Kazantzakis’ Odyssey. Ithaca, point of arrival and departure

Odysseus reaches Ithaca in the Homeric text and also in the modern Odyssey. He had really reached there when the new poem begins. Ithaca preserves the symbology which had in the Homeric text, but it acquires a new role. In the island, Odysseus reaffirms his identity: he is the same hero who particip...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Castillo Didier, Miguel
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:Spanish
Published: Universidad de Chile. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistas.uchile.cl/index.php/RBNH/article/view/18113
Description
Summary:Odysseus reaches Ithaca in the Homeric text and also in the modern Odyssey. He had really reached there when the new poem begins. Ithaca preserves the symbology which had in the Homeric text, but it acquires a new role. In the island, Odysseus reaffirms his identity: he is the same hero who participated in the Trojan war, fought against adversities and temptation for ten years, without losing the will to return to his land and home. He recognizes his territory, buries his father and accompanies his son in the latter's wedding. Now it is also the point of departure: Odysseus sails from it in a new voyage, perhaps longer than the previous one and with no return. The beloved island remains as such. Loving it, the hero abandons it. In his very long voyage to death on he Antarctic ices he often remembers it. Odiseo llegó a Itaca en el texto de Homero y también en la Odisea moderna. En realidad, ya había llegado ya cuando se inicia el nuevo poema. Itaca conserva la simbología que tuvo en el texto homérico, pero adquiere un nuevo rol. En la isla, Odiseo reafirma su identidad: es el mismo héroe que participó en la guerra de Troya y después luchó contra adversidades y tentaciones durante diez años, sin perder la voluntad de retornar a la tierra y al hogar. Reconoce su territorio, sepulta a su padre, casa a su hijo. Pero, además, ahora es el punto de partida. Desde ella sale Odiseo en el nuevo viaje, acaso más largo que el antiguo y sin regreso. La isla amada sigue siendo la isla amada. Amándola, la deja el antiguo héroe. Y en su larguísima travesía hacia la muerte en los hielos antárticos, la recuerda no pocas veces.