Odysseus is seen as a strong, brave and godlike character in many aspects; however, most people only see the outside glory of his image and fail to notice the shadow lurking in the depth of a mind that is mentally weak and diseased. Although cunning, Odysseus’s excess of hubris destroys him and his men throughout the journey home. It can be clearly seen that Odysseus is overconfident in his abilities and intelligence, thus leading to his companions downfall. Odysseus’ excessive pride, confidence and love for himself can be seen numerous times throughout the Odyssey. This personality can be presumed to have developed since childhood. From the beginning when Odysseus first got his scar, he had already proven to be far more superior to others. Although only a child, Odysseus had slain a great boar, which may have been the start of the development of his arrogant nature. Showered with praise from birth, he slowly began to become overconfident in his abilities. But being superior to all others presumably lead to the feeling of extreme loneliness, as there was no one Odysseus could have talked to as an equal, and always the people were considered inferior to him. Being far greater than any other mortal, others have regarded him as something that is unreachable and unapproachable. And as a form of protection, Odysseus developed a personality that separates him from everyone else, which may also be the reason he does not seem to have a close, intimate with anyone in the story. Odysseus doesn't even feel any maternal love for his wet nurse, Eurykleia, who has watched and cared for him since he was young. This can be proven true as Odysseus does not hesitate to threaten to kill her if she reveals his identity. Odysseus doesn't seem to care... ... middle of paper ... ...has learned nothing from this. He sails to Thrinakia, but loses all his men because of his foolhardiness and temptation. Instead of sailing onward to another island to obtain provisions when he remembered the prophecy, he stays on the island until he runs out of sustenance. According to the Odyssey however, the ship was still intact when they reached Thrinakia, so Odysseus could have sailed on, but he must have been lured by the bleating of sheep and the lowing of cattle. Throughout Odysseus’s many sufferings the things that should have kept him up at night (like the death of his companions) did not but things such as strategies on how to slaughter the suitors have. Odysseus weakness is to his excessive hubris and overconfidence in his capabilities, in addition to that, his disability to learn from his past mistakes and failures. Works Cited The Odyssey of Homer
Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus’ power was gained through the power of others resulting in three phases of understanding: self-determination, courage, and having a greater vision in life. In order to understand these three phases, one must be able to conquer predominance from those less useful than others. Although Odysseus was physically strong, he was not who he was mentally, without the help and guidance through the gods. Odysseus was like one who has no friends, but when he meets up with more people, he becomes popular. One who was alone and meets new people, has more friends and finds out more interesting subjects about daily life. They are the ones who have more predominance than others because they know more people and have much more interesting subjects. Odysseus was like this because he didn’t know much without the help and guidance from others.
Odysseus had many horrible experiences throughout his trip but one of the worst is the encounter with the Land of the Lotus Eaters. After him and his men ate the lotus flowers they forgot their mission to get home which made their trip even longer and he lost some of his men. After the Lotus Eaters they encountered the island of the Cyclopes and he lost even more men there fighting off the horrible creature. Once they started sailing the seas for longer periods of time things became worse for Odysseus and his men. He had to fight the urge to eat Helios’s cattle even though all he had was bread and rice. He had to be tied to the post on the boat to fight the urge to fall into Sirens trap, but not all his men were as strong as he was. He had
...sion and skill, Odysseus exhibited his full physical capabilities to all the suitors. Odysseus’ strength is one of his greatest qualities that assist him on his long weary journey home. According to Simon Argimate, “ Odysseus embodies such qualities as bravery, physical strength, and supreme cleverness, but he eventually also comes to represent the more mature attributes of endurance, wisdom, and self-control” (1). With these qualities, Odysseus is able to finally return home to Ithaca to his wife Penelope.
Odysseus was also an epic hero because he had human weaknesses. One of his weaknesses was that he was arrogant. Even after he defeated Polyphemos (the Cyclops) Odysseus stayed longer just so he could taunt him. He “…wanted to shout out again…although [his] comrades…tried to coax [him] not to do it'; (p.110). Odysseus, against his crew’s wishes, shouted, “…Cyclops! if ever a man asks you who put out your ugly eye, tell him your blinder was Odysseus!'; (p.110). Another human weakness of Odysseus was that he had a bad temper. When Eurylochos refused to go back to Circe’s mansion, Odysseus “…thought for a moment that [he] would draw [his] sword and cut off his head…';(p.121). If his men did not stop him, Odysseus probably would have killed Eurylochos and therefore lost a good man because of his short temper. Lust was another weakness of his. For Seven years Odysseus and Circe were lovers. Because he stayed with Circe, Odysseus prolonged his return home to Ithaca. Odysseus had many human weaknesses.
Odysseus, the epic hero blessed with great strength, intellect, and wit demonstrated that he was recognizable through his human error and flaw. Throughout the epic, Odysseus was well aware of his faults and did what was possible to control himself. His journey was a torment of temptations which he needed to overcome and each one of them challenged him to stay true and increased his will. While some of the temptations were just obstacles and others controlled his destiny, each one defined Odysseus. Odysseus evolved from a flawed man into an epic hero, overcoming his submission to temptation and receiving the ultimate glory he deserved.
With the Odyssey, Odysseus learned a big lesson in humility. The greatest example of this is in the last five books or so within the story. He has to dress, act, and live like a beggar in order to regain everything he had lost. While he was a beggar, the suitors treated him horribly. Antinous, leader of the suitors, was the worst of them all. He was the first to mistreat Odysseus and planned to kill Telemachus. He was also the one that would abuse him physically and verbally for some time to come. Also, if that weren’t enough, he planned a boxing match for Odysseus to be in to watch him get beat up. All this was happening and the other suitors were most likely following their leader in whatever he was doing. Odysseus had to control himself the whole time this was happening. If he had lost his temper, the suitors would have killed him, his son, and most likely taken over the kingdom. That didn’t happen though. Odysseus learned self-control and humility. He may not be perfect at it, but going through all the humility made him a better man. Along the same topic, he was a king going through this humility. It would be one thing for a peasant to go through it, but a king? This made it even harder for Odysseus. He had rank above all the suitors and could rightly kick them out of his kingdom. Instead he waits for the right time and kills them all. The “pre-journey” Odysseus would of thought of himself invincible and probably would have died trying to get his kingdom back.
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 wouldn’t of taken ten years after the Trojan war to get home if it wasn’t for his prideful trait. Pride causes Odysseus suffering all throughout the book. For example, once Odysseus was on his way off the island of the Cyclops, the epic says “I would not heed them in my glorying spirit, but let my anger flare and yelled: “Cyclops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes son, whose home’s on Ithaca.” After Odysseus and his men escape Cyclopes island, Odysseus pride kicks in and he tells off the Cyclop that he blinded. Telling the Cyclop his real identity, and his business. The Cyclop prayed to his father Poseidon (sea god), which Poseidon is still upset and still hold a grudge towards Odysseus, because Odysseus did not thank the gods after he won the Trojan war, and because of his pride, he said he did it all on his own. This would only cause more trouble for Odysseus and his journey home to extend
Odysseus relates to the public with his character flaws that is what makes him get the impression that he is to a greater extent alive and not fabricated. In the Odyssey, Odysseus has ongoing dilemmas with his pride. An example of his intolerable selfishness with himself being his undoing is when he and his crew were on Cyclops’ Island. The protagonist had escaped Polyphemus and he had already taunted the Cyclops and almost was captured, but here is his ego taking control. This is Odysseus’s response to Polyphemus stating that a prophecy told him that a
He had no say or control over his own life for he was stuck being Calypso’s sex slave. But, later on, Odysseus proves that he is not impotent, but much more than that. Throughout Odysseus’s journey he gains new traits such as strength, bravery, confidence, and nobility along with a very sharp intellect. For example, blinding Polyphemus advanced Odysseus’s bravery and he felt more secure in himself. He gained a new sense of confidence that was much needed so he could come back to Ithaca as his best self. Also, Odysseus learns to trust the gods, as they will follow through on what they say be it good or bad. Odysseus appears to be very arrogant, so some of the gods, Poseidon, for example, find ways to knock him down to his size which teaches Odysseus never to be overconfident and doubtful of others strengths. Even though Odysseus is an epic hero, he is still a human being and still gets discouraged. Therefore, when Odysseus defeats a villain it makes him feel accomplished and that he is ultimately fulfilling the role of a hero. Overall, from Odysseus’s journey he becomes more powerful and stronger than ever
We all change throughout our lives as we learn from our experiences and Odysseus is no exception. Odysseus lives though some crazy things and through his experiences, he learns more about himself and some of his traits change—for the better—by the end of the Odyssey. Odysseus’s experience with the Sirens shows that he’s learning to trust people outside of himself and that he’s learning to be a better leader. Throughout the epic, we see Odysseus struggles in accepting the “gifts” that the gods give to him. Odysseus likes to be in control of what happens in his life, and because the gods are a higher power than him, he does not have complete control and learns to accept this through the course of his journey. Odysseus’s experiences facilitate his learning and changing into a better person and leader; by the end of the epic, he is more accepting of the twists and turns that are thrown at him by the gods and more trusting of people.
Odysseus is unique among epic heroes in that his strength comes not from inhuman powers or exceptional physical ability, but mainly from his mind. Odysseus, regularly uses cunning, guile, and superiority of intellect to overcome obstacles. In this paper I will compare Odysseus to other epic heroes, both in terms of character and in terms of responses to crises, comparing his reactions with those of other heroes placed in similar situations.
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
In The Odyssey, Odysseus's longing for his home and family is what drives the story. That is his one goal in the entire book, and that really states something about his character. In Book 5 we are first introduced to the character Odysseus. The strange thing is that he is weeping to himself when we first meet him. He is weeping because he pines for his family and home as stated in lines 327 and 328, 'Yet it is true, each day I long for home, long for the sight of home.'; As he plainly states, Odysseus greatly misses his home, and his tears show us just how much he misses it. In the duration of the story Odysseus has to make several sacrifices in order to get to the home he longs for so much. In Book 12, Circe foresees that Odysseus will have to let some of his men die. 'The Ithacans set off. But Odysseus never reveals to them Circe's last prophecy – that he will be the only survivor…'; This shows how much he's willing to do and...
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.