Odysseus to Telemachus
Brodsky's resigned Odysseus versus Homer's determined hero-the differences between Homer's epic and Brodsky's short poem "Odysseus to Telemachus"Homer's "Odyssey" is an epic poem that was a source of national pride to the ancient Greeks, while Joseph Brodsky's poem "Odysseus to Telemachus is a short, dramatic monologue, written in the singular, first-person voice of Homer's hero. Homer's epic defined Greek values of cleverness and strength for an entire population for centuries while Brodsky's is a personal work, an exploration of the relationship of a father to a son. Of course, both the Greek epic and the 20th century poem that inspired by the earlier work deal with the complex relationships between fathers and sons. After all, he "Odyssey" begins with Telemachus' quest to discover if his father is still alive, and to fulfill the reputation for valor and cleverness won by Odysseus during the Trojan War. But Brodsky takes a more psychologically oriented approach to Homer's work. Rather than telling a
tale of a hero, Brodsky's poem tells of a fraught father-son relationship based upon a man's individual sense of loss, rather than the fulfillment of a man's destiny that occurs at the end of Homer's epic. Thus, Brodsky's Odysseys does not live in hope, he does not sound like Homer's undaunted hero, capable of weathering any circumstance that may come in his way, fighting for glory and against the gods that would deter him in his quest. "You've long since ceased to be that babe/before whom I reined in the plowing bullocks. For Homer's Odysseus, all of the women he meets are "some queen or other. He states at the beginning of the poem, regarding the conflict that Odysseus cannot even: "recall who won it. Instead, he simply is tired of sailing for so long: "But still, my homeward way has proved too long. Rather than expressing any affection for the sea, Brodsky's Homer hates the ocean, not because it is associated with the sea god but because of its impersonal and vast quality. He does not swell with pride that his son might resemble him in valor. Some of the insights about the futile nature war are common to both Brodsky and Homer's versions of the Odysseus tale. " It doesn't matter, no more than the victories that Odysseus has won. Unlike Homer's Odysseus who too delight in hearing the songs of the sirens, the Odysseus of Brodsky's poem states "I don't know where I am or what this place/ can be. However, while Homer came from a society that viewed war as a necessary evil, Brodsky regrets the existence of war in general, and suggests it might not be necessary at all for society to function. " Brodsky eclipses all of Odysseus' various adventures into hate for his bestial crew, turned fittingly into pigs by the enchantress Circe. In short, Brodsky's Odysseus is a modern man, uncertain of the future and his own worth. " This Odysseus regrets some of his tricks and faults, sadly concluding that the son may actually fare better away from the influence of his supposedly great father.
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Acceptance Essays
