Question

there, as the whirlpool drank the tide, a billow tossed me, and i sprang for the great fig tree, catching on like a bat under a bough. nowhere had i to stand, no way of climbing, the root and bole being far below, and far above my head the branches and their leaves, massed, overshadowing charybdis pool. but i clung grimly, thinking my mast and keel would come back to the surface when she spouted. and ah! how long, with what desire, i waited? till, at the twilight hour, when one who hears and judges pleas in the marketplace all day between contentious men, goes home to supper, the long poles at last reared from the sea. —the odyssey select the best choice from each drop - down menu. what is the conflict in this passage? odysseus vs. nature what theme is best shown by the conflict? drop - down options: desire causes problems. whirlpools are unpredictable. patience has its rewards.

Explanation:

The conflict is Odysseus vs. nature (whirlpool, sea). Odysseus clings and waits patiently, and eventually his mast/keel (or the poles) come back. This shows that waiting (patience) leads to a positive outcome (rewards like his mast/keel surfacing or the poles rearing). "Desire causes problems" is incorrect as desire here is for his mast to return, not a problem. "Whirlpools are unpredictable" is a fact, not a theme. So the theme is "Patience has its rewards".

Answer:

Patience has its rewards.