The Static Character in Homer’s Odyssey

The Static Character in Homer’s Odyssey

The Odyssey, by Homer, translated by W.H.D. Rouse (between 900 and 700 BC.) is "The best story ever written" (7). This is a story about a man named Odysseus Laertiades who went off to war. After winning the war, he and his men were heading home when their ship got off track. They ended up in the land of the Cyclops. They were held captive by a god's, Poseidon Earthholder, son. Odysseus came up with a plan to get out of there which involved poking the Cyclops' eye out. The Earthholder got mad and vowed Odysseus and his men would not make it back home to Ithaca. If Odysseus was to make it home, he was to arrive "There late and in misery, in another man's ship, ' lose all his companions, and ' find tribulation at home" (111). With the help of the gods, Odysseus finally does make it home, late, alone, and on another man's ship. He arrives there to find trouble in his house. In The Odyssey, the main character, Odysseus Laertiades is a static character; he doesn't change throughout the book. Yet Homer still retains the readers interests by the situations Odysseus finds himself in, how he always finds a unique way out, and how he triumphs in the end.

Odysseus finds himself in many strange and difficult situations. One of the strange and difficult situations Odysseus finds himself at is the land of the Cyclops. Odysseus had taken twelve of his men to explore the island. They found a cave and decide to stay there until the Cyclops who lived there returned. The Cyclops returned and "Picked up a huge great stone and placed it in the doorway," so the men couldn?t escape (104). "The cruel monster? reached out toward my men, grabbed two like a pair of puppies and dashed them on the ground?. Then h...

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...ss than a day. Odysseus finally met his son Telemachos, and the both fought to kill the men who wanted to marry Odysseus' wife. "Telemachos slung on his sharp sword, and grasped his spear, and took his stand by the seat, the son armed by his father's side" (242). They killed all the men who were eating up Odysseus' wealth. Odysseus finally met his wife and father after twenty years of being away.

The Odyssey, by Homer, is good even though the main character, Odysseus, is a static character. In most good books, the reason they are good is because the main character changes. Homer manages to write a good book, even though the main character doesn't change, by the situations Odysseus finds himself in, how he always finds a unique way out, and how he triumphs in the end.

Works Cited

Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Rouse, W.H.D.. New York: New American Library, 1937.