Odysseus, now a hero of the Trojan War, meets and battles the Cyclops, in whose cave he brings the vengeance of the gods upon himself. After sufficiently intoxicating the one-eyed brute who has consumed the majority of his crew, Odysseus blinds him and then brags about it, reminding the Cyclops a number of times exactly who he is. Seemingly victorious, Odysseus sails away, yet Cyclops, being a son of Poseidon, inflicts the gods' rage upon him. He is now not only separated from his home on Ithaca, but also from the gods' favor as he struggles to reach his destination. Having put out the eye which represented the gods' wisdom, he almost personally invited the gods to prove that they were in charge, not Odysseus.

     Having been cursed by Poseidon, Odysseus is forced to arrive at the lair of Circe, a goddess who imprisoned men and deprived them of knowledge of their homeland. Circe turns Odysseus' men into swine with her wand and one of the crew, Eurylochos, tells Odysseus of her mischief. He then pulls out his sword and aims it at Circe when confronted by her wand, and she begs to have his favor and pleads to be allowed to please him. Odysseus, after requiring that Circe take an oath not to harm him and to turn his men back into men, obtains directions from her to Hades, which to him seems like an even greater separation since it is from the entire living world and not just Ithaca, but Circe assures him that going through the kingdom of the shades is the only way home.

     After returning from Hell, Odysseus is enlightened with his message: He must bring peace to his kingdom. He arrives at Ithaca in the guise of an old, wizened beggar man, which is somewhat symbolic of his enlightened state. With help from Athena, Odysseus is able to devise a way to win back his rightful place as the palace ruler and to dispatch the suitors. After winning the contest by stringing the bow, he shoots some of the suitors. Though he was reunited with his homeland, the suitors still stood in his way, so he could not be reunited with his family.

     Each time Odysseus has a hurdle to overcome, he is also going through some type of separation. In every case, the conflict must be resolved using both physical and mental prowess, and every trial makes Odysseus feel an almost desperate longing to return to his home and family, because, according to Odysseus, "nothing grows sweeter than a man's father land." Every time Odysseus was faced with a problem or obstacle, he would realize that he just wanted to be back on Ithaca with Penélope and Telémachas, and it makes him understand that his purpose in life is to restore and keep the highest level of peace possible. The trials that the gods put him through teach Odysseus that it is not necessary to be a warrior, and that it is much more important to avert war than to instigate it. The longer Odysseus is separated from all he knows and loves, the more he realizes the truth: that his destiny continues in his homeland.

[My comment: I got a B-plus on this, and my teacher told me many of my points were weak and needed support or more analysis.]