Divine Intervention In The Odyssey Essay

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In “Homer’s” epic poem the “Odyssey”, Odysseus the epic hero and the protagonist of the epic poem, falls into a series of trials and tribulations on his odyssey from Troy the sight of the Trojan War to his home and his rightful throne in Ithaca. Despite the presence of divine intervention throughout the “Odyssey”, the trials and tribulations he faces throughout his odyssey from Troy to Ithaca are due to his own choices. This can be seen in the characteristics of an Epic Hero that Odysseus contains, and the necessity for divine intervention.

An epic hero itself is a larger than life character that embodies the ideals of a specific race or culture. He display’s values such as immense courage and strength evident in the fact that he survived the various trials and tribulations of his odyssey. However, he does contain various flaws, like most epic heroes,
However, their intervention would have not been necessary if it wasn’t for some of Odysseus choices throughout his voyage. This can be seen in Book 10 after his adventure with the Laestrygones, where he lands on the island of the witch Circe. He then orders divides his men into two group, Eurylochus leading one platoon to explore the island, and Odysseus staying behind on his ship with his remaining crew. Circe later turns his men into pigs, then as Odysseus is on his way to save his men Hermes gives him moly to free him to witches tricks. The divine intervention by Hermes, would have not been necessary if Odysseus didn’t make the choice of divides his two men and exploring Circe’s island and instead continuing his journey to Ithaca, highlighting that most if not all divine intervention by the gods and goddesses throughout the “Odyssey”, in order for him to survive the trials and tribulations and ultimately return home to Ithaca, would have not been necessary if it wasn’t for his own

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