Loyalty

"Loyalty is rare. If you find it, keep it."

There is no better example of loyalty in The Odyssey than Eumaios, the swineherd. While many of Odysseus’s servants befriended the cheeky men that were shamelessly wooing their master’s wife and devouring his fortune, only a handful remained loyal, and Eumaious among them. He cared for his master’s pigs as if they were his own, even twenty years after Odysseus left, and in spite of the fact that he no longer believed he would see his beloved master again, his devotedness toward him never wavered.

It’s easy to be loyal to someone who is present, but being loyal to someone who has been away for so long is not, and it’s a lot harder to remain loyal if you think that person is never coming back. It’s also easy to be loyal to someone in good times – but what about in bad times? It’s very common to see people turn their backs on friends, who they used to support unconditionally, when the friends are hit by bad times.

It really hurts when we’re betrayed by the people who we thought we could expect unconditional loyalty from, especially when we need them the most. So, if there’s someone among your friends or family who is with you through thick and thin, like Eumaious was to Odysseus, count yourself blessed.  

Dilemma

Caught between Scylla and Charybdis

Extraída de: https://raftriestoworkthingsout.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/charybdis.jpg?w=625

You know the feeling you get when you have a decision to make, but no matter what you decide, the result will only be loss, pain or heartbreak? Imagine Odysseus' despair when having to decide whether to steer his ship closer to Scylla, a horrible six-headed monster with three rows of sharp teeth in each mouth, or closer to Charybdis, a terrifying whirlpool that swallowed everything that tried to pass by. What choice did he make?

"We passed up the strait, groaning loudly; for on one side was Scylla, on the other Charybdis swallowed up the salt water in a terrible fashion...when she swallowed up the salt sea, she showed deep down in her swirling whirlpool black sand at the bottom, and the rocks all round echoed a bellowing boom. Every man was pale with fear. As we gazed in our fear at the death on this side, at the same moment Scylla grabbed six of my men out of the ship...I turned,...saw their hands and feet already in the air swinging aloft in the clutches of Scylla; while they called aloud on my name, for the last time, in despair...Scylla swung them gasping up to the rock; there in the cave she devoured them, shrieking and stretching out their hands to me in the death struggle. That was the most pitiable sight my eyes ever beheld in all my toils and troubles on the weary ways of the sea."

Odysseus chose the lesser of the two evils, to lose six of his men instead of losing all his crew at once. Even so, he was devastated.

There are also other expressions that are used to refer to being in this type of situation; "caught between a rock and a hard place" and "between the devil and the deep blue sea" are two of the most common. Whichever phrase you prefer, we've all been there at least once in our lives, forced to make a decision with no pleasant options. I've been caught between Scylla and Charybdis several times (hence the name of my blog) and sometimes wonder whether I made the right choices or not. I've come to realize that it's OK not to feel remorse if you believe that the choice you made was truly the best, or "the lesser of two evils." Just accept the consequences of your decision and move on with no regrets.  

Maturity

"Full maturity is achieved by realizing that you have 

choices to make."  Angela Barron McBride

http://i.movie.as/p/600/40734.jpg

At the beginning, Telemachos is a lonely young man who considers himself unlucky because he grew up without his father. He lives in sorrow because his house is full of men who are spending his father's wealth and praying to share his mother's bed. Because he is young and inexperienced, he believes there is nothing he can do to change this situation. Instead of taking action, he spends his time wishing his father would come home and throw the intruders off his property. Although I feel a little sorry for him, I would also like to grab him by the arms, shake him, and tell him that he will never get anywhere if he just sits there lamenting his fate. 

Fortunately, the day comes when he realizes (with a little help from the goddess Athena) that he has to start making choices. I believe this is his first step towards maturity. For the first time in his life, he assumes the role of the man of the house. He gains confidence in himself and he becomes proactive. I can see this, first of all, in the way he addressed his mother, who "notices how sensibly her son has spoken." In my opinion, the ability to speak sensibly is one of the factors that determine how mature a person is. Next, he gathers up the courage to tell his mother's suitors to leave his house. Not being afraid to stand up for your rights is also a sign of maturity. Finally, he decides to go on a journey to find out where his father is or what has happened to him. By taking control of his life and his future, Telemachos shows us that he is determined to leave his childhood behind. 

Love

Love that withstands the test of time

Source: http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/25800000/penelope-the-odyssey-movie-25800586-654-480.jpg

Odysseus was forced to leave his beloved wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachos, to fight in the Trojan War. After the war ended, ten years later, there was no sign of Odysseus. No one knew whether he was dead or alive. 

Ten more years have gone by. Telemachos is  a young man, and Penelope keeps waiting patiently for the man she loves. He is being kept prisoner by a witch named Calypso who wants him as her husband, but all Odysseus can think of is his wife and how much he longs to see her again.

In the meantime, Penelope is having a hard time. Over a hundred men have invaded her house, eating up Odysseus's fortune, and insisting that she should marry one of them. Fortunately, Penelope is not only beautiful and faithful, she is also very smart. She tells the suitors that she will marry one of them after she finishes weaving a burial shroud for her father-in-law. They see her working on it every day, but what they don't know is that at night she secretly unravels her work.

I am impressed by Penelope's faithfulness after so many years without her husband and I am deeply touched by the everlasting love between Penelope and Odysseus.   

The Odyssey

Perhaps the world's greatest adventure story

Source: http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1200x675/p01gnjr8.jpg

This has been one of my favorite stories ever since I first read it when I was 12 years old. It tells the tale of Odysseus and all the obstacles he had to overcome in order to get back home and reunite with his wife and son after an absence of twenty years.