andrew,
I agree with you when you say the tests are similar throughout hte book but I'm not sure I agree with you completally. Some tests in the beginning are mental and physical and some test in the the ends were too. I don't think this is what made them similar though. I think this because they are all in a line of tests to show one bid thing. That big thing is the fact that Odysesus wants to get home not the fact that he is menatally and physically strong.
MEg A

Anonymous said...

Well, without these tests the book would have ended 6 chapters earlier. All the tests seem to do is strain people for as long as possible. These new tests affect odysseus the exact same way as the have the entire book. It must have been depressing for Odysseus to get home and he has to sneak around for 48 pages before he finaly gets to chill.

Jake Crouch

Anonymous said...

I think there are a lot of trials and tests in the book that Odysseus faces. The first two were physical tests of strength and skill. Another test was a test of mentality, to test if he could be around his family. The major ones near the end include the slaying of the suitors, the archery contest,and keeping a disguise.
Jackson ernst

Anonymous said...

True that Matt. Without all the tests the story would have been one sentence long. Odyssues went home. That would be the story. All the tests make the book a story.

Jake Crouch

Anonymous said...

Andrew,
I agree on how you said that he faces many mental and physical tests. You also pointed out some tests that i would not think about, like that secret with his father, and when his wife tests him.
JACKSON ERNST

Anonymous said...

The tests were an important part of the final chapters, because Odysseus had to use the same physical power, and intelegence. Odysseus had to use physical power, in the fight against the suitors, and in the cyclops' cave.
Odysseus also had to use intelegence, by keeping himself a secret, he also had to use intelegence in the cyclops' cave.

NOLAN SANKEY

Anonymous said...

Will

I agree with you. There are physical and mental chalenges, and every one experiences them. I think that all of these tests show the charecter in everyone. I also agree that through all of these trials Oddyseus has one goal... get home.

NOLAN SANKEY

Anonymous said...

These "tests" from the chapter Return to Ithaca are very important because they show Odysseus that althogh he is so close to home, he needs to still accept challenge however close to the end he is. One of the hardest tests is he has to main tain a disguise as a poor old man and meet is son. Other tests include slaying the suitors and proving to Penelope that he really is Odysseus. These tests teach Odysseus that he must never give up.

Sydney Shelton

Anonymous said...

There are a lot of tests in the chapter Return to Ithaca. There is a couple of tests in his strength and skill. Such as when he has to string his bow and shoot through 12 ax-holes. Another is when he has to test his skill to slay the suitors. He has another test in keeping his identity a secret and revealing it at the right time to the right people. The tests are important because the book would not be very interesting without them. They all have a similar purpose in journeys of heroes.
JV

Anonymous said...

Dear Patrick,
I belive that your comment is very accurate. I did not think of some of the tests as mental tests when writing my comment but after reading your comment I saw how that is true.

Sydney Shelton

Anonymous said...

Matthew,
Your comment is quite exceptional. If he couldn't prove to his wife and his father that it was actually their husband and son then he would not have been trusted and would not have become the king of Ithaca once more.
JV

Anonymous said...

Odysseus had a purpose and this purpose drove him to greatness. Helping him put his mental strength as well as his physical strength to the test in the trails. he also had to have endurance both physical and mental.
Watching all of his men die and living that long on one purpose; to get home. the cyclops the king the winds all tested him. But he succeeded.

Lyta Foulk

Anonymous said...

Lark,

You are right the characters did also face tests of loyalty. And not just odysseus you're right when you said that all the characters faced tests and sadly the majority of them failed.

Lyta Foulk

Lindy Pittman said...

I believe their are a lot of tests in the latter chapters of the book. These tests set up so the characters will grow as people. When Odysseus and Telemachus have to keep the secret of Odysseus' identity hidden that is a mental test. Also, when Odysseus has to kill all the suitors as well as defeat their families that was a test of strength and wit. Overall, their have been many tests and all have expanded the characters in the book.

Lindy Pittman said...

Dear Gillian,
I agree with you completely. All of the tests were important. Another example of a trial is when Odysseus has to endure the ridicule of the suitors and their supporters.

Anonymous said...

There are many tests that Odysseus and many other characters must face after "Return to Ithaca". When Telemachas finds out that his father is alive, he must not tell anyone. This is all a part of the plan for Odysseus to return to the throne for if he told anyone, he would lose him former place. One big test for Odysseus is to prove that he is Penelope's wife. He must really prove it because Penelope is positive that Odysseus is dead because he has been away for 19 years. He must string the bow and answer questions that only him and penelope would know. I think that most of the tests have a similar purpose because they all have to do with Odysseus trying to get home to Ithaca. Some of them are different though because they have to do with tricking the suitors and winning back Penelope.

Jack Starkey

Anonymous said...

Rylan,
Good comment. You used lots of detail from the book. I liked what you said about how he wanted to desperatly see his family but he remained in disguise.

Jack Starkey

Raleigh Darcy said...

I thought there was a lot of challenges that odyesseas had to face in the book. like keeping the disquise for a while, the archery contest, the cyclops cave, and the slaying of the suitors. I think that they have similar purposes for the most part. Odyesseas needed to be smart to escape the cyclops cave and keeping the disquise. Not all the challenges were for Odyseas there was also for other characters.
Raleigh D

Raleigh Darcy said...

Patrick, I agree with you completly, most of the challenges were to get closer to returning to his wife and son. I like how you talked about the mental and physical differences in the book.
Raleigh D

Anna said...

There are many trials he faces in the chapter Return To Ithica, both physical and mental, for examples when he does the archery contest and slaying the suitors. Those are both physical challenges. He also has to keep up the diguse of Odysseus. Overall the challenges he has to face keep the reader awake and looking foward to reading the rest of the book.
- Anna Skubiz

Anna said...

Tanner, i agree with you on his challenges. and how they all prenvent him from going back to Ithica

Anna said...

Meg,
i agree with you on how all the challenges keep Odysseus fom coming home, and that his wife and son want him home as well.

Peter Rosenthal said...

I think that there is a lot of tests in that chapter, and in the whole end of the book. He must keep hidden with his disguise a lot, and there is also it was a test for Penelope to keep loving Odysseus while he was gone, and not give up on him.

Peter Rosenthal said...

Lark,
I agree with you on how most of the tests are loyalty tests.

Anonymous said...

There are many different trials throughout this novel, some physical others mental, and a few emotional. I think that the trials at the end of this book are very important because it shows how Odysseus’ character develops. I think that the trails at the end of the book are both similar and different. They are all similar because they are keeping him for reaching his home, seeing his wife and regaining his throne. They are all different because each one has a different way of testing him, for example when he had to win the archery contest it tested him physically but when he fought all of the angry suitors it was more emotional because he was angry at them for trying to take his wife. All of the trials similar and different were good ways of showing how the main character develops in the story and make the story interesting
Channing C.

Anonymous said...

Dear Lark,
I agree that all the tests do make the characters more interesting. Every character who is tested is usually tested for loyalties. Peelope and Telemachus still remain very loryal to Odysseus. I also agree that there are other tests just to make the story more interesting.

Channing C.

Anonymous said...

there are alot of tests but the big one are the archery contest, slaying the suitors, and maintaining a disguise for some time.
Kelly Ryan

Anonymous said...

Dear Cole,
i think you are right because the tests can make a book interesting. they also help make the character more "3D"
Kelly Ryan

Sydney B. said...

The book Return to Ithica contains many physical as well as mental tests. It is a physical test when Odysseus needs to shoot through the rings of the twelve axes but a mental test when Penelope questions him what Odysseus looked like when he pretended to be a Cretan prince and had Odysseus as a visitor. Without any tests, there would be no excitement and the characters in the book would never get anything accomplished. Both of the journey's tests are similar in which they are trying to succeed with mental as well as physical, like when Odysseus formulates a plan to escape the Cyclops' cave and how Odysseus makes a plan not to reveal who he is until the very last second to the suitors.

Sydney B. said...

Anna,
I agree with you exactly. Odysseus not only passes his physical tests, he also goes through mental tests. Without any tests, the book wouldn't be interesting or have any meaning. It would also not develop the character, his tests show that he is highly capable of making the perfect plans and succeeding in anything physical.

Anonymous said...

The end of the book, all the way through it actually, is filled for tests and challenges for Odysseus, Telemachus, and others. The end is when the challenges start getting easier and harder at the same time. Telemachus has to keep Odysseus hidden, and Penelope has to know that it is indeed Odysseus and not a doppelganger. Odysseus has to slay all the suitors and best them in an archery contest. Though Odysseus knew how some of these would turn out, others really challenged him.

Tyler H.

Anonymous said...

JV,

I agree. These challenges at the end test Odysseus's strength, skill, smarts. and dedication.

Tyler H.

Max Gamber said...

In the book there was test after test of physical and mental challenges. For example, it was a mental challenge when Odysseus had to devise a plan to get out of the cyclopes cave and it was a physical challenge to stay alive on the ship's mast for nine days and nights.

MAX GAMBER

Max Gamber said...

Jack Craig- I agree with you. The book was just a long strong of tests for Odysseus and his followers. I like how you used the example of how all of his followers must remain loyal to him.

MAX GAMBER

erik summers said...

The tests of the last chapter of the book The Wanderings of Odysseus were a very significant part of character development in this book. One very significant test is when Odysseus kills the suitors. Another is when he must prove to Penelope whether he is Odysseus or not. These are mostly mental tests. However, ther are some physical tests as well, such as stabbing the cyclops in the eye or not. All in all, the tests characters face in this book are tests that build character in many people, and make them stronger.

erik summers said...

Dear Patrick,
I completely agree with you. very well said :)
Erik

Esther DelliQuadri said...

aI think that there are a lot of test in the end of the book. For example, there is the test to see if Odysseus can slay the suitors and the one where Telemachus can keep his father's secret. The test the characters go through are both very physical and mental. Thes tests are very important because without them there wouldn't be a good plot.

Esther DelliQuadri said...

Rylan,
I agree with you that there are many tests. I also agree with you that the major tests are the archery contest, the slaying of the suitors and the disguise. Most were physical but the last one mentioned was mental.

Anonymous said...

Penelope and Odysseus are both tested because Penelope waits 20 years for Odysseus and Odysseus is tested multiple times in the cyclops cave on how to outwit the cyclops and hurt the cyclops and escape under his sheep. Overall they are tested all the time throughout the book.


Scotty Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Anonymous said...

Patrick,
Nice comment and I agree with you that there are a lot of tests and that there is a physical test when he stabs the cyclops in the eye. Although I also think that stabbing the cyclops in the eye is also mental test because he has to be brave. I agree with you Patrick.

Anonymous said...

that last comment is by Scott