The Odyssey: Foreshadowing the Return HomeThe majority of the Odyssey is an account of the adventures of Odysseus trying to reach his homeland of Ithaca. Several of these adventures are false returns home, the most notable being his imprisonment on the island of Kalypso. This false return is strikingly different from what one might expect from Odysseus' true return, but similar enough that parallels can be drawn between the two. Homer uses this false return to foreshadow the true return of Odysseus. Throughout the Odyssey, Homer presents the reader with certain clues as to what Odysseus thinks his return should (but not necessarily will) look like. First, Odysseus wants to return to Ithaca. Homer goes so far as to ask Odysseus to describe Ithaca: “There is a mountain there that stands high, Neritos with trembling leaves, and there are islands established around it, very close to each other. There are Doulichion and Same, wooded Zakynthos, but my island is low and distant, finally on the water…” (Bk. 9, ln. 21-25). Kalypso lives on an island that might actually look like Ithaca. In this way, Homer begins to alert the reader that this scene might be a false homecoming. But the mere fact that Kalypso lives on an island is not sufficient evidence to conclude that it could foreshadow Odysseus' true return. Other proofs are needed, and Homer provides them. Ulysses hopes to reunite with his family and return to the way of life to which he is accustomed. For the most part, Kalypso treats him the way he's used to being treated: there's a certain sense of familiarity here. Returning from ten years of war with Troy and at least several years at sea, Odysseus wishes to return to the comfort of home. His cave has...... middle of paper...... people and customs that Odysseus hopes to come home to, and Homer only uses Kalypso's fake family and house to foreshadow this. When Odysseus finally reaches Ithaca, all that Homer foreshadowed using the island of Kalypso as a false return home comes true, and subsequently all of Odysseus's expectations are realized. Odysseus returns to an island, but it is Ithaca. He is met with inhospitality from the suitors (as Homer foreshadowed), but soon restores order and his own sense of civilization. Odysseus and Penelope (rather than Kalypso's image-perfect wife) are reunited. Recognized by his son, his wife and his people, Odysseus' return is complete. No matter how desirable the world Kalypso created for Odysseus seemed, it was only a false return to the land used by Homer because its generalities foreshadowed the details of Odysseus' true return..