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The odyssey full book summary essay
Lessons learned from writing a personal narrative
Reflection on writing personal narrative
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We should always think about our family during tough situations, sometimes that could be the encouragement to keep going when we feel the need to give up. In the book, The Odyssey, Odysseus sailed to Troy to defeat the Trojans in the Trojan War. Before he could leave, his wife, Penelope, gave birth to his son Telemachus. When it was time for him to go, Odysseus asked his wife to promise him that if he had not returned before his son grew his first beard that she would choose another and remarry. Odysseus finally leaves Ithaca on his way to Troy. Odysseus will never forget his family and is very eager to get back to them. The theme of the Odyssey is “Family” because Odysseus left Ithaca to fight in Troy for the return of Helen to Menelaus, …show more content…
he traveled throughout his long journey to get back to Penelope and Telemachus, and he treated and loved all his men like they were his own children. Furthermore, Odysseus decided to help Menelaus get his wife, Helen of Troy back to him.
To do this Odysseus and his men sailed to Troy to battle the Trojans in the Trojan War. Odysseus and his men handled their plan to get inside of the village very carefully. They built a wooden horse, which to the Trojans was a sign of surrender. Inside the horse was Odysseus and his men waiting for the perfect time to attack. Once the Trojans and the people in their village were all asleep Odysseus and his men jumped out of the horse and attacked them leaving Troy with a victory. Now it was time for them to return home to Ithaca. This shows that Odysseus cared about his people and would help the ones he cared …show more content…
about. In addition, Odysseus was on a journey across the sea to get back to Penelope and his son Telemachus. There was never a day that he did not think about them. Odysseus did any and everything possible to get back to his family. To add on he asked Penelope to promise him that if he had not returned that she would choose another and remarry. Even though Penelope had enough faith that he would return the suitors and others tried to convince her that Odysseus was now dead after 15 years of not returning home. There were many men to show up to Odysseus’ island to take his wife and his wealth but Penelope refused to choose any of them. His mother even chose to kill herself because she thought her son was never going to return home. Odysseus traveled with many of his men to fight in the Trojan War.
His soldiers loved him a lot and treated him as he was their king. Odysseus made every right choice to ensure that he and his men were safe and tried to make sure each of them returned home with him. Even though his men were very reckless he still grieved when they were all gone and left him on his journey alone. After all his men were gone Odysseus no longer knew what to do but he tried his best to be strong and return to Ithaca. Odysseus did a lot of untruthful things for his men. He agreed to join Circe in bed to change all his men back to human after they were fed food that turned them into animals. This was untrue to Penelope but he had to do this so that he and his men could get back on their boat and sail to
Ithaca. In conclusion, Odysseus had a hard time getting back to his family because of his mistakes. All though he never gave up the journey back to Ithaca was very hard for him. He lost all his men and even his mother. Penelope trusted his return well enough that she refused to remarry. She also tested Odysseus by making a challenge for all of the men who were in their home trying to take Odysseus’ wealth. To protect his family, Odysseus and his son Telemachus, made sure to kill all the suitors who did not belong in their home. Odysseus was very angry from what happened to his palace but was more than happy to be back in Ithaca. The land of Ithaca was much more happy that their master returned home safely.
Odysseus, during his long journey, exhibited many heroic qualities including bravery, strength, and determination. He was determined to return to his family after hs journey, and he bravely fought to stay alive during the cyclope situation, as well as other situations, and showed strength by being able to battle the cyclopes in self-defense. However, Odysseus was also obnoxiously arrogant about his victory and was actually very selfish throughout his entire story; he almost did not leave his town to help with the war because he did not want to leave to protect his family. Although Odysseus exemplified heroic qualities, this does not make him a true hero.
In the story The Odyssey, Odysseus showed many traits. I believe the most important trait he showed was loyalty. He showed it in multiple situations. Odysseus showed loyalty when dealing with the sirens, the louts eaters, and the cyclops.
As well as having courage and bravery, Odysseus is also a strong warrior and leader. Living as king of Ithaca, he leads his fleet of warriors across Poseidon’s sea into a great battle against the Trojans. It is here where Odysseus and his fleet of warriors defeated the Trojans because of his great leadership. Knowing that he cannot defeat the Trojans from outside the immense walls, he comes up with a different plan. A plan that will get him through the walls with a little help from Poseidon. He makes a giant wooden horse (Trojan Horse) and has a person present it as a gift to accept a peace with them. The Trojans accept the gift and open the walls for the horse, not knowing that inside the horse was Odysseus and a small fleet of soldiers. The Trojans had a great celebration for what they thought was a victory. As the Trojans finally went to sleep, Odysseus and his fleet crept out of the horse and completely slaughtered the Trojans in a very bloody battle.
Odysseus lets himself and his men get trapped in a Cyclops’ cave where a number of men die (153, 312-316) Generally a true leader never allows his men to die for foolish and or unnecessary reasons. In this part of the text Odysseus allows his men to get trapped in a cave because he wants to wait to meet the owner of the cave which he was in. Hence, Odysseus is an awful leader due to the fact that he allows his men to die due to his own irresponsibility. Another similar instance is when he expects hospitality from the Lasitrygonês without even a shred of doubt that they would treat him well - even after making the same mistake with the cyclops’ earlier, both leading to the loss of many lives (168, 121-128). A great leader never lets men die due to their own error. In this case, Odysseus has entire benches worth of men die due to the fact that he did not learn from his earlier encounter with the cyclops. Thus, Odysseus is not as awe inspiring a leader as some may make him out to
The Honorable Odysseus & nbsp; When Odysseus returned home to his wife and son, he took a very brutal approach to rid his home of the suitors who had invaded his household. This revenge was also taken out upon the servants and maids who had been unfaithful to Penelope and had slept with the suitors. Some may say this punishment was too harsh, and made Odysseus less than an honorable man. However, Odysseus’s actions Indeed those who occupied the lord’s manor during his absence did so with no honor. But one may argue that Ody Penelope. This seems unjustifiable, and very inhumane. Odysseus was so overcome with his hate that he lost control, perhaps it was his years of denying the power of the gods that led him to brutality. Odysseus’s actions are indeed aggressive and morality at this point in his life seems to have faded. All these things considered, the validity of Odysseus’s actions remain fair. Because of his denial of the power of the gods, Poseidon forced Odysse And when Odysseus returned finally to his home only to hear of suitors and harlots about his home, he had to take revenge on them for his pain. This pain was brought about through lies and betrayal. His long journey led him through many tribulations, all of which had a direct effect on his mind. Odysseus’s defense system had to be at it’s highest at all times. For example; were in sight of it’s shores. Because of this betrayal Odysseus’s trust in his brothers was lost. His hope dwindled as his journey continued, and ate away at his consciousness. Odysseus was a man of honor, a man who had fought in a war and won. For such During this time period men were brought up on the teachings of battle. As they grew they were taught how to handle arms and were expected to hone these skills. Killing a man to took to arms picking up shields and weapons. All of these men were familiar with the ways of the time and the ways of battle. Odysseus should not be condemned for his actions. There are many justifiable reasons for the method in which he punished those who were disloyal and uncivil by the author of Poseidon.
Throughout the whole book he is having his men go and do crazy things that make them risk, and some even lose, their lives. After Odysseus offends Poseidon by harming the cyclops he started taunting the cyclops. One of his men scream, “God Sake Captain! Why bait the beast again? Let him alone!” (493-494). This is showing that he was “baiting the beast” again and putting his men in even more danger after he just saved his life and all of theirs. Odysseus also puts his men in danger by not telling them about Scylla. He doesn’t tell his men that six of them are going to die. Odysseus says, “Voices came down on me in distinguish, calling my name for the last time,” ((820-821). This is showing that Odysseus just put his men in even more danger plus he isn’t fighting for his men. Odysseus was such a bad leader to his
In that regard, it was no wonder Odysseus’s is such an atrocious leader. A great example of Odysseus being disloyal is on Calypso’s Island. “…He lay with her each night, for she compelled him.” (892) This quote shows how Odysseus is disloyal to his grieving wife, and sleeps with a goddess daily. A leader cannot expect loyalty when the leader is notorious for being unloyal. “Now Circe, ‘loveliest of all immortals,’ persuades Odysseus to stay with her.” (903) This is another quote that shows Odysseus cheating on his wife, while his wife is at home is at home distraught over her missing husband. A great leader leads by example. By that philosophy, it should not be expected of Odysseus’s men to be loyal to him, when Odysseus cannot stay faithful to his own wife. Consequently, Odysseus is also extremely selfish, on top of being incredibly
Odysseus is a Foolish and selfish leader, who makes rash decisions that kill his men just for his own personal gain. One of Odysseus's many foolish decisions in the epic is when he lets his men raid and pillage the Kikones. This irrational decision ends up in the death of nearly 30 of his men. If he would have stopped and though about his decisions he could have saved his fellow soldiers. Another foolish decision is when he was on the island of the Kyklops, instead of just exploring the cave he decides to explore the entire island just so he can see a kyklops this exploration ends up with the death of many of his men and a curse set on Odysseus. Odysseus makes a selfish decision when he wrongfully tells his crew Kirke, "urged that I alone should listen to their song."(XII; 58-62) when Kirke really said that he should only listen to their deadly song only if he believed it was necessary. This selfish decision could have proved to be dea...
In Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey, the main theme is the reunification of the family, as Odysseus struggles to return home and rejoin his wife and son. Throughout the Odyssey, we are shown examples of families: good ones that prosper and bad ones that do not. As Telemakhos struggles to become a man and Odysseus struggles homeward, the concept of healthy family life is stressed. At the end, when all conflicts are resolved and Odysseus is reunited with wife and son, the lesson that a united family can overcome any obstacles is shown and is one that today's families should heed.
In the epic poem, The Odyssey, Odysseus’ heroic deeds are recounted through a narrative, written by Homer, that describes his arduous journey of his return from the Trojan war to his homeland of Ithaca. Loyalty, patience, and determination, are necessary traits to survive the perilous, painstaking journey that Odysseus embarks upon to return to his native land. Loyalty is exhibited when Odysseus goes to rescue his crewmen on Kirke’s Island despite the probability of jeopardizing his own life. Odysseus presents patience throughout the entirety of his journey, but most specifically when his crew opens the bag of wind, which causes much regression on the embark homeward. Determination is displayed when Odysseus is on Calypso’s island.
In the intricate and complex epic poem, “The Odyssey”, Odysseus’s main goal was to reach his home, Ithaca. Even though all of his thoughts were turned towards his family and home, he learns many lessons along the way. Odysseus's greatest learning experiences were in his journey, not his destination. The quote “the experiences of the voyage itself were more meaningful for Odysseus than his arrival home,” truly depicts that Odysseus’s experiences and confrontations with others throughout the journey contributes to his moral values and life lessons.
When he was trapped on the island with Calypso he gave into temptation and slept with her. Being unfaithful to his wife who was at home and stayed faithful to him for over twenty years while he was gone, was a incredibly selfish move on his behalf and not a heroic act in the least. Odysseus was not only unfaithful to his wife, but expected she be faithful to him the twenty years her was gone. When he returned, part of the reason he waited to attack was to see if his wife had been faithful. He continued this behavior along his journey in many situations like when he blinded the cyclops and he was too full of himself to let the act go uncredited, so he told the cyclops his name and ended up being cursed for the rest of his journey. He not only told him his name, but even a little life synopsis, “Cyclops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes's son, whose home is on Ithaca” (Book 9). A hero would not be so arrogant and selfish just to get credit for something. After Helios follows Xenia and helps out Odysseus and his men, disobey his orders and eat all of his cattle. This not only was disloyal to Helios, but also Odysseus allowing his men to do this put them in danger because Helios called upon the gods and said, “O Father Zeus and gods in bliss forever, punish Odysseus and his men” (Book 12). He did manage to squeeze some heroic acts into his journey like saving his family and friends from the suitors, but his wrongdoings still trumped his good deeds. He not only gave into those temptations, but he also was an incredibly narcissistic man. In The Alchemist, Santiago lost his sheep and money and still managed to get over it and continue on his journey without any misdeeds. However Odysseus, was too conceited to see past the urges and do the right
Odysseus and his men that were left after the Trojan War went to the Island of the Cicones. Odysseus and his men took what they needed and left quickly.They weren't to quick that the Cicones snuck upon them and attacked them.Six of Odysseus men on ships were dead.Next, they went to the
In the book The Odyssey, some of the characters are downright dirty, they lie, cheat and steal just to get their way. One of these characters is the main character Odysseus. Odysseus is the King of one of the parts of Greece called Ithaca, so when he heard that his fellow Grecians were going to besiege the city of Troy, naturally, he left his baby son and wife in charge of Ithaca and left to Troy with his army. But on his way home victorious Odysseus’s ships were blown off course by a storm. He then had to find his way back to Ithaca, but along the way he met a lot of women, and he was not always as loyal to his wife as his wife was to him. So, overall, Odysseus is very disloyal to Penelope (his wife) and does not deserve her loyalty.
The character of Odysseus is a very complex one. As well as being a brave and competent leader he also shows that he has a sensitive side. His ongoing desire to return home makes him emotional, in book five when Odysseus is trapped on the island with calypso