Constatine Cavafy's Ithaca

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Gabie Pointer 2/10/14 Block: A2 Hearn Constatine Cavafy’s Ithaca Constantine Cavafy wrote the poem, “Ithaca”, which is an allusion to the epic poem, The Odyssey by Homer where the main character was from an island named Ithaca. Cavafy’s poem suggests that life is a journey and through out the journey one should experience new things and enjoy it. He supports his idea by alluding to the Odysseus’ journey and the trials and obstacles he dealt with on his way back home to Ithaca. Then, he further develops his inference on life by using symbolizing the good, luxurious things in life. Finally, he concludes that life is a journey that is to be enjoyed by everyone who lives and that wisdom will be gained from this experience. He establishes a point for people of all ages who have not yet explored life to its entirety that everyone’s life should be full of learning experiences with new and exotic things in life. Cavafy uses many different literary devices to prove his point about the journey of life; one of most used device is symbolism. The monsters from The Odyssey cause great strife in the life of the main character, Odysseus. Cavafy uses “...[the] Laistrygonians and the Cyclops…” (Lines 4-5) from The Odyssey to be used as symbols for the “monsters” in everyone’s life such as the ones that will “eat you up or take one’s motivation by leading one away from the goal. He also uses the “angry Poseidon” (line 5) to also compare to obstacles that one has no control over. Cavafy uses symbolism to describe new beginnings and the good things in life. A “summer morning” (line 15) is used to compare to the happy times in ones life because that symbolizes happiness and freedom. When one “comes into harbors seen for the first time…” they will gain knowledge and pleasure from what they have experienced. Cavafy conveys the idea that people don’t only face challenges in life
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