The Odyssey-Part 2

I really enjoy all the descriptions in The Odyssey. Everything is really easy to imagine, and I still really like the format of all the different stories.

Everything seems really dismal for all the heroes in general. Their lots in life seems to be incredibly difficult, dangerous, and emotionally damaging. In The Kingdom of the Dead, every hero—most whose names have been mentioned in relation to how awesome of hero they were—had a tragic end. They spent so much of their lives in this drastic situation, a tightrope of life and death, and they all ended up in the exact same place, without ever having the chance to live their life. Their lives were determined, more or less, the moment they had a god or goddess for a parent. But they all still were more or less destined for the same fate, the same end. Heroes do not seem to survive very long, and the gods and goddesses do not really let them. It really seems like the only way a demigod would be able to survive for very long is if they managed to avoid having any of the gods or goddesses know they exist: no great or powerful deeds, no quests, nothing. If they lived their life quietly, then they would have a significantly less blatant chance of angering someone who could kill them—and has absolutely no problem whatsoever killing people. The gods are way too emotional.

I still really do not understand why everyone wants to kill Odysseus. It honestly does not seem like he is worth the effort to try to kill him. Obviously no one has succeeded thus far, and since apparently none of the gods and goddesses can actually work together well enough to off him, and no one can quite work together well enough to save him entirely, everyone should just give up their dreams of revenge or heroics and let the guy live his life (more or less) in peace. If he really is so important, he would be better off left to his own device actually able to make a difference than dragged all over the place in attempts to kill him.

I am also seriously impressed with how easily women seem to swoon over him. Odysseus really does not seem that great. He is not dead yet, great. There are easily hundreds of thousands of men who are also not dead yet. Get over yourself.

Why do you think, out of all the possible people to talk to Odysseus, why was it Achilles who went through the list of the dead?

Do you think Odysseus would have made it this far without the help of any gods or goddesses, or anyone else? Do you think he was strong or smart enough to figure everything out on his own?

Why do you think, out of all these people and heroes, why is Odysseus so important?