The Odyssey and Epic Poetry: An Introduction, Part 1

Question 2 • EN091 Freshman English A

Which excerpt from The Odyssey best shows that the ancient Greeks greatly valued the idea of home?

Answer

What of those yearsof rough adventure, weathered under Zeus?The wind that carried us west from Iliumbrought me to Ismarus, on the far shore, a strongpoint on the coast of Cicones.

And this new grief we bore with us to sea: our precious lives we had, but not our friends. No ship made sail next day until some shipmate had raised a cry, three times, for each poor ghost unfleshed by the Cicones on that field.

They fell in, soon enough, with Lotus-Eaters,who showed no will to do us harm, onlyoffering the sweet Lotus to our friends—but those who ate this honeyed plant, the Lotus,never cared to report, nor to return:

My home is on the peaked sea-mark of Ithacaunder Mount Neion's wind-blown robe of leaves,in sight of other islands—Dulichium,Same, wooded Zacynthus—Ithacabeing most lofty in that coastal sea,

Explanation

The excerpt in D identifies Odysseus’s home as Ithaca and describes it with affection and detail. This emphasis on home as a specific, cherished place best reflects the Greeks’ value of home. The other excerpts focus on travel, grief, or the Lotus-Eaters’ lack of desire to return home.

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