Jordan Crespo Odysseus in The Odyssey When people think of Odysseus, they think of a great, cunning, warrior. Who wouldn’t see him that way, he fought his way through Troy and embarked on a journey back home to see his son and wife again. On the surface Odysseus seems like a genius but in Homer’s, The Odyssey, Odysseus shows many instances where he outwits his foes but his foolishness heavily outweighs his smarts; he becomes boastful after a victory which leads to more hardships, he leaves precious cargo in the open for his brutish crew to mess with, and refuses help from the gods which nearly leads to his demise. Odysseus’ ego results …show more content…
(10.48-55) Odysseus was within arms reach of home but because of how naive he was he was forced to keep going on his journey. After all of Aeolus’ hospitality and such a powerful gift Odysseus is still mindless at what this meant and because of him not being cautious, he could not complete his adventure. It’s surprising knowing that after being on a powerful god’s bad side and being forced back to sea, that Odysseus can be even more of a fool. After the incident with the bag of winds it is reasonable for Odysseus to have trust issues, but when it is a matter of life and death, Odysseus is witless. After being punished by Zeus because some of his crew ate Helios’ cattle Odysseus drifts in the ocean until he lands on Calypso’s island. 7 years pass and Odysseus can finally leave after he crafts a ship, after he leaves and sails for a bit, Poseidon sees it as a time to get revenge for his son Polyphemus. Poseidon completely wrecks Odysseus’ ship when he is close to the land of the Phaeacians. A goddess named Ino sees this and offers Odysseus help. ‘Ah poor man, why is the god of earthquakes so dead set against you? Strewing your way with such a crop of
"Could I forget that kingly man, Odysseus? There is no mortal half so wise; no mortal gave so much to the lords of the open sky." proclaims Zeus, the king of all gods in Homer's The Odyssey. He, among countless others, harbors high regards for Odysseus, the mastermind of the Trojan War turned lost sailor. However, the epic poem is sprinkled with the actions of gods and goddesses pushing Odysseus towards his path home to Ithaka, giving the mortal war hero little exposure to the limelight. So when does all the high and mighty talk of Odysseus' power prove true? Only in the absence of godly intervention can the title character live up to his name. In Homer's The Odyssey, excessive reliance on the gods' assistance weakens the overall effect of Odysseus as the hero; while, as a break from the norm, Odysseus' single-handed defeat of the Kyklops Polyphêmos adds true suspense to the story as well as merit to Odysseus' character.
In Homer’s The Odyssey, the character of Odysseus is renowned as a noble epic hero. However, is Odysseus’ reputation truly justified by his intellect and cunning? Is he truly one “who for all craft am noted among men, and my renown reaches to heaven” (80)? Or is he, as a mortal man, also susceptible to the temptation of pride and boastfulness? Nevertheless, while Odysseus shows instances of rashness and naivety during his journey, such as lingering in the cyclops’ cave and revealing his name to Polyphemus, he evidently matures as a character and epic hero throughout the journey, such as when he disguises himself when he returns to Ithaca and when he devises a plan to defeat the suitors. While the argument may be over whether Odysseus is a true
Odysseus is a person of great nobility, an unmistakable trait which is essential to him being an epic hero throughout The Odyssey. Homer displays Odysseus’ noble characteristic in numerous forms, whether it be through his actions, defining qualities or high moral principles. For instance, after Calypso keeps Odysseus on the island of Ogygia for many years, he begins to believe as though he can never leave the island, unable to escape the clutches of the witch. When Calypso unexpectedly allows him to leave, Odysseus retorts, "And I should not care to embark on a raft without your goodwill: not unless you could bring yourself to swear a solemn oath that you will not work some secret mischief against me" (Homer 65). Odysseus feels as though he
“I am Laertes’ son Odysseus / men hold me formidable for guile in peace and war: this fame has gone abroad to the sky’s rim” (Homer 488). Odysseus is the mighty king of Ithaca. Although it sounds like he is a fearless hero, Odysseus makes many decisions that make for a longer time away from home. In epic poem The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is a fool because of saving his men at Circe's hall by using Hermes’ moly, trying to fight Scylla as well as Charybdis, and shouting at Polyphemus who told his father, Poseidon, to curse Odysseus.
Odysseus plays the role of an ideal human figure for the Greeks because he has a lot of spiritual qualities about himself that make him a good individual to get guidance from. When he leaves Ithaca on his ten year voyage he has a good spiritual relationship. On his voyage Athena is a great supporter of his and encourages him along the way. Throughout his journey his spirituality becomes much stronger with the difficulties that he has to face with each monster or person he encounters. Once he gets through one obstacle, it gives him more faith that he can conquer the next problem he has to face. Through his spiritual journey his develops more wisdom and smarts
In the chapter of the cyclops Odysseus and his man had just left Kalypso's island behind. With little to none provisions left, Odysseus decided to stop at the first island their eyes could spot. And to Odysseus’s bad luck the island they decided to stop at was not a very good one. This island was infested with Cyclops, but Odysseus decided to ignore the danger, by staying anyway. Even though Cyclops were known to be barbaric, Odysseus still believe they would showed him hospitality. But little did he know they would ended up messing up his entire journey back home. In this chapter Odysseus was very careless. In the end he did managed to escape from polyphemus’ cave but do to his curiosity and
After reading The Odyssey, two main traits that can be used to describe the central character, Odysseus, are clever and arrogant. Throughout the poem, Odysseus continually demonstrates his cleverness in his ability to outsmart his adversaries during his adventures at sea. A perfect example to support this would be when he encounters the Cyclops Polyphemus. Odysseus is keenly aware how well he succeeds at being clever which has lead him to become quite arrogant. He believes because his cleverness has helped him escape life threatening situations that have saved his life and those of his men, that he is invincible which makes him arrogant. He shows his arrogance during his encounter with the sirens and also when he returns home to a line of suitors vying for his wife.
A typical hero of fictional standards completes brave and valiant deeds that challenge them to become stronger throughout their life. In The Odyssey, told by Homer, Odysseus is molded to appear as one of these heroes in the eyes of the people around him. All done by the insightful goddess Athena. Although friends and enemies see him as a force to be reckoned with, Athena consistently bears Odysseus through his problems, by persuading Zeus into Odysseus’ favor, and directly keeping the suitors from killing him; when Odysseus doesn’t have this undeviating help, he tends to make bad decisions, like giving away his whereabouts to the oblivious cyclops, and consciously allowing his men to be put in a deadly situation.
In The Odyssey, Homer, or more so, the characters, often referred to Odysseus as the ‘Great Odysseus’. In the text, it is obvious to see that Odysseus demonstrates arrogance, charisma, over-confidence, and pride. Odysseus and his m...
In this story, his goal is to reach home, something that he would do anything to reach. Odysseus fought off Polyphemus, a giant, cannibal, cyclops, and actually escaped. He also heard the siren’s and lived through it to reach home. Odysseus saw Scylla, although it led to losing six men, and Charybdis, and he went through a massive storm, making him the last survivor. Odysseus not only powered through these hardships, but he lives through the rough years and is able to tell the whole story to Alcinous, seeking safe passage, starting from when he left Troy, “What of those years of rough adventure, weathered under Zeus?...” (9.28) He did not give up no matter what obstacle came in his way, and he was that determined for 20
Odysseus wouldn’t of taken ten years after the Trojan war to get home if it wasn’t for his prideful trait. Pride causes Odysseus suffering all throughout the book. For example, once Odysseus was on his way off the island of the Cyclops, the epic says “I would not heed them in my glorying spirit, but let my anger flare and yelled: “Cyclops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes son, whose home’s on Ithaca.” After Odysseus and his men escape Cyclopes island, Odysseus pride kicks in and he tells off the Cyclop that he blinded. Telling the Cyclop his real identity, and his business. The Cyclop prayed to his father Poseidon (sea god), which Poseidon is still upset and still hold a grudge towards Odysseus, because Odysseus did not thank the gods after he won the Trojan war, and because of his pride, he said he did it all on his own. This would only cause more trouble for Odysseus and his journey home to extend
Besides the typical traits of an epic hero, Odysseus shows great humility, Strong courage, with great faithfulness, and strong brave leadership. Odysseus’s goal of his journey is for a homecoming. This is where the virtue of humility and loyalty is proven. One particular example is while Odysseus is stuck on an island called Calypsos. He has promised immortality and a lustrous life if he were to stay with Calypso on her island. Odysseus discontinues this bad idea, decides to build a raft on his own, and starts his journey home. He remains loyal and an extraordinary humble mood does not desire to be godlike. Odysseus is shown as a brave leader throughout his entire journey. This great ruler explicitly commands and protects his men in adverse obstacles and remains stable and without a doubt calm given the situation. When traveling the sea and passing the Sirens, he demanded that his men to put beeswax in their ears so they may not be affected by the Sirenas song. He and his men safely navigate
Although many of Odysseus’s characteristics are those that many people strive for, his overconfidence is one flaw in him that many people should learn from. In almost every story in the Odyssey, the reader gets yet another example of Odysseus’s pride. Whether it is insulting a God, making fun of a dangerous monster, or asking other men to write poems about him while he is in disguise, the reader realizes that Odysseus is, in fact, an overconfident madman, and it is this overconfident madness that hurts Odysseus in the future, and is what causes him much pain and a very treacherous journey home.
Odysseus, of Homer's Odyssey, is an appropriate hero and ruler of Ithaca. He does not act irrationally but contemplates his actions and their implications. Odysseus is an appropriate hero because he embodies the values of bravery, intelligence, astuteness, and competency. Odysseus is an appropriate ruler for Ithaca by virtue of his hereditary right to kingship as well as his diplomatic skills, familiarity with his male subjects, discipline, and his impartiality and compassion. However, he is a character that does make a foolish decision. There is a rare instance when his pride supersedes his intellectual ability.
Throughout the book every time and after he conquers the new challenges Odysseus answers the question, which is repeated throughout, with a different answer. Each time he conquers a challenge on his journey home he learns a new lesson towards humility and answers with a new perspective. “‘I am no god,’ said the patient, good Odysseus. ‘Why do you take me for an immortal? But I am your father, on whose account you have endured so much sorrow and trouble and suffered persecution at men’s hand.’”(P 214 L 186-189) Although he is viewed by many people as very god-like Odysseus realizes that he is an ordinary man and is not a god. Odysseus’ desire to return home is another example that makes him an everyman. In this epic tale the word home had a double meaning for the hero. Home was where his family was and where he wanted to be. The physical element of being home and with his family was a huge deal for him. The other meaning of home was being safe and secure. His aspiration to return home and to return to his safety in sometimes shows that he is also a rather weak man. It is a human instinct to want to go home and stay safe instead of always being brave and