Odysseus Lack Of Intelligence In Homer's Odyssey

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The Greeks were both smart and creative people. Their religion consisted of extramundane beings who had powers that they used to explain unnatural events, such as storms. They worshiped powerful gods whom they put upon a pedestal. Many of the gods were described as powerful, attractive, athletic, just, and above all, the gods had a great amount of intelligence. So it makes sense that the Greeks would want to integrate that intelligence with their mythology and folklore. The Odyssey, written by Homer, is a substantial example of that. The protagonist of the story, Odysseus, was acute, imposing, and dominant, which was exactly what the Greeks believed was the perfect character.
One case of Odysseus using his intelligence over his brute force is when he decided to wait for the right time before shooting Antinous in his home with his arrow. Antinous had …show more content…

After Polyphemus had eaten some of his men, Odysseus discovered that the Cyclops had nothing that he was willing to give the guests. Polyphemus continued to eat more of his men, yet Odysseus knew that he had to be patient, and control his rage. And even if the self-proclaimed hero did lash out at the beast, Odysseus knew that he would lose the battle with his flimsy swords that were no match for the preternatural being. “If I killed him we perished there as well, for we could never move his ponderous doorway slab aside,” says Odysseus, as he begins to plot his escape. So he waited there with his men, until one evening, when he gave strong wine to Polyphemus and blinded him while the giant was asleep. Rather than resorting to the weapons they already had, in hopes that their swords wouldn’t be useless, Odysseus and his men had already created a wooden stake. “And now I pondered how to hurt him worst, if but Athena granted what I prayed for,” was what he thought as he came up with the idea of the giant wooden

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