COMPARING A POEM WITH A BOOK ODYSSEY AND THE ITACHA POEM IS THE LEGEND OF ODYSSEY MEANINGLESS?

“As you set out for Ithaka hope your road is a long one,... Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is what you're destined for.” Ithaca is marvelous and meaningful poem which is written by a Greek poet who usually examines critically some aspects of Christianity and patriotism. Similarly, being interested in these topics impels him to write about Greek legends. Odyssey is a Greek legend which tells the story of a Greek hero, Odysseus. Due to the betrayal of Helen, Greeks makes a great army and fights with the Trojans. Troy falls and the army veterans turn back to their homes. However, besides the past ten years, Odysseus does not return to his home, Ithaca, due to the handicaps he has to face during the voyage. He meets both with many dangerous creatures like one eyed giants and human eater dragons; and the goddesses that want to live with him and give him a chance to be an immortal. Nevertheless, his love for his wife, Penelope and his home Ithaca give him strength and keep him hopeful always. At the end, he reaches Ithaca, however what comes to minds when the word Odysseus is heard is his adventurous voyage. Similarly, C.P. Cavafy examines Odysseus voyage in his didactical poem. The most obvious difference between the legend and his poem is the style of the writers. While in the legend, the events are told like a storytelling, Cavafy takes the reader into some deep meanings and his significant sentences catch to the eyes. Furthermore, this huge difference gets bigger, if instead of the original text, a retelling is examined. In other words, just like the air in a ball, the poem gives reader the meaning of the story. Just like how a ball doesn’t have any value without the air inside and the air would mix with the outer air, if the ball wouldn’t cover it; the story of Odysseus is just a baby story, if its meaning is not taken out.

The main point of the poem is the meaning of Ithaca. Besides the fact that, Ithaca might be considered as a perceptible symbol, its abstract meanings come into prominence more. Even though, when it is read once, the idea that Ithaca symbolizes the hometown and the love for it comes to mind; after some more examinations some different meanings might catch to the eyes. Especially, the lines that are “As you set out for Ithaka...” and “...Arriving there is what you're destined for.” show the reader that Ithaca is some where you start your journey and end it. At this point, Ithaca might symbolize two similar things. Firstly it might be hometown. If it is a symbol for hometown and if it is examined according to 21st century’s people’s condition, that idea would fit very well with the situation: Even though one day people have to leave their hometown either because of money distress or to study, they come back, since something combine them with their hometown. If unluckily for some reason they cannot, at that time their death body rejoins its dry solid. The other one is the earth (solid), as before told Ithaca is point that the journey starts and ends. Thus, if the journey is the life, then Ithaca is the thing people are created from and at the end vanished into it. (According to Islamic and Christianity beliefs God created the first human, Adam, from solid and since all human are the sons and daughters of Adam, the solid is the raw material of all human.) Also, knowing C.P. Cavafy’s interest in Christianity makes that idea stronger.

The most obvious difference between the story and the poem is the writers’ styles. In the legend, merely the events are told the readers and the writer’s emotions and ideas are not present. Nevertheless, most of his ideas are conveyed while describing the occurrences. Furthermore, in Picard’s retelling this difference is more obvious and since it is a retelling of the original text, most probably there is some meaning lose, too and because of it the legend is like a child story. On the other hand, in Ithaca poem, Cavafy’s ideas constitute an important part and meanings are clearer for the readers. Also, the allusions to the characters that are part of the legend enrich the poem and catch to eyes as a fact of being conspicuous. Furthermore, via using suggestion sentences like “Keep Ithaca always in mind…”, “Hope your road is a long one...” and “As you set out for Ithaka hope your road is a long one...” it has a feature of being didactical poem. As another striking peculiarity, he starts the first three paragraphs with proposal sentences. It also draws readers’ attention and helps him to connect the paragraphs. Similarly, he utilizes repetition of some words. To illustrate, “…hope your road is long one.” is used twice both in the beginning of the poem and in the second paragraph. He uses it, since he aims to stress the length of Odysseus’ voyage and it makes the readers curious. It both helps him to draw the attentions and give the meanings clearly. When this lines are read, most the readers would think like “Why would he hopes to have a long road, his only aim is to reach Ithaca.” and would think what Ithaca might symbolize. Thus, Cavafy would reach his aim. Furthermore, besides the fact that both in the poem and the retelling there is no persona, as Cavafy uses 2^nd person point of view, in Picard’s retelling third person point of view is used. It causes the fact that Picard’s retelling is more understandable and clear, and Cavafy’s poem is more meaningful. However, with his word choice Cavafy solves this problem and his poem is understandable, too. As the last but not the least disparity, the writers’ using of different tones in their work of art strikes the eyes. Picard’s retelling has an adventurous tone and narrations leave a mark on the readers. However, due to the surplus numbers of events, sometimes boredom occurs. On the other hand, Cavafy uses very hopeful tone and tries to give hope to people who are in similar position with Odyssey. At this point, his using of didactic sentences might be seen. To illustrate his hopeful tone this quotation “Laistrygonians, Cyclops, angry Poseidon - don't be afraid of them: you'll never find things like that one on your way as long as you keep your thoughts raised high, as long as a rare excitement stirs your spirit and your body.” might be useful.

To sum up, Cavafy brings out the meanings that are hidden in “Odyssey” into open. With this feature, his poem gains some importance and he also achieves to give his messages to today’s people. Also, being interested in Christianity direct him to write about religious topics and he uses Ithaca as a symbol of solid where humans come from and go to. He successfully suggests people to be hopeful and not to be afraid of anything via referring to the legend of Odysseus.