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Odysseus' Decisions
Character analysis on Odyssey
Odysseus and his selfish acts
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According to both Greek and Homeric values humans should have reason, but very often they express passion, which leads to contradictory emotions and obstacles in life. Odysseus, a man with a complex life, struggles with many internal, personal contradictions that have a collective impact on his decisions throughout his existence. The most important contradictions Odysseus faces are loyalty and betrayal; humility and hubris; and wisdom and folly,
Throughout the Odyssey Odysseus faces an internal battle between loyalty and betrayal in the presence of numerous temptations. Odysseus’s first situation was with Kalypso. Although Odysseus does cheat on Penelope with Kalypso, he still remains loyal, and his love for her hardly wanes. Kalypso says to Odysseus while trying to persuade him to stay, “Can I be less desirable than she is? / … Can mortals compare with goddesses in grace and form?” (Homer 87). When Kalypso says this to him she is basically advising Odysseus to continue cheating on his wife, which contradicts Odysseus’s values. Odysseus, despite his “experimentations”, remains in love with Penelope, he says, “Yet, it is true, each day / I long for home” (Homer 87). When he says this he is saying that although he makes mistakes, what he truly longs for is his wife and family. This shows that Odysseus is a loyal man, who respects his wife and more importantly respects himself. After he leaves Kalypso Odysseus expresses his determination for his home by not giving in, and he has Athena and Ino on his side; therefore, the gods are watching over him and are predicting a good fate for Odysseus. Besides Kalypso, Odysseus experiences other temptations and goes through other complex obstacles. He deals with Kirke, the sirens, and even t...
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... Odysseus has issues with accepting fate and destiny and moving on with the situation. Despite gaining this knowledge and being dismayed by these self-pitying comments of Achilles, Odysseus contemplates foolishly engaging his fate for battle.
Throughout the Odyssey Odysseus, lives a complex life. His personal issues and accomplishments tend to conflict, and he best copes with his many different struggles. Lord Mansfield once says, “Consider what you think justice requires, and decide accordingly. But never give your reasons; for your judgment will probably be right, but your reasons will certainly be wrong.” Mansfield’s quote explains Odysseus’s life because Odysseus makes many decisions though they tend to be contradicting. He has Greek reasons, and knowledge; however, but he tends to rely on passions as well, which leads to his struggling throughout his life.
In The Odyssey, Homer conveys a mixed message about Odysseus’s crew. At times, they seem loyal, whereas other scenes reveal them as disloyal. Homer does this to help center the attention on how Odysseus can fall victim to temptation and stand up to take control of his crew. The critical moments where Odysseus and his crew are in disagreement are significant because they demonstrate how Odysseus is epic, yet still human and flawed.
In the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus must face many obstacles on his journey. He is only able to conquer them because of his wonderful qualities. He meets, a Cyclopes, Sirens, a six-headed monster, a regurgitating whirlpool, and a group of greedy, lovesick men. Some Odysseus's more important qualities are, determination, cunning, and protecting.
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.
Through temptation and torture, Odysseus never forgets that he must put others’ needs before his own desires. Like a hero, Odysseus has to sacrifice the options that benefit him in order to benefit his others. Specifically, Odysseus accepted the fact that he laid with Kirke in order to free his men from her spell. Though it went against all of his ethics and unfaithful to Penelope, Odysseus’s main objective was to return home with all of his crew alive. He illustrates his true loyalty to Penelope when he declines Kalypso’s offer of immortality. Odysseus immediately responded and refused Kalypso’s offer: “My lady goddess…come (Book V, 223-233).” Many individuals would not decline immortality, but he did not ponder over the thought of living for eternity. Odysseus made this decision based on his ethics and because of true love. Odysseus also makes ethical decisions to save people’s lives. For instance, ...
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.
Odysseus is a hero because he acts courageously while facing the many challenges he encounters. Odysseus’s shows great bravery when he engages in physical challenges. Odysseus daringly fights against the suitors, while significantly outnumbered: “For I must tell you this is no affair / of ten or even twice ten men, but scores, throngs of them” (XVI, 291 – 293). Even though Odysseus is facing hundreds of men, his bravery keeps him confident that he can win the battle. Odysseus must use his physical strength when Poseidon punishes him with turbulent waves: “Odysseus’s knees grew slack, his heart / sickened, and he said within himself / Rag of man that I am, is this the end of me?” (V, 307 – 309). Odysseus is exhausted from the torrential sea, yet refuses to give up because of enormous courage and his unwillingness to surrender. Odysseus must also cope with emotional challenges throughout his journey. His emotions are tested when he ventures to the underworld, Hades, and must confront his greatest fear, death: “From every side they came and sought the pit / with rustling cries; and I grew sick with fear. / But presently I gave command to my officers” (XI, 45 -47). Although Odysseus is deeply fearful when he comes face to face with the dead, his mental f...
Odysseus (Ulysses in Roman) was one of the great Pan-Hellenic heroes of Greek mythology. Famous for his courage, intelligence and leadership he was most recognized through his resourcefulness and oratory skills. Throughout classical literature and through many authors Odysseus’ characteristics have changed as much as the stories that surround him. The epic and tragedy I will focus on in particular is The Odyssey by Homer and Hecuba by Euripides. The defining characteristics of Odysseus ranges widely as is shown in Homer’s The Odyssey and Euripides’s Hecuba. The figure of Odysseus in homers The Odyssey is the antithesis of the Odysseus in Euripides Hecuba due to their historical contexts and respective audiences.
Odysseus is a wise and strategic man who becomes a better person because of the lessons he learns on his journey. Odysseus learns to have hope and he learns not to have so much pride in himself. He also learns that people cannot change their fate, and that years of grieving can create a hard heart.It is hard for people to enjoy their goals in life if they do not think about the journey they took to get to where they are in life. After all, people learn a lot on the journeys they venture through and become stronger people from them.
The relationship between Odysseus and his wife Penelope is one of loyalty, love, and faith. Both characters are driven by these characteristics. Odysseus displays his loyalty in his constant battle to get home to his wife. This love helps him persevere through the many hardships that he encounters on his journey home. Odysseus spent 20 years trying to return to his home in Ithaca after the end of the Trojan War. Along the way he manages to offend both gods and mortals, but through his intelligence, and the guidance of Athena, he manages to finally return home. There he discovers that his home has been overrun by suitors attempting to win Penelope’s hand in marriage. The suitors believed that Odysseus was dead. Odysseus and his son, Telemachus,
Odysseus is an epic hero of the epic The Odyssey. He goes to Troy to fight in the Trojan War. After ten years of fighting, Odysseus has won and is on his way home. The Odyssey is about Odysseus’ journey home. Odysseus and Nelson Mandela, our modern hero. The Heroes Journey is a pattern in a story that is recognized by Joseph Campbell. It appears in dramas, myths, and many other narratives. Both fiction, such as the character of Odysseus, and the real-life heroes, such as Nelson Mandela, endure aspects of the Heroes Journey.
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...
Odysseus portrays his selfishness right as the book begins and this shows how truly incompetent of an individual he is. One form of selfishness Odysseys shows is adultery. He is unfaithful to Penelope many times throughout the book. He reveals this trait specifically when he is with Kalypso on Ogygia and with Kirke on Aiaia. Odysseus shows his selfishness when he steps foot on Kalypso’s island because he chooses to stay with her for seven years. He did not care about the crew’s feelings on the matter, since all’s he cared about was himself. By the time the seven years were up, the crew members finally realized they had to make Odysseus leave. These actions also make a liar out of Odysseus because he said he wanted to return home more than anything, yet he did not even make the slightest attempt to leave. On Aiaia, Odysseus was forced to sleep with Kirke to save his men from staying swine, but he still committed adultery. No matter what the reason, adultery is a choice that can be controlled. An additional negative quality Odysseus obtains is being self absorbed. This trait is seen when Odysseus traveled to the Land of the Dead. He shows his selfish qualities in this example because he travels there initially for his own benefit. Odysseus also has attendances to t...
Homer’s The Odyssey is a Greek story that follows the journey of its primary character, Odysseus, back to his home in Ithaca after the Trojan War. Odysseus encounters many challenges in his journey home, from encounters with Polyphemus the Cyclops, the witch Circe and even the ghosts of dead Greeks. Meanwhile, his household in Ithaca is being threatened by suitors of his wife, Penelope, all wanting to inherit Odysseus’ possessions in the belief that he was already dead. Like many epic heroes, Odysseus possesses many admirable qualities. Three good characteristics of Odysseus are—cleverness, bravery and strength—here are some supporting instances from the epic that demonstrates Odysseus possession of such characteristics.
The challenges that Homer give the protagonist is all a test of character. Odysseus continues to pass the obstacles with flying colors, but his arrogance is the one flaw that is in dire need of correction. Some of the many challenges Odysseus overcomes on his voyage home is defeating the Cicones, surviving the Island of the Lotus Eaters, outsmarting the Giant Cyclops, saving his men from Circe, Traveling to Hades, passing between Scylla and Charybdis, escaping Calypsos’ Island and many more. Odysseus survives these obstacles and uses his smarts to escape near disaster. Often times he was the only one to survive these things and his crew often lost their lives due to their own stupidity. “‘We left the island and resumed our journey in a state of gloom; and the heart was taken out of my men by the wearisome rowing. But was our own stupidity that had deprived us of the wind.’”(P127 L75-79) Odysseus shows how he is an extraordinary man by being much smarter than his crew and the men that follow him. As a part of this stripping of Odysseus, Homer shows that Odysseus is a collective symbol of Everyman. On the one hand Odysseus is a great warrior, who is extremely intelligent, noble, and a great man. Although he has many god- like qualities he is still human. He shows that he is human and like every man, because of the fact that he still has major flaws. The
Achilles, a very valuable warrior and great fighter was a very significant part of the Trojan War. He wasn’t fighting for a family back home or anything of that nature, he was simply fighting because it was his destiny. He knew going into the battle that he was going to die, but he trusted that fighting was the best thing for him and something he had to do. He took his destiny seriously, even though he knew it meant he was going to die. Odysseus, on the other hand, was fighting a very different battle. He was fighting to get home. Throughout the entire poem, The Odyssey, Odysseus displays his longing to be back at home with his wife and son. He is constantly fighting with the gods, monsters, and beast to try and make it back to Ithaca. These two characters are fighting for two very different reasons. One fighting because it’s his destiny and what he’s meant to do, and the other because he longs to see his family once again. It’s plain to see that the motives behind the fighting is different for both of these