In my opinion as a reader of Homers great work, I am not convinced that Odyssey wants to return to his home. Odyssey is not only depicted as a hero, but he believes himself to be one too. He is described as a family man who loves his family, but also a hero returning from war with a great need to express his own heroism. As discussed in class, he has hubris and constantly has to state his heroism because of his pride.
As the story moves along, one starts to contemplate whether his expressed wish to return to his family is genuine or not. The great amount of time and obstacles along the way makes one wonder whether he is seeking new adventures or is trying to find his way home. One may even question if Odyssey is making an effort, or is in fact welcoming these obstacles with open arms to prove his worth instead of focusing solely on the journey back to Ithaka.
In my opinion as a reader, Odyssey is indeed a man of many turns (polytropos) and this hinders the reader from truly believing that Odyssey wants to return home. Perhaps this was something that Homer always intended to make the reader feel, as well as making the reader encouraged to follow Odyssey to find out if he will do. To conclude, the constant question of Odyssey doing what he considers to be right and return home, even without him necessarily wanting it, is something the reader will continue to ask throughout the story and it is something one can never fully trust.
I am also not convinced that Odysseus wants to return home. Throughout the text, Odysseus struggles to satisfy his kleos (glory) or nostos (homecoming). When faced with a situation, his hubris always gets the best of him. Thus, his pride and thirst for glory end up delaying his return home every time. For example, as Odysseus was leaving the cyclops island, he declared that he blinded Polyphemus. This confession was to satisfy his kleos. However, Odysseus’ action led to Poseidon further delaying his voyage back home to Ithaca.
I agree with you in that Odysseus doesn’t want to come home entirely. I can see he does have a bit of interest in seeing Penelope and Telemachus, but I don’t feel that it’s his top priority. If he really wanted to go home as quickly as possible, he wouldn’t have stopped so much. He knew the gods were always watching so if he wanted to go home then and there, he wouldn’t have stabbed cyclops in the eye.