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Heros journey character analysis the odyssey paper
Heros journey character analysis the odyssey paper
Heros journey character analysis the odyssey paper
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The Odyssey, by Homer, is an epic poem that depicts Odysseus’ journey back to his home in Ithaca after achieving victory in the Trojan war. Throughout his journey, Odysseus faced many obstacles that prolonged his arrival home. These obstacles demonstrated why Odysseus is known as the man of many ways because they forced him to make not only strategic decisions, but also sacrificial decisions as well. This is emphasized during one of Odysseus’ Great Wanderings, where he has to choose between either sailing the ship near Scylla or Charybdis. Both of these choices are undesirable, so how does Odyssey choose which way to take? In order for Odysseus to make it home, he must learn the importance of making a sacrifice as a means to achieving one’s …show more content…
goal and how his choices can effect others. Before further analysis can be done on the lesson learned from the episode of Scylla and Charybdis, what must first be addressed is the details of a challenge that Odysseus has to overcome.
During this episode as noted, Odysseus only has two options of where he can sail after he passes the Sirens, either near Scylla or Charybdis. Scylla is described by Circe to have “twelve legs. . . and six long swaying necks, a hideous head on each, each head barbed with a triple row fangs” (The Odyssey 12. 99-102). If Odysseus sails near this monstrous creature “she shoots out her head, out of that terrifying pit. . . with each of her heads she snatches up a man from the dark-prowed craft and whisks him off” (12.104-111). On the other hand, Charybdis lives underwater and “gulps the dark water down” causing a whirlpool that is capable of sinking an entire ship; however, she only does this three times a day (12.115-116) So, to clarify, if Odysseus sails near Scylla he is guaranteed to lose six of his men; but, if he sails near Charybdis there is a possibility that all of his men will survive or all of them will die. This decision is the challenge Odysseus must overcome during this episode. Odysseus chooses to sacrifice and lose six of his men by sailing near Scylla instead of taking the risk of losing all his men by sailing near Charybdis, even though there was a possibility that they all could have survived if they sailed that direction. However, even though he lost some of his men he …show more content…
was still able to get passed Scylla and continue his journey onward to Ithaca, which is a major gain and purpose of the story. This choice demonstrates Odysseus’ heroic quality of leadership due to his ability to make strategical decisions and acknowledges that sometimes sacrifices must be made in order to ensure he reaches his objective, which in this case is to make it back to Ithaca. This strategic, leadership quality is especially expressed in this episode when he decides to not tell his crew about Scylla, knowing that they would panic. This was a smart choice because if he would have told his crew about Scylla then they would have “desert[ed] their oars and huddle[d] down and stow[ed] themselves away (12.243-244). If his crew was to stow themselves away then there would have been stagnant on the ocean right next to Scylla because no one would be manning the oars to keep the boat moving. That would have left the crew worst off and given Scylla more of an opportunity to sink the ship through brute force and ultimately kill everyone on board. So, it was thoughtful of Odysseus to withhold information about Scylla, even though it guaranteed the death of six of his men, because it allowed them to have a greater opportunity of surviving overall. This idea that Odysseus realized that he must sacrifice his men as a means to achieve his goal and make it back to Ithaca is made clear in the text when Odysseus tells his men to “follow [his] orders, .
. . head for the crags or she’ll catch you off guard, she’ll yaw over there – you’ll plunge us all in ruin” (12. 232-240). To simplify, Odysseus is ordering his men to stay clear of Charybdis and guiding them to the side where Scylla lies hidden, demonstrating how committed he is to follow through with his decision to sacrifice his men so that him and his remaining crew can still have a chance to make it to Ithaca. Odysseus not only shows his willingness to make a sacrifice for the greater good, but also that he does not second guess his decisions. He thought process goes by first weighing out the outcomes of each decisions, then choosing the option with the highest probability of succeeding. Odysseus from there then creates a plan of execution and from there on will do exactly as he planned. So, when Odysseus decided that he must make a sacrifice to ensure his arrival home, he does it and completely commits to his
decision. Furthermore, this episode of the Odyssey enhances the theme of choice, and how one’s choices can affect others. This episode, as noted, places a major focus on Odysseus’s decision to choose to either sail near Scylla or Charybdis and how his choice would impact not only him but his crew members. Throughout the poem this theme is addressed in various episodes. For example, when Odysseus defeats Polyphemus, the cyclops. Odysseus makes the choice to shout his name after already achieving victory over him, which leads to Poseidon targeting their ship effecting Odysseus’s entire crew. This is not different from Odysseus making the choice to sail near Scylla, causing the death of six of his men. Every decision Odysseus makes on his journey has some sort of effect on the others around him; however, this is not only true within the poem, but also true in real life. In Short, the episode of Scylla and Charybdis in the Odyssey demonstrates both the importance of sacrifice and how one’s choice can have an impact on others’ lives. If Odysseus would have made the wrong choice, all of his crew members could have died before even making it to the island of Sun. However, since he chose to sacrifice six of his men, that allowed for his remaining crew members to surviving and continue their journey. This concept that one’s choice has an impact on others is something people should implement into their lives to both improve their interactions with others and their decision-making abilities. If everyone would put more thought into their decision, that would make for an overall more wise and thoughtful society.
Odysseus is faced with many obstacles in which he must make smart decisions. Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus is frequently faced with hard decisions that he must make to benefit himself and his crew. One of the most difficult decisions that Odysseus is forced to make is the choice between crossing the path of Skylla or Kharybdis. On one hand, if they go to the side of Skylla, then six of Odysseus’s men are bound to be captured and eaten by the monster. On the other hand, if they go to the side of Kharybdis, than it is a lottery between losing all the crew members to a deathly whirlpool, or everyone making it out alive. In this case scenario, Odysseus chooses to cross the path of Skylla because it would be a better decision for the crew to sacrifice only six members than to threaten the lives of all the crew members. As guaranteed, six crew members were captured and eaten by the creatures...
One of Odysseus's many qualities is determination. He remains determined throughout the entire saga to get back to his family. During Odysseus's Odyssey he encounters many obstacles, beast, god, and nature. Odysseus must get through all of these hardships before he can make it back to his family and home. On his way back Odysseus is next to Charybdis and she swallows his boat. He must holds on to the branches of a fig tree to survive, "But I clung grimly, thinking my mast and keel would come back to the surface when she spouted. And ah! How long, with what desiree, I waited! Till, at the twilight hour...the long poles at last reared from the sea"(12.560-64). Odysseus shows his determination to get home, because it would be easy for him to just let go and drown, but no Odysseus hangs on so he can see his wife again. Once he is at home he finds suitors at his house. Odysseus kills one of them and the others beg for mercy, ??Not for the whole treasure of your fathers, all you enjoy, lands, flocks, or any gold put up by others, would I hold my hand??(22.65-67). Odysseus is determined to get revenge on all of the suitors and he will not be satisfied until they are all dead. Without his strong will and determination Odysseus would not have made it through his trials. Although determination is a must for a journey such as Odysseus?s cunning is also just as essential.
Throughout the whole book he is having his men go and do crazy things that make them risk, and some even lose, their lives. After Odysseus offends Poseidon by harming the cyclops he started taunting the cyclops. One of his men scream, “God Sake Captain! Why bait the beast again? Let him alone!” (493-494). This is showing that he was “baiting the beast” again and putting his men in even more danger after he just saved his life and all of theirs. Odysseus also puts his men in danger by not telling them about Scylla. He doesn’t tell his men that six of them are going to die. Odysseus says, “Voices came down on me in distinguish, calling my name for the last time,” ((820-821). This is showing that Odysseus just put his men in even more danger plus he isn’t fighting for his men. Odysseus was such a bad leader to his
Odysseus didn’t really value his crew members very much. He used them to scout places out and didn’t really care if they died. Odysseus was greedy to receive a guest gift from the cyclops, Polyphemus, the son of the god, Poseidon, even after they had taken some of the Polyphemus's goods. When Odysseus is telling the Phaeacians of his journey he tells them, “From the start my comrades pressed me, pleading hard, ‘Let’s make away with the cheeses, then come back—”(Homer 9.252-253). If Odysseus would have done what his crew members told him to do then none of the crew members would have died. Odysseus didn’t care that they were invaded the house of a Polyphemus, all he cared about was receiving housewarming gifts from him. He put his greed before the safety of his crewmembers which is a careless act.
A hero is someone who is confident and competent. They show that they are fearless and put others before them. A hero is alert and aware of the lives he or she lives. Heroes usually have a passion for what they do and they do it and finish it, no matter the consequence. Therefore sacrifice contributes more to heroism because heroes putting themselves before others shows that they are selfless.
Through some other clever thinking, he eventually got the rest of his men to the ships and they safely got underway. And it is at this particular point that Odysseus displays some conspicuously poor leadership. Instead of cutting his losses and and sailing away after losing just six men, he
In book 9 of The Odyssey, written by Homer, Odysseus was forced to make many critically important decisions. Although he made some wise decisions that portrayed his leader-like characteristics, many of his choices were poor ones that led to more difficulty along the journey. When Odysseus and his men entered the cave, his men wanted to raid Polyphemus’ cheese stores, and then return for the flocks. However, Odysseus was irrational and greedy, and told the Phaeacians this: “But I would not give way...not until I saw him, saw what gift’s he’d give” (9.256-58). By waiting for the lawless Cyclops to come back and grant the soldiers gifts, he and his men were put in danger, since Polyphemus was not friendly, nor was he willing to give them anything, and
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.
Before letting him leave the island, Circe tells Odysseus that he must face Scylla, a sea monster, and Charybdis, a whirlpool. Circe says, “Better by far to lose six men and keep you ship” (274). Odysseus is told beforehand that no ship could pass unscathed, but he chooses to not to tell his crew. He knowingly sacrifices his crewmembers’ lives and has no qualms about it, which shows his inner selfishness. He makes sure to protect his own life, but he sees his crew as disposable. Homer characterizes Odysseus this way in order to convey his views about humanity: humans are instinctively selfish. Odysseus also carelessley kills his remaining crew when he taunts the Cyclops. After hearing Odysseus’s name, Polyphemus prays to Poseidon and asks that Odysseus “never reaches home” but if he is destined to return, make sure he returns “a broken man—all shipmates lost, alone in a strangers ship” (228). If Odysseus had never told Polyphemus his name, he and his crew might have made it home more quickly and safely. Instead, his hubris causes an inescapable curse. Odysseus cannot bear the thought of forfeiting his fame, which leads to even more hardship on his quest to return home. Homer uses Odysseus to demonstrate the danger of egotistical
There is a small strait between Scylla and Charybdis. “Scylla to port and on our starboard bean Charybdis…” Odysseus must pick which monster to sail nearest to- the monster that will be less dangerous. In other words, Odysseus must pick the lesser of two evils. Put into a more modern context, the idiom “stuck between a rock and a hard place” perfectly describes Odysseus’ dilemma. In another situation, Odysseus must decide to plunder the Cyclops Polyphemus’ home, or wait to meet him. In lines 165-171, the crew wants to plunder, and Odysseus must weigh the benefits or ramifications. Either choice could have dangerous consequences. The term, “a crossroads”, comes from an actual cross of roads. It is now used as an analogy of a crucial decision that could take the traveler in opposite directions.The crew’s final crossroads is when they consider eating the cattle of the sun god. In lines 865-875, they contemplate starving or eating the cattle and dying quickly. The crew calls famine the “most pitiful”. It can be concluded that the Greeks did not find starvation an honorable way to die, leading the crewmembers to pick a fatal road to traverse. However, it was just the Greeks who had
Throughout the Odyssey there are many themes that Homer uses to portray different people and events. To name a few, there are the themes of Betrayal and Revenge,Greed and Glutony, Hospitality, Role of the Gods and Wealth (the amount of money one had determined the status he held in the greek society, and this explains Odysseus's love for plunder).
Impulsive actions prove to be very harmful to Odysseus. His decisions when he is escaping the cave of the Cyclops lead to almost all his troubles through his journey. As Odysseus flees the cave, he yells back "Cyclops - if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so - say Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged out you eye." This enrages the giant, and he prays to Poseidon "grant that Odysseus, raider of cities, Laertes' son who makes his home in Ithaca, never reaches home. Or if he's fated to see his people once again, let him come home late and come a broken man - all shipmates lost, alone in a stranger's ship - and let him find a world of pain at home!" In the end, all these things the Cyclops asks come to pass. Odysseus also makes the mistake of ignoring Circe's command. Circe had said to forgo putting on fighting gear, or the monster Scylla will cause his crew harm. "But now I cleared my mind of Circe's orders - cramping my style, urging me not to arm at all. I donned my heroic armor, seized long spears in both my hands and marched out on the half-deck." Because he ignores those orders given by Circe, the six headed monster Scylla snatches six of the crewmembers and eats them alive.
Death, humanity’s worst fear. Humans do everything they can to avoid it, yet it is inevitable. If one believes, as the Ancient Greeks did, that there is some sort of life after death that can be reached by the living, then one would be able to theoretically speak to one’s dead acquaintances. Most people believe that one grows wiser as one grows older; however one can wonder whether the dead are wiser than even the oldest of the living. Death, death occurs to many men in the Odyssey, but one can wonder at the amount of death in this epic poem. Epic poems were supposed to teach listeners on how to be good Greek citizens and they were supposed to teach life lessons, similar to fables in today’s time. This leads one to question why Homer, the author,
middle of paper ... ... In Homer’s Odyssey, both Odysseus and his son Telemachus embark on long, difficult journeys; Odysseus trying to return from Troy to his home in Ithaca, escaping Calypso and the island of Ogygia, and Telemachus from Ithaca to Pylos and Sparta in search of his lost father. While The Odyssey tells of the courage both men demonstrate during their respective travels, their quests are the results of the intentions and desires of gods. Odysseus is trapped in exile on Ogygia by the will of Poseidon, whose anger Odysseus attracts when he blinds the Cyclops Polyphemus, son of Poseidon, and by the love of Calypso, who wishes to make Odysseus her husband.
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...