The Odyssey Theme of Suffering

In Greek mythology, being human entails suffering. There is no escape from pain; it is the curse of mortality. Again and again in the Odyssey, our hero is reminded of this fact. To endure, then, is the only solution. Suffering comes in all forms in this epic, from physical pain to loneliness, isolation, and the emotional anguish of not knowing whether loved ones are alive or dead.

1. From the gods’ perspective, is there any way for mortals to avoid suffering in the Odyssey?
2. How do men in this epic rid themselves of pain and suffering? What about Odysseus, specifically?
3. Antikleia, Odysseus’s mother, dies "out of grief" over her son’s absence. How is this action depicted in the Odyssey – as understandable or as unwarranted?
4. Is there a point to all of Odysseus’s suffering? Does he perhaps return to Ithaka humbler? Wiser?
5. Obviously, mortals suffer in the Odyssey. What about the gods? Is their suffering less? Different?
6. Does Penelope suffer more for her ignorance about her husband’s fate than if he had simply died in the Trojan war?

Odysseus’s great suffering at sea is fair because of the injustice he committed in regards to Poseidon’s son.

Suffering serves no purpose in the Odyssey and is merely the senseless burden that all mortals must bear.