In book 9 of The Odyssey, written by Homer, Odysseus was forced to make many critically important decisions. Although he made some wise decisions that portrayed his leader-like characteristics, many of his choices were poor ones that led to more difficulty along the journey. When Odysseus and his men entered the cave, his men wanted to raid Polyphemus’ cheese stores, and then return for the flocks. However, Odysseus was irrational and greedy, and told the Phaeacians this: “But I would not give way...not until I saw him, saw what gift’s he’d give” (9.256-58). By waiting for the lawless Cyclops to come back and grant the soldiers gifts, he and his men were put in danger, since Polyphemus was not friendly, nor was he willing to give them anything, and …show more content…
After they finally escaped from the brutal monster, Odysseus made another poor decision. The men were rowing their boats away from the island when Odysseus decided that it was a good idea to taunt the raging Cyclops: “So, Cyclops,...Your filthy crimes came down on your own head, you shameless cannibal...so Zeus and the other gods have paid you back” (9.531-36)! This angered Polyphemus more, which led him to hurl a mountain top into the water, forcing Odysseus and his men back near the shore. After one time, you’d think Odysseus would have learned his lesson, but he continued to taunt the monster after they had rowed back out: “Cyclops - if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you...say Odysseus, raider of cities...Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca” (9.558-62)! Not only did Polyphemus acquire the location of his home, he cursed Odysseus, so that if and when he returned home, it would be late, he would be broken, and problems at home would arise, which was why taunting the Cyclops was a horrible decision. In conclusion, one could argue that most of Odysseus’ choices were favorable
The Odyssey, usually accredited to Homer, contains several key conflicts which strengthen readers’ understanding of the protagonists. The conflicts are of particular help in understanding the hero Odysseus’ reasons for his actions. One episode in which Odysseus displays his key character traits of arrogance, cunning, and recklessness is book 9, in which Odysseus defeats the Cyclops Polyphemus.
At times throughout The Odyssey Odysseus didn't think about the consequences of his actions and depended on guidance from the gods to help lead him in the right direction. Odysseus was quick to take action and occasionally made poor decisions that were bound to harm him. Odysseus was eager to fight, even if he had little chance of survival. His impulsiveness resulted in Athena coming down from Mount Olympus to warn him saying "Foolhardy man! Still bent on war and struggle! Will you not even yield to immortal gods? This is no mortal being, but an immortal woe, -dire, hard, and fierce, and not to be fought down. Courage is nothing; flight is best" (116). Odysseus didn't know when to run and leave a situation and when to face and fight. He believed that his courage would pull him through to victory, even against a goddess. Without Athena's wisdom, Odysseus was sure to meet his doom because there was no way that he could defeat the goddess Charybdis.
What do gods, soldiers, and a one-eyed man all have in common? They are all in the Odyssey by Homer. In the Odyssey, Homer uses Odysseus’s journey to show how one’s journey can define them as a person. This essay will show, whomever may read this, how Odysseus is loyal, witty, and violent.
Like David who is favoured by God, Odysseus is favoured by some of the gods and goddesses who reside on Mount Olympos. Zeus, the king, however, feels neutral and will help according to what he sees fit. When Odysseus and his crew realizes they are trapped and are bound to be eaten by the Cyclops, the son of Laertes has the idea of having the big brute drink wine till he is passes out and then drive a burning stake into his eye, blinding him. Of course it would’ve been easier to just kill Polyphemos, but then no one would be able to move the hefty boulder blocking the entrance. So afterwards, all the men clung onto the sheep and rams, hanging from their underbelly, and waited until they would be released into the pasture. With four men eaten, but everyone else free including Odysseus, he hollers from his boat, “‘Zeus and the other gods have paid you back!’” (Odyssey. l. 536) and starts this shouting contest between them. From this, Odysseus tells him his real name. Polyphemos is rather shocked by this knowledge because a prophecy had warned him about this blinding event, expecting someone who was a good-looking giant, and continues to call Odysseus a tiny coward for tricking instead of fighting him. What’s different between Polyphemos and Goliath, other than the fact that one is a mythical being and the other just abnormally enormous in height, is that a god favoured the former of the two. Ever since the Trojan War, some of the other Olympians, especially Poseidon, have been making Odysseus’ journey home a devastating hardship. Polyphemos, as son of the earthquake god, prays to Poseidon that Odysseus return home with a broken spirit after several
At first, Odysseus and twelve others ventured into the home of the cyclops. They found that the cyclops was not there, so they feasted on the foods inside the cave. Soon, the Cyclops did return and asked the crew, “Who are you? And Where from? What brings you here by seaways- a fair traffic? Or are you wandering Rogues, who cast your lives like dice, and ravage other folk by sea?” (The Odyssey 988). The group replied the honest answers, trying to convince the cyclops that he was to honor them. This did not work and the cyclops decided to eat a few of Odysseus’s men. Then they offered the Cyclops some wine. As he drank, he got drunk enough to pass out. With this, Odysseus ordered a large spike to injure the cyclops. As they executed the plan to injure the cyclops, he opened the cave to cry for help from his brothers. He cried, “Nohbdy’s tricked me, Nohbdy’s ruined me!” (The Odyssey 993). His other brother’s left in laughter while Odysseus and his men ran quickly back to the ship and started to set sail. He learned that abusing power can lead to serious
Once Odysseus reached the underworld, Teiresias clearly showed that Odysseus's fate is predetermined. Odysseus went to the underworld to ask Teiresias how to get back home. Before Teiresias tells him the way home, he says,”I think you will not escape the Shaker of the Earth, who holds a grudge against you in his heart...still you might come back”(XI101-104) If Poseidon, the Shaker of the Earth, decides he does not want Odysseus to return home, then he won't. While some might say that even though Teiresias said that, Odysseus still made his way home. However, Odysseus tries to make it up to Poseidon in many ways which was just enough to break that grudge and make Poseidon let him go home. Teiresias then reassures him about his fate when he says,”if you do harm them, then I testify to the destruction of your ship and your companions.”(book XI line 113-114) Throughout the next couple of episodes, Odysseus tries making it up to Poseidon, given the knowledge by Teiresias that Poseidon has a grudge against Odysseus.
In Book nine of the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus explains to us the events that happened at the land of the Cyclops. While finally escaping from the Polyphemus's cave after several days Odysseus manages to blind Polyphemus and escape to their ship with some of his flock of sheep. We learn in this passage that Odysseus is a hero with a monstrous amount of hubris that often leads to trouble. This is especially demonstrated when Odysseus calls out to Polyphemus to show off screaming, "You savage! But you got yours in the end. . . Zeus made you pay for it"(477-479). And this furthered Polyphemus anger toward Odysseus leading to a gigantic peak being thrown their way and pushing them back to land. This shows that Odysseus's pride causes major setbacks
Odysseus is also proven to decide his own fate. At dawn, Odysseus continues his journey: “Odysseus decides to tell the men only of Circe s warnings about the Sirens, whom they will soon encounter. He is fairly sure that they can survive this peril if he keeps their spirits up.” (Homer 195) By Odysseus not telling his men the full story, his men's hopes were brought up. His actions lead to himself and his men sailing into the tunnel, with soften beeswax into their ears avoiding the mesmerizing music played by the Sirens in the tunnel. In the Cyclopes Island, Odysseus left the Cyclops stabbed in one eye. The Cyclops was very upset about his unapproved departure. Therefore he set a curse that would ruin his journey, “ ‘O hear me, lord, blue girdler of the islands, if I am thine indeed, and thou art father: grant that Odysseus, raider of cities, never see his home.” (Homer, Close Reader 110) When Odysseus was in the Island of the Cyclopes, himself and his men stabbed the eye of cyclop and continued to leave the island. This choice by Odysseus allowed them to leave the island at a cost… the darkened fate was upon Odysseus never was he to see his family again.Through these quotes and actions, Odysseus is Implied to choose his own
To start, within the course of The Odyssey, Odysseus displays hubris through many of his actions. The most prominent instance in which Odysseus shows hubris is while he and his men are trying to escape from the Cyclops Polyphemus. They drug the monster until it passes out, and then stab him with a timber in his single eye. Polyphemus, now blinded, removes the gigantic boulder blocking Odysseus’ escape, and waits for the men to move, so he can kill them. The men escape from the cave to their boat by tying themselves under flocks of rams, so they can easily slip by. Odysseus, now proud after beating the giant, starts to yell at Polyphemus, instead of making a silent escape. Odysseus’ men ask him to stop before Polyphemus would “get the range and lob a boulder” (436). But Odysseus shows hubris by saying that if they were to meet again, Odysseus would “take your life” and “hurl you down to hell!” (462; 463). Polyphemus, now extremely angry with Odysseus, prays to his father, Poseidon, to make Odysseus “never see his home” again, and after which, throws a mountain towards the sound of Odysseus’ voice. (470). Because of Odysseus’ hubris after blinding Polyphemus, Poseidon grants the prayer, and it takes Odysseus 20 years to return home, at the cost of the lives of all his men.
War changes people and alters the course of their lives forever. In the case of the Odyssey, Odysseus changes in both positive and negative ways after the war. The ways he changes affects him and causes the storyline to change. When Odysseus left for war, it unintentionally forced him to leave his family for 20 years. The curse of Poseidon was the cause of his lengthy journey. When he finally returned, he encountered a dispute over which suitor should marry his wife. This event was a catalyst for starting a war that had a profound effect on everyone involved, particularly, Odysseus.
In Odysseus’s encounter with the cyclops Polyphemus, he proves he is a leader when it comes to fighting those that do not follow Greek values and traditions. On his long voyage home, Odysseus and his men stopped at the lawless land of the Cyclops.Here, there are no rules, they do not follow Greek values, and they believe they are stronger than the gods. This contrasts with the Greek society, which values making sacrifices to the gods and believes one should act with cleverness rather than brute force. Once Polyphemus eats two of Odysseus’s men, Odysseus realizes how inhumane they are and how they threaten human values, dignity, and control. Knowing that he might be the next victim, Odysseus comes up with a plan. First, Odysseus gives Polyphemus a large...
On Odysseus’s journey home from Troy to Ithaca, when he is on Calypso’s island, he is not portrayed as very clever or intelligent. In fact, Odysseus develops and most effectively displays this trait of cleverness during his encounter with Polyphemus. After Odysseus blinds the Cyclops, Polyphemus sits at the cave entrance, hoping to capture his assailant. Odysseus recalls that “I was cudgelling my brains for the best possible course, trying to hit on some way of saving my friends as well as myself. I thought of plan after plan, scheme after scheme. It was a matter of life or death: we were in mortal peril” (9.420-423). Odysseus comes up with numerous plans to escape from the Cyclops cave. With the character presented earlier in the novel, Odysseus
Men are not perfect all the time and can make mistakes that they regret later on. In The Odyssey, Odysseus and his men make mistakes that have effects on them. To begin, one mistake Odysseus makes is when he was so proud of himself for defeating the cyclops. After he got his ship ready and thought that he won he kept on taunting Polyphemus, who was the son of the Poseidon. Odysseus was so amused about how they just defeated cyclops that he didn't know what he was saying which is the mistake he was doing. He reveals to Polyphemus that he was the Odysseus, raider of the cities, Laertes’ son, and the man from Ithaka. Polyphemus then tells his father, Poseidon, to cast a curse upon Odysseus and his journey back home. Since Odysseus was on a ship in the sea, Poseidon had a great way to make sure his journey wasn't as great since he was the god of the sea.
While Odysseus was packing the fine wine that Maron gave him, he had a feeling that he would soon go against something brutal within the cave: “A sudden foreboding told my righting spirit I’d soon come up against some giant clad in power like armor-plate—a savage deaf to justice, blind to law.” In the beginning, Odysseus had ignored his comrades after they tried to convince him to take the Cyclops’ cheeses and goats. They had also suggested that they leave the cave soon after so that they would not have to face any more trouble. However, Odysseus had another plan. Instead, when Odysseus tried to use the rule of hospitality towards Polyphemus, the giant cared not for their custom, clearly spoken as he wiped out some of Odysseus’ allies. The Cyclops could have been offended, or he does not care and only desired to prove the men that he would rather not obey their asking. Consuming the men in Odysseus’ crew had proved that and clear, thanks to Odysseus’ hubristic
Though he is usually a smart, decisive leader, Odysseus is prone to errors, and his deepest flaw is falling prey to temptation. His biggest mistakes come in the episode with Polyphemos as he first foolishly investigates the Kyklops' lair (and ends up getting trapped there), and then cannot resist shouting his name to Polyphemos after escaping (thus incurring Poseidon's wrath). If Odysseus' character changes over the course of The Odyssey, though, it pivots around temptation. After his errors with Polyphemos, Odysseus has his crew tie him up so he can hear‹but not follow‹the dangerously seductive song of the Seirenes. Disguised as a beggar in Ithaka, he is even more active in resisting temptation, allowing the suitors to abuse him as he bides his time. Temptation hurts his crew, as well, in their encounters with Kirke, the bag of winds from Aiolos, and the oxen of Helios.