The theme of travel is as multifaceted and controversial today as it was in the ancient and medieval world. The characters and stories encountered in the Culture and Expression readings embody this fact, revealing the spectrum of feelings and values ​​associated with various aspects of crossing geographical divides. On the one hand, the act of crossing boundaries can result in a sense of sadness, degradation, and loss of identity. On the other hand, the act of crossing boundaries connotes glory, social mobility and splendid adventure. I agree with these concepts presented in Culture and Expression, but I particularly believe that the experience one has while traveling to a new place has everything to do with the circumstances of the trip, particularly whether the catalyst for migration is refers to external strength or internal desire. . Whether it is the ancient and medieval world or the current period, the catalyst of migration is the main factor in the outcome of the journey. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay When a trip is forced on a reluctant traveler, the resulting journey away from home is filled with heartbreak and pain. Because of the association of home with identity, exile from home can bring out extremely negative emotions and experiences. In the literature of the ancient world, a forced journey is often the result of divine punishment of mortals for their transgressions. As mentioned in the introduction to the "Book of Ezekiel" in The Jewish Study Bible, the task of the people of Israel was to "preserve their holiness, but according to Ezekiel, the sins of the people, especially idolatry, in the course of their history, they have profaned the people, the Temple and the divine name, and they have ritually profaned the city of Jerusalem". The people of Israel are then exiled from the holy land of Jerusalem because "to achieve its holiness the people must be purified and every impurity must be removed from the land upon their return." In this sense, the journey out of Israel brings with it a heavy and painful burden. It is exile and the people in exile are not willing to leave it their own home. Their journeys are a punishment and therefore involve anguish and repentance. And driven from their homeland, they are degraded as a society; they lose much of their identity when they are no longer in their true home. the titular character of the Odyssey, are driven by divine vengeance. While dining with the Phaeacians, Odysseus tells King Alcinous how he tricked the wild Cyclops, Polyphemus, into getting him drunk and blinding him with a heated olive spear. Out of arrogance, Odysseus reveals his name to Polyphemus, stating that “if any mortal asks you how/ your eye was mutilated and made blind, / tell him that Odysseus, the plunderer, / son of Laertes, who lives in Ithaca, / he has destroyed your sight.” Polyphemus appears to be the son of the god Poseidon, and prays to his father to “grant that Odysseus, the plunderer of the city, / may never return home. Or, if he is/ fated to see his family again, / then he arrives there late and without honor, / in pain and with the lack of ships, and having caused / the death of all his men, and finds / more trouble in the his own home." Poseidon, angry at Odysseus' transgressions against his son, ensures that Odysseus is set back on his journey, killing all of his men in a shipwreck and placing multiple obstacles in Odysseus' path home. Poseidon forces Odysseus to travel even further from home, setting his path back years. Odysseus suffers nothing but anguish during this time, even as he unites with the beautiful goddess Calypso. Although to Ulyssescomfort and immortality are offered, his distance from his home in Ithaca, and thus his identity as a glorious warrior, king of Ithaca, husband, and father, falui hopeless and despondent until he finally has the opportunity to return home. But the danger and pain of a geographical journey can become quite exhilarating in the context of desire. When a trip is born from desire, the traveler is destined to have a wonderful, if not entirely perfect, experience. As seen in the works presented to us, the desire to travel usually corresponds to the acquisition of something greater, be it glory, or one's personal social mobility. The 15th-century Egyptian folktale “The Taking of Jaffa” provides an explicit example of eager border crossing resulting from lack of glory. In the story, Djehuty, Thutmose III's Egyptian general, purposely uses deception to get his men inside the walled city of Joppa; he makes those responsible believe that they have captured him, "along with his wife and children", and that they have won. This supposed victory leads the Jaffa authorities to allow two hundred baskets, believed to be tribute, into the city, although the actual contents of the baskets were "people, handcuffs and ropes" ready to be released and to "seize all the people in the city". As a result of this clever tactic, Djehuty ends up conquering Jaffa, bringing glory to the Egyptian people and the Egyptian emperor. Choosing to cross borders to a new place can therefore enhance a culture's perception of itself through pride and achievement. Sinbad the Sailor, a character from One Thousand and One Nights, actively seeks out new voyages and adventures as a means to provide for himself and become rich. and powerful. In the story "Night 546", he tells Sinbad the Keeper how his travels have helped him gain wealth and status. travel again and see the world, as well as profit by trading.” Sinbad is well aware of the dangers of traveling to new places; he encounters all sorts of monsters every time he sets out. However, he wishes to go beyond geographical boundaries; he desires the excitement and social mobility that his adventures will bring him through the acquisition of wealth, making the experiences ultimately positive. Just as the negative connotations of forced travel are consistent from ancient times to the present, the predominantly positive connotations of desired travel are also present today. During my personal adventures over the past month, I often find myself relating my experiences to those reported in the literary texts of Culture and Expression. New York has had a special attraction for me lately; I looked for it often during my time at Hofstra. A desire to learn more about geographic, intellectual, and cultural boundaries and my ability to cross them led me to venture to New York alone. This solo adventure comes with many challenges, including the issue of navigating through a maze of trains, people, and streets, as well as the issue of vulnerability that comes with being alone, but I'm willing to risk this for a chance at having a fun set. of adventures and the ability to say that I challenged myself. However, I also think about the less personal and much broader modern crisis involving travel and migration: how groups of people like Syrian refugees are forced to leave their homes to escape violence and horror. The problems arising from the forced exile of Syrian refugees are not just about the personal turmoil of those without a home, but a broader geopolitical turmoil strikingly similar to the issues of migration and hospitality depicted in ancient literature. Here.