“All men are liable to error; and most men are, in many points, by passion or interest, under temptation to it,” said famous enlightenment philosopher John Locke. One of the biggest temptations that leads to error is curiosity, but at the same time, curiosity leads to exploration that makes one wiser. Even Greek gods and heroes like Odysseus are liable to error. The Odyssey is an epic poem written by ancient Greek author Homer and is about Odysseus’s voyage home. He took 20 years to get home as a result of the many challenges he faces. “Ithaka” by Phillip Sherrard is about his journey as well. In The Odyssey, Odysseus’s curiosity was revealed when he wanted to see the Cyclops even though it was dangerous. He learned to treasure his home when …show more content…
The descriptive language used to describe the fine things reveals Odysseus’s curiosity to explore. His curiosity is also shown when the knowledge is metaphorically described as “stores,” which conveys a lot of knowledge. This curiosity lead him to get sidetracked and made his journey “a long one.” In the process, however, he learned a lot and became wiser and “so full of experience”(Cavafy 37). Then he will have “understood by then what these Ithakas mean.” He understood and learned to appreciate his home, which is what the “Ithakas” were, when he returned even though it wasn’t rich. Even though he was sidetracked by curiosity, in “Ithaka” Odysseus became wiser in the process.
The poems The Odyssey and “Ithaka” show that people undertake journeys to reach a destination but get sidetracked when they try to satisfy their curiosity; in doing so they become wiser. Sometimes curiosity may kill the cat, but if the cat lives, it will be a step close toward enlightenment. Without curiosity, our vast heaps of knowledge would not be existent