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Interpreting The Odyssey, a story that has captured humanity’s attention for some 3,000 years, is no small thing. Partly because it impacts each listener differently depending on their circumstances. This is true of all stories, but even more so with those as dense in meaning as The Odyssey.
That being established, I’d like to offer this—The Odyssey offers a narrative commentary on the roles of curiosity and ambition in adulthood.
In the Telemachy, these two motivations draw Telemachus into venturing beyond Ithaca. Curiosity, so as to learn his father’s fate. Ambition, to gain a reputation among Ithaca’s neighboring kingdoms. He accomplishes both.
This trip provides him with the liminal space necessary for transitioning from boyhood to manhood. Meaning this could only happen if he left home, and these were the motivations that drove him to do so.
This illustrates how curiosity and ambition are significant factors in any person’s transition from childhood to adulthood.
The same motivations are also at play with Odysseus; yet, in his story, we’re shown their inherent dangers.
Curiosity and ambition led him to leave Ithaca initially for the Trojan War, seeking to win honor and glory. As the crafty one who proposed the strategy that finally won the war—the Trojan horse—he did exactly that.
Yes, on his return journey, the very same desires waylaid him an additional ten years. When they discover the Cyclops’ cave, his men sense something foul and beg him to leave. He refuses because he wants to meet whoever lives there and receive a gift from them. His curiosity is insatiable.
You can imagine his surprise and horror when the Cyclops strolls in, locks the door and begins devouring his men like a fifth grader devours Cheetos. Thankfully, because of his craftiness, Odysseus escapes. Then, his ambition steps in.
As he’s sailing away, Odysseus shouts his real name back to the Cyclops, rubbing his escape in his face, letting him know exactly who bested him. It’s a play motivated entirely by ambition, and it’s his downfall.
What Odysseus doesn’t know is that this Cyclops, Polyphemus, is the son of Poseidon, God of the Sea. In vengeance for his son, Poseidon frustrates and obstructs Odysseus’s journey home at every step of the way, delaying him an additional ten years.
The story reveals the double-sided nature of curiosity and ambition. They’re necessary and their complete absence could prove problematic. They drive us to keep moving forward in life, becoming responsible for ourselves and others, and making the most of the opportunities we’re given.
Yet clearly, they can be taken too far. Unbound curiosity and ambition destroy. They threaten to ruin the quality of our relationships and lives.
For these reasons, 🔥 fire 🔥 provides a helpful metaphor.
Like fire, if these desires are absent, it’s a sign that life has grown cold and dead, lifeless, without motion. There’s something wrong and missing. Yet, it’s possible to overfeed them, to pour too much on them, creating a bonfire that burns out of control and destroys your life.
Part of adulthood is stoking these fires while simultaneously tempering them, keeping curiosity and ambition burning so that life keeps moving forward, but not allowing them to burn away recklessly.
Because of this, perhaps the most helpful question is to ask, what’s the current level of your curiosity and ambition?
Is there a need to put more wood on, to stoke some signs of life back into the fires? Or are things already burning beyond your control?
To put it more concretely, is there anything you’re trying to learn or accomplish that you never have before? If not, the fires may be subsiding and need tending to. Or is ambition already drowning your relationships and consuming your life? If so, they may be burning too hotly already.
The trick is to always keep them alive while not allowing them to threaten our own lives. To enjoy their warmth without suffering their burns. The Odyssey offers wisdom to help us do just that.
Next time, in part 4/4, we’ll delve into some theological interaction.
Until then, enjoy you’re reading!
-Trevor