I think the big question the Odyssey asks is what does time and violence do to people. What did Odysseus' journey do to him, what did it do to his son who grew up without him, what did it do to his wife and father who had to go on living like he was dead, what did it do the political system back home with their leader and so many young men gone and a void there where the suitors begin to fill. And once they are all reunited after so many years, what then. Athena grants them a happy ending, restoring Odysseus' youth, but what about the rest of us.
