The Destruction Of Odysseus In Homer's The Odyssey

The Robert Fitzgerald translation of The Odyssey, an epic poem by Homer, is about the protagonist Odysseus and his journey back to Ithaka and his family. Odysseus spent ten years fighting in the battle of Troy, and ten more years traveling home to Ithaka. While he journeys home, Odysseus faces many perils and acts on them accordingly. Odysseus’s actions were driven by political aspirations throughout The Odyssey and his political actions and decisions were morally unjustified. Odysseus repeatedly chooses pride and glory over the safety of his own crew and disregards life when deciding who should live or die.

Odysseus’s pride and glory clouds his judgement and causes him to make immoral decisions. On his journey to Ithaka, Odysseus and his crew run into the island of the Kyklopes. Odysseus’s crew pleads with Odysseus to leave the island before the Kyklopes return but Odysseus “...refused. I wished to see the caveman, what he had to offer-- no pretty sight, it turned out, for my friends” (Homer 151). Odysseus regards his crews desire to return to the ship after raiding the kyklopes home and only focuses on his desire. The kyklopes Polyphemos eats Odysseus’s men before they are able to escape by putting a wooden spear through his eye. After blinding the Kyklopes, Odysseus continues

to taunt Polyphemos and gives him his name. With his name Polyphemos is able to curse him and his crew with the wrath of Poseidon. Taunting the Kyklopes was unnecessary because him and his crew have already escaped and are safe. Odysseus’s arrogance and pride caused his entire crew to suffer.
At the conclusion of The Odyssey, Odysseus plans a revenge against the suitors with the goddess Athena, which is considered to be morally justified with the gods. The suitors are considered the antagonists because the suitors violate Odysseus’s home, attempt to court his wife, and they plan to kill his son, Telemakhos during his absence. His political actions are perceived to be morally justified because the suitors are going against the theme of hospitality, a theme that the gods strongly believe in and a theme that has been repeatedly present throughout the epic poem. Athena encourages this revenge saying, “And I foresee your vast floor stained with blood, spattered with brains of this or that tall suitor who fed upon your cattle” (Homer 243).
Although the persecution of the suitors was perceived as morally just, there were suitors who did not deserve their fate.

Amphinomos, one of the suitors, stood up for Telemakhos and defended him in front of the other suitors. He stated to them “O friends I should not like to kill Telemakhos. It is a shivery thing to kill a prince of royal blood. He also showed courtesy towards Odysseus while he was disguised as a beggar. The other suitors pleaded for their lives once the worst of the suitors were killed. Odysseus ignored this plea and killed Amphinomus and every single suitor in the massacre. Odysseus sentenced all of the suitors to death, controlling their fate without a second

thought.
Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus’s actions and decisions were driven by his political ambitions with little regard for anyone else. He jeopardizes the lives of his crew and massacres the suitors. His actions alone are questionable and with further analysis of Odysseus’s decisions ,this hero’s political actions prove to be unjustified. Does Odysseus’s unheroic and immoral actions lead a person to wonder whether anyone is truly a hero?