Odysseus In Book One Of Homer's The Odyssey

Global literature can immerse a reader into any culture around the world. By studying global literature, a reader can experience the world through different perspectives and get a taste of another culture’s way of life. For the twenty-first century American reader, ancient global literature may seem unlike any text read before; the reader is bounced around from continent to continent, leaving time and space disoriented and exaggerated.
The word “journey” is used so loosely throughout global ancient literature that it is often difficult for a reader to follow the plot of a text. Ancient literature characters often set off on journeys, recalling events that seem unrealistic. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus travels from Troy to Ithaca, stopping at many places along the way. Realistically, travel during this time was very dangerous and often impossible. Homer exaggerated Odysseus’ travels to portray his love for his heroic characters. The perspective of an author greatly influences how time and
The goddess Calypso has fallen in love with Odysseus and has refused to allow him to leave. Eventually, Calypso is persuaded by Zeus to allow Odysseus to leave the island. Odysseus travels by sea, and on the eighteenth day he arrives on the island of the Phaeacians. On this island, Odysseus tells his tale of travels. After departing Troy (present-day Turkey) Odysseus and his men rest in Ismaros, a region in Greece. Odysseus then explains how is ship was blown off course, landing in Cape Maleia, nearly six hundred miles away. From there Odysseus again travels hundreds of miles landing in modern-day Tunisia. Odysseus faced many obstacles on his journey home, one obstacle he explains by saying, “I was driven thence by foul winds for a space of nine days, but on the tenth day we reached the land of the Lotus-eaters (9.105). Homer constantly derails Odysseus, hoping that he gains compassion from the