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Character traits of important characters in Odyssey
Character traits of important characters in Odyssey
Character development of Odyssey
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Many characters that are titled heroes in epics typically display a large amount of courage and leadership throughout the course of their epic hero trials. During the course of The Odyssey, Odysseus and his men face many life or death trials that leave you to wonder how well of a leader Odysseus actually was. Odysseus’ leadership grows and develops during the course of the novel because his men grew stronger and more understanding of the decisions he made and learned to trust him.
At the beginning and throughout his journey, Odysseus makes many choices that are life threatening and even fatal to his men, which leads you to believe that he does not have very well leadership skills, especially as the epic “hero” he is supposed to be. One of
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the worst decisions Odysseus will make through the course of The Odyssey is the trial versus the cyclops when he says “ My comrades urged our quick departure...But I ignored their counsel, though that course would have avoided many griefs for us” (176).
If Odysseus would have listened to his men and left, it would have avoided many unnecessary deaths of his men, and a curse of Poseidon. Not only does a good leader listen to his gut, he also lets the comments and concerns of his men affect his decision and in this case they would have proven to be very helpful. But, his stubborn ego and pridefulness led him to a trial of grief. Not only does this prove that Odysseus doesn’t take the ideas of his men to heart, it also proves that Odysseus is somewhat selfish which is most definitely not a true sign of a good leader. In addition to not listening to his leaders, Odysseus shows a sign of poor communication which ultimately leads to the death of more of his men, and some deep trials of grief. For example, Odysseus claims “Sweet sleep took over me, I was tired:...That’s what they urged, and their disastrous plan prevailed...They opened up the sack, the hurricane was quick to sweep my men away from their own land” (192). In this passage, Odysseus falls asleep, and fails to explain to his men that the bags of “goods” …show more content…
they have just received are not actually goods but in fact a bag of winds that will sweep Odysseus and his men away from the nine days of sailing they just conquered. This choice that Odysseus makes to let his pride be more important than the safety of his men proves to be yet another terrible choice. Not only does this physically hurt his men and their journey, but it also affects his leadership skills and leads his men to be more untrusting of what he knows and what he will tell them. Odysseus’ lack of communication and need for pride to be more important than his men lead to days upon days worth of hardship for him and his men, which could have all been prevented had he been a better leader. The hardships Odysseus faces that lead to the terrible decisions he makes are definitely signs of someone who does not completely know what being a true leader is like. Odysseus will face many hardships that prove that his leadership skills just aren’t up to par, but like all epic heroes he is given a chance to change his reputation and his ways, and near the end of the book he takes many opportunities to change his ideas and leadership skills.
Although debated to be one of the worst decisions of The Odyssey, the trial at the sirens proves to have some of Odysseus’ best leadership skills. For example, Odysseus says “But I, with my sharp blade, cut into bits a great round cake of wake.. I sealed the ears of my crew in turn” (242). Although he rows his men through Scylla knowing he will lose some, his leadership is seen here because he chooses his men and their safety over the harder way out, and he is compassionate towards his men. Not only is he compassionate, but he is thoughtful to what their best safety will be and lets his emotions take over his pride after he claims to never feel something so heart wrenching when he loses the men from the sirens. In addition to showing good leadership skills while on the course of his journey, his leadership skills are greatest when he finally reaches home. Odysseus shows a strong amount of power and leadership when he says to the suitors “You thought I would never return to Troy… Now all of you are trapped in deaths tight thongs” (438). After coming home to find the suitors taking advantage of his wealth and his wife, Odysseus displays an extreme amount of leadership by devising a plan to first
trick the suitors and then kill them off. When he and his son Telemachus take over control of their house and kill of all the suitors, it is debatebly one of the most powerful times of the books, and Odysseus gains back many wise ideas that he once had as a strong independent leader. Not only does he gain knowledge and leadership skills, he discreetly celebrates his arrival back home after so many hardships. This shows that Odysseus, although once weak, can come back to claim it all again and gain back his leadership skills. Odysseus leadership proves to be strong, because after the years of fighting and hardship his men learn to trust him again, and he gets to claim all that was once thought to be lost to him. Throughout all of The Odyssey, Odysseus makes many decisions that are selfish and prove to be hard on his men and their journey. But, because of his brave skills that were tucked away, Odysseus proves to be a strong fighting leader by taking back his name and gaining the trust of his men again. This is important because while reading this, the readers may be lead to believe that Odysseus is selfish and cowardly, but learn to find that just like any great hero he proves to be cunning and a great leader.
The Odyssey, an epic poem written by Homer, has many characters, but the main character is Odysseus, king of Ithaca and hero of the Trojan War. Odysseus is a strong character and is protected by the Greek goddess, Athena. The Odyssey is the story of Odysseus, great journey home from the Trojan Was, but he makes many decisions that many people today consider unjust or unethical.(Encyclopedia Britannica) He makes these decisions all in the effort to get home, and in self defense. That is why Odysseus’ actions make him a primarily moral and ethical driven character, rather than a political and power driven character.
Although some could possibly call Odysseus, the protagonist of Homer’s The Odyssey, a great leader, the fact that he fails to earn his men’s respect, endangers his men’s lives repeatedly and allows them to die due to his own selfishness states otherwise.
The reason for this is because his pride gets the best of him. Another reason is he does not listen to the advice he is given. Some may think that he is admirable because he’s saved his men, but they are wrong because he has also puts his needs before theirs constantly and this results in situations that endanger the lives of his men. All these traits go against what a hero is and prevents him from being a good leader, or person in general. A hero does not have to be perfect, but Odysseus’ enormous flaws make him far from the hero he could
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 does many things to make himself a bad leader. He doesn’t tell his men many things, he isn’t respectful to the gods or his wife, and he is constantly putting his men in danger just so he can go home. Odysseus is a selfish leader and only thinks about himself. Although he may have good intentions for himself by going home to see his family and the rest of his kingdom, he is a bad leader.
Odysseus is one of the most renowned warriors of all time. However, many historians argue that he was one of the worst leaders in all of literature and humanity. Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus has shown traits unbefitting of a leader and king. Odysseus is a lousy leader because he is arrogant, disloyal, and selfish.
There are numerous heroes throughout “The Odyssey,” but none of them are as significant as Odysseus. “The Odyssey” is a narrative poem written by Homer (around 800 and 600 BCE) to show the numerous adventures and experiences Odysseus goes through. Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus a prominent Greek epic hero is on a quest to return back to his home in Ithaca; to his wife Penelope, and his son Telemachus. Just like real life, not all heroes are picture-perfect; they all have imperfections. In this case, Odysseus is sometimes insolent, and discourteous; but he is still considered an epic hero because of the many heroic qualities he endures. Odysseus proves himself to be an outstanding hero in various ways such as showing loyalty, intelligence, bravery, strength, and courage which are all some of the most momentous qualities found in a hero. If a true hero can prove they are a true hero, makes them a true hero.
Odysseus is a bad leader for the traits he upheld in the book which causes him twenty years to return home to Ithaca after the Trojan war. The three traits that makes Odysseus a bad leader are being dishonest, prideful, and careless. These traits causes his men to die, him suffering, and trouble. The trait of Odysseus being dishonest is a factor of why Odysseus is a bad leader. Odysseus is meeting with Tiresias (a blind prophet) to learn his future. In the future, Odysseus will be presented with two obstacles, going through Scylla (6 headed monster) or Charybdis (a giant whirlpool). Tiresias tells Odysseus to pick the path of Scylla, his exact words were “to have passed her without loss and grief; she takes from every ship, one man for every gullet.” Tiresias is telling Odysseus to choose the path of Scylla because that path will only result in
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 The Odyssey, book nine and ten written by Homer, Odysseus constantly embodies the principal characteristics of a hero which are : cleverness, leadership, and selflessness. Thus, this character is regarded as an idol among the other characters and greatly captures the reader’s sympathy for his choices and the fruit to his actions in life. First, Odysseus displays cleverness in Book Nine when he tricks the Cyclops Poluphemus that his name is “nobody” in order to escape the horrors of the cyclop’s cave. He states: “Nobody--so my mother and father call me, all my friends” (Homer, 18). Second, Odysseus is a brave leader of his army especially in book ten when he displays leadership by motivating his comrades in keep trying to sail despite the
Odysseus starts his journey relying on himself more than others. He does not distribute responsibilities but rather does everything himself as he is not trusting of people. Odysseus not trusting others is a sign that he is failing as a leader. He does not trust his wife Penelope to be home alone all those years without him while he is off with Calypso (which is why he wants to return home to her) and he does not put any trust into his crew members, whom he will be journeying onwards with for many years in the future. His lack of trust in others is seen when he receives the bag of winds from Aeolus as a parting gift and he does not allow the men in his crew to open it and refuses to inform the men what is in the bag. This obviously backfires once the crewmen open the bag and strong winds that are suppose...
Odysseus is a selfish leader who needed to stop and think about his decisions instead of acting on impulses, this could have saved the lives of many of his men.... ... middle of paper ... ... Another selfish act committed by Odysseus is when he was on the Island of the Kyklops and he risked his and his crew's life to explore the island just so he could see a kyklops.
As part of the hero profile, one would have to be determined, and Odysseus certainly was. If a hero is determined, they only have one goal in mind. To be determined, the hero goes through perils and challenges and most importantly they can never lose hope. Likewise, Odysseus has a goal: to make it home to Ithaka to see his family. Even if Odysseus faced the most life-threatening things, he wouldn't back down. "I long...trial come." (Book V, Lines 229-233). Odysseus has his mind set straight, and he won't let anyone or anything change it. Also, Odysseus never doubted himself as a leader. He had an sufficient amount of failures, yet he wouldn't put himself down and give up. For example, He neglected to take the advice from his crew member, Eurylochus. Eurylochus told Odysseus not to send men to see what was on Circe's island and because he sent them anyway, they ended up being turned into pigs. Odysseus made a mistake, but that didn't stop him from venturing on. Although Odysseus has failed as a leader, he was still determined to become better. For example, when Odysseus and his crew arrive at the land of Ismaros, he specifically tells them to not touch the sheep. Odysseus warns his crew, yet he fails to establish a connection with them. They disobey Odysseus and butcher sheep after sheep, which ...
In conclusion, Odysseus deserves the title of a hero because he shows bravery, displays a change in character, and has the Gods supporting him throughout his journey home. Odysseus has the courage to overcome physical, emotional, and intellectual challenges. While Odysseus he is on the hero’s journey, he vastly improves his character. He changes from arrogant to humble, and learns leadership qualities, and most importantly, his place in the world. Odysseus has the revelation that the gods are above him, and are in control. Because he realizes the supremacy of the gods, his reward is assistance from the gods themselves. Odysseus is not a perfect man, and is flawed, just like every other human. However, heroes are not gods.
The main character of the Odyssey, Odysseus the King of Ithaca is given a complex personality to an extent where it is hard to identify whether he is a true hero or not. True heroism is only achieved when a person achieves certain qualities that portray heroism. Odysseus is not a hero based on the standards of merciful, selfless, and gentle because of his actions of sacrificing his men, killing the suitors and being ruthless throughout the Odyssey. Along with many others qualities these three are helpful and necessary in a hero. A hero must be willing to do service for others and put the needs of others safety and protection before his own. Odysseus does not even come close to matching these qualities because he is a person, who only serves of himself, and he sacrifices his allies to achieve his goals and often he takes action ruthlessly.