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  • Essay / A lesson to never give up in "The Odyssey", a poem by Homer

    The Odyssey is a literary classic. Most people know how the story goes, but only a handful have read it and discussed it in depth. The truth is that most people (mostly through inexperience) feel that the story of Odysseus and his journey are irrelevant to 21st century high school students. They think that there is nothing to be learned from reading the book that will help students in the long run. But just because many people think The Odyssey can't benefit high school students. The Odyssey contains many life and moral lessons, but the most important thing to take away from The Odyssey is to “never give up.” The Odyssey contains the life lesson of never giving up and should therefore continue to be included in the GBN curriculum. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Think back to all the times you never gave up. I bet at least thirty percent of those moments take place in high school, the most important part of a student's life. High school students face many problems every day and learning to never give up is a very important thing for students to learn. Many characters in The Odyssey never give up, take for example the main character Ulysses. When he and his ship are bombarded by a huge wave, his ship crashes and he falls into the water. With his crew dead in the accident, he is all alone. “Fighting from the breakers pointing towards the coast, out of danger, [Odysseus] swam, scanning the land, trying to find a sea beach sheltered from the waves, a sheltered cove, and stroking hard, he arrived at the height from the mouth of a river. .” (166 lines: 483-486) ​​After three days of floating on a piece of his wrecked ship, Odysseus does not give up on reaching the shore. High school students can relate to this because they face many difficult challenges. Final exams, relationships, studying for collages are some of the many examples of obstacles that high school students face, and learning to never give up can help them overcome their obstacles. High school is a very important part of a student's life, but as they grow up, students will face many other challenges throughout their lives. Graduating from college, starting a family and buying a house are all challenges that students will face. If any of these challenges become an obstacle, students must know to never give up. As they read The Odyssey, they can see all the "never give up" places popping up, and they will begin to compare Odysseus' problems (reuniting the family, caring for unwanted visitors, and overcoming pride) with what they will have to face as they grow up. Another example of Odysseus never giving up is when he and his crew are trapped in the Cyclops' cave. They hatch a plan to blind the cyclops "Now, finally, I plunged our steak into a bed of embers to heat it red [...] just as the steak with olives was about to catch fire, I pulled him from the flames, my men gathered as a god breathed courage into us all. Hoisting this olive steak high with its stabbing tip, directly into the monster's eye, they drove it down violently. (223 lines: 420-428) This quote shows that Odysseus did not have to give up when he and his crew were in danger. They were always hatching a plan to escape from the hands of the Cyclops who had trapped them. Keep in mind: this is only one.