In this case, I have the opportunity to become immortal or remain a human. The human condition is something that is specifically of interest to anyone who analyzes a text. In the Odyssey and Beowulf, the reader sees the human capacity for love, the human capacity for leadership, and even the tendency of humans to want to be arrogant. The Odyssey is about the human capacity for love through Odysseus' determination to return home. Odysseus had many tempting temptations that he could have indulged in, but in doing so he would have to give up his dream of returning to Ithaca. In the fifth book the reader first finds Odysseus on an island with Calypso, a goddess who has fallen madly in love with Odysseus and trapped him on her island. Hermes is sent by the gods to ask Calypso to allow Odysseus to return to Ithaca. Hermes finds Odysseus, “On a promontory, there weeping as ever, wrenching his heart with sobs and groans and anguish, looking out at the parched sea through blinding tears.” Odysseus is on an island with a beautiful goddess who wants nothing more than to be his lover. The temptation to give in to her desperate calls for love and stay with her on the island must have been somewhat tempting. As if it wasn't hard enough not to give in to that temptation, Calypso then offers to make Odysseus immortal just so that Calypso and Odysseus can be together forever, but Odysseus is on the plateau crying because he wants to go back to his family. This shows how powerful true love is for humanity. In Beowulf, Beowulf has no family. The closest thing to loved ones are the subjects of his government. In the scene right before Beowulf fights the dragon, the narrator says of Beowulf, "True kinship can never be ruined in a noble mind!" I think this means real relationships, like those in Beowulf