Why did Odysseus get to live happily after his adventures when other greek heros didn't?

Question

I was studying him for school and I was wondering if anyone has an opinion on why Odysseus seems to be given good life after he gets home to Ithaca. Most Greek heroes hardships continue, or they go crazy, or their wives kill them, or some other bad thing happens to them and they lose everything. Odysseus seems to be the only one who is allowed to get through his adventures more or less unscathed and is able to continue living happily for a long time. Are we supposed to see him as better than other heroes or is his just a different kind of story?

Answer 1

Well, as a mythology lover and Latin student, I'm bound to have an opinion on this!

I think the Odysseus we get to see in the Iliad in not much different from the other Greek heroes... But the Odysseus in the Odyssey is a different kind of character in a different kind of story, indeed.

Many scholars believe that the Odyssey was written in a later period compared to the Iliad (we can't be sure that what is generally called Homer actually was a real poet!) and it's easy to see that the two epics present different sets of values: basicly, the Odyssey favours the advantages of a peaceful existence, as opposed to the Iliad, where warfare was the main activity and heroism on the battlefield was regarded as the sole ideal... (see Achilles for instance - he deliberately choses a brief life and to die in glory, even if he could have lead a long and happy life instead...). We should aslo link the adventures Odysseus goes through at see with the Greeks' love for navigation and commerce...

Now, in the Odyssey, the hero is depicted as having certain remarcable qualities that differentiate him from the others. To say that his is an individuality would be far-fetched, considering we're talking about literature in one of its first stages, but Odysseus is a different type of character. Don't forget that he is much older than he was in the Iliad (you probably know that the action of the Odyssey starts during the tenth year of his travells... And considering that the Trojan War lasted for another decade, the man hadn't seen his home for twenty years!)

So it's credible that he should be homesick and determined to go back to his wife. His noble purpose (as opposed to the motivations of the others) makes him stand out. In addition, he has many qualities that make him special. Almost all heroes (Greeks and Trojan alike) were fearless, valiant and skillful at arms. Odysseus is also extremely smart and ingenious. He's persuasive and a great orator. He's strong-willed and cautious. He has faith in the gods (especially Athena, his protector) but he also confides in himself. Moreover, his natural intelligence has been inhanced by his experience and, with age, he has also earned wisdom.

With all these qualities, I suppose he deserved to enjoy a happy ending, after 10 years of hardship in war and another 10 years of hardshiop trying to get home. Like in the case of Aeneas, the gods (in this case, Poseidon, for Aeneas, Juno) raise numerous obstacles in his path, but, after he has worked his way through them all, the gods finally grant him some peace and quiet.

But let's not forget that the witty Odysseus was also Athena's favourite. With such a powerful goddess to look after him, he was bound to reach his goals in the end.

Odysseus is not only a hero, but symbol too: he represents cleverness and is also the prototype of a wanderer and discoverer.

So if we combine his skills and the aid of Athena, we get a fairly good explanations of why he "get to live happily ever after".

But according to other authors besides Homer, he didn't. According to Dante for example, after some time home, Odysseus leaves Penelope again, in search of new adventures. He wants to cross the Gibraltar (which was, at the time, a kind of limit to the known world...) and explore the wester sea (the Atlantic Ocean), but tragicaly he dies away from home in a storm. We could say that his final expedition lead him to be sanked because he wanted to know too much (an instance of hybris, I think). Not to mention that, from a Christian perspective, Dante places him in the depths of Hell, to be punished for his wrongdoinds durin the Trojan War and particularly for that famed Trojan Horse device which won him so much glory... But this is an alternative version of Odysseus' ending and I think you're only interested in the original Homeric story.

To conclude this way too long answer, I'd say that Odysseus get a happy ending because:
1). at the level of human experience--> he deserves it
2). at the level of divine grace --> he has the favours of Athena
3). at the level of critical interpretation --> he represents a new type of literary character.

I hope that I have given you a credible answer...

Answer 2

Well Achille's mother was a goddess so i don't think it has much to do with the Gods.
Do consider though that the Odyssey is a legend meaning that it could have partially been based on true facts and partially on made up stories. So he could have really survived or just been so admired that his life was spared in the end so that more stories could have been created with him in it.
Also, part of the strory is about Penelope and to show her faithfulness. If Odysseus hadn't survived that part of the story would not have been esential but it is pretty important today into the insight into the ideal Greek woman.
Also great figures in history like Alexander were deified to the status of a God because of their achievements.

Answer 3

Actually, some historians believe that the happy ending was added by other authors. They believe that Odysseus actually died in the fight with the suitors.

"Some scholars believe the epic poem (or was it the myth behind the epic?) originally ended with the death of Odysseus in his battle against the suitors. This was the direction that 'Cold Mountain' chose."

Answer 4

none of the others have been in the graces of a goddess like athena - that's why.

Answer 5

maybe

Answer 6

"He got peeps."