Odysseus Experiences Of Veterans In Homer's Odyssey
638 Words3 Pages
How many times, after returning home from an extended, does one feel out place in their own home? Familiar comforts like one’s bed or closet seem strange after living out of suitcases and hotels. With that in mind, imagine how someone would feel coming home after months overseas, fighting, watching comrades die and taking lives themselves. The thought of actually relaxing or sleeping in a bed instead of a barrack may seem surreal. The experiences and emotions of veterans have been explored as far back as the 8th century BC by Homer in the Odyssey. As Caroline Alexander states in her New York Times article, “Back from War, But Not Really Home,” the sense of dislocation Odysseus experiences at the close of the Trojan War is what veterans today.…show more content… What they may not realize is that returning home can be more difficult than staying on the battlefield. Veterans can find it arduous to relate to those who have not lived as they have and seen or committed the necessary atrocities they have. Odysseus himself was not able to express himself post war and fabricated grand tales instead of sharing the true horrors of war. Alexander mentions,
“Throughout his long voyage back, he has reacted to each stranger with elaborate caginess,
Concocting stories about who he is and what he has seen and done-the real war he keeps to himself.” Only with those who fought alongside him would be able to share the truth. Although it should be celebrated, a veteran’s return home can often be plagued by sadness for lives they left behind. No matter how skilled a fighter or how courageous one was, fellow soldiers might only be able to recall their last few moments. Odysseus faced this very struggle as highlighted by the article, “Among the thronging souls of men and women dead and past, he confronted his comrades of war…robust heroes of epic tales now reduced to unhappy shades who haunt his story.” Memories of their dying companions may haunt a soldier long after he leaves the