The island of Ithaka, which in English is usually spelled Ithaca, was the homeland of Odysseus, its king, as depicted in the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer. The Iliad tells of the part Odysseus plays in the Trojan War, and the Odyssey deals with Odysseus's ten-year journey home to Ithaka after the war was over. In the poem "Ithaka," C. P. Cavafy makes references to this voyage. For instance, the Laistrygonians, the Cyclops, and the angry god Poseidon were all dangers that Odysseus and his men had to overcome on their seemingly endless voyage.
When you are considering the meaning of the first three lines of the poem, however, it is important to understand that the "you" the poet is speaking to is not Odysseus, but rather the reader of the poem. Cavafy is using the journey of Odysseus to Ithaka as a metaphor of the reader's journey through life.
Unlike Odysseus, who was anxious to get back to Ithaka as quickly as he could, the poet cautions the reader to travel slowly, to take time, and to savor the experience of the journey. Cavafy comes back to this thought several times throughout the poem, including in the second and third lines in which he hopes "your journey is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery." At the beginning of the second stanza he repeats: "Hope your journey is a long one." In the third stanza, he advises the reader, "don't hurry your journey at all" and adds that it is "better if it lasts for years."
Odysseus did not fully appreciate what he found on the way because he was so intent on getting home. In contrast, Cavafy says that Ithaka serves as a destination, nothing more, and that the reader's fulfillment is in the journey itself, not the reaching of the destination. That's why he cautions his readers to go slow and enjoy the adventures, discoveries, pleasures, and joys along the way.
With this in mind, you can understand that Cavafy at the beginning of the poem is addressing his readers as they set out on their voyages through life. He wishes them long, exciting, and fulfilling journeys.
Ithaca—or Ithaka as it's spelled in the poem—is the homeland of Odysseus in The Odyssey. In the ancient Greek poem, Odysseus embarks on a long, exciting journey back to Ithaca after spending seven years on the island of Ogygia, where he was the captive of the beautiful sea-nymph Calypso. In the first three lines of "Ithaka," the speaker expresses the wish that the person he's addressing will enjoy a similar kind of adventure to the one experienced by Odysseus. This could be an actual journey or simply a metaphor for life itself:
As you set out for Ithaka hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery.
As well as being full of adventure and discovery, Odysseus's journey was also full of extreme danger, to which the next line in the poem makes reference:
Laistrygonians, Cyclops, angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
In The Odyssey, the Laestrygonians are a race of giant, man-eating monsters. They eat many of Odysseus's crew and destroy most of his ships by throwing large rocks at them from the top of a cliff. The Cyclops Polyphemus is a fearsome, one-eyed giant who also enjoys snacking on Odysseus's men before he's outwitted by Odysseus himself, who blinds him by ramming a sharpened stake into his eye. And Poseidon, as well as being god of the sea, is also Polyphemus's father and is understandably angry at what Odysseus has done to his son. So he takes a terrible revenge, destroying Odysseus's ship and wiping out all his crewmates through high winds and crashing waves.
What the speaker seems to be saying is that his friend will encounter many problems on his or her journey through life, but they shouldn't be afraid of them. As long as they maintain excitement for the long journey ahead, and as long as they can think clearly and positively, then they should be alright.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/51296/ithaka-56d22eef917ec
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