Antithesis In The Odyssey

Because of their curiosity, Odysseus and his men were lead to the cave of the cyclops, Polyphemus. As soon as the men entered the great cave they were not welcomed with the "god's courtesy" that they were expecting but with the harsh rudeness of the cyclops (260). Odysseus knew that the only way to defeat the menacing beast was to outsmart him because they "could never move his ponderous door slab" and would perish in the cave (295). So, odysseus deceived a intricate plan to blind the cyclops which then leads the cyclops to move the cave rock and "set up a howl for cyclopes" who lived near by (395-396). The cyclops thought by just using intimidation and brute force that he could over power the, in comparison, feeble men. Conversely, Odysseus knew that he could out smart the monster and defeat him. In this instance, Odysseus grew as a character because he thought about his actions and overcame a daunting task. This not only affected Odysseus but it allowed him to save his crew, further revealing that Odysseus' wisdom was much more powerful than the brute force of the cyclops. By making the cyclops odysseus' other, Homer was able to display how odysseus developed as a character and how he over came his weakness of acting without

At the beginning of the poem, the goddess Athena encourages Zeus, the king of the gods, to offer Odysseus special treatment. Zeus is more than amenable to reward Odysseus’ cleverness and commitment. After all, Odysseus did design the Trojan horse plan that led to the Greeks’ victory. The triumph was the precursor to all of the happenings of The Odyssey and a clear example of unconventional intelligence. Another illustration of his resourcefulness is his strategy to pierce Polyphemus’ eye while he is sleeping. Upon arousal the one-eyed monster asks who stabbed him and Odysseus replies cunningly that it is he or “Nobody” that did the evil deed. Polyphemus beseeches his friends to help him, “Nobody, friends. Nobody’s killing me now by fraud and not by force.” (BOOK9) This creates much confusion and little resolution for Polyphemus.

He was about to be eaten but thought his way through the problem. Odysseus took a pointed stake and, “rammed it hard”(Homer 223), into Polyphemus's eye. Resisting his urges, Odysseus knew he would be trapped if he killed Polyphemus. Instead he blinded Polyphemus. Lying about his name, Odysseus said he was nobody. So when Polyphemus is crying out in pain saying, “‘Nobody’s killing me now”’(Homer 224), the other Cyclops do not suspect a thing. Weakening Polyphemus was a plan and not a rash decision. Odysseus uses his mind over force, and demonstrates a true

The 8 Greek evil thoughts were a moral code that the Greeks believed took humans away from their highest mentality and made humans imperfect. All humans were under restraint about these thoughts, but the Greek Gods and Goddesses were under no restraints. In the episode of, “The Cyclops”, in the epic, The Odyssey, the clever Greek leader, Odysseus, and his men become trapped by a vicious one-eyed monster, the Cyclops, who eats the men one by one. In order to escape, Odysseus devises and executes a plan by intoxicating the Cyclop and stabbing a red-hot staff into his eye to blind the monster, and escape with his men. The two out of eight evil thoughts Odysseus most demonstrates are Hyperephania, focused on narcissism or pride, and Kenodoxia, focused on boastfulness.

Showing sympathy and compassion to others is one of the major lessons that the parents teach their children about at a very young age. When I was only four years old, my mother told me about the importance of being sympathetic because if you give someone a second chance, later on down the road they might give you one too. Being sympathetic not only benefits the person you are being sympathetic towards, but you might eventually get something out of it as well. Despite his frightening appearance, the cyclops Polyphemus from Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey is quite the sympathetic character. The reader sees sympathy in Polyphemus in the way the cyclops treats Odysseus and his men.

Odysseus and his men land on the shore of cyclops island. They get trapped in a cave by Polyphemus, the cyclops son of Poseidon. Odysseus tells the cyclops

Homer implements the idea of strategy overpowering strength in The Odyssey as he introduces and develops Odysseus’ character as an admirable hero. The author accomplishes this when narrating Odysseus’ travels and his impact on people. His encounter with the Cyclops, Polyphemus is a huge contributor to how he utilises his intellectual prowess over his might. Further, he dons the guise of a beggar rather than using strength in order to complete his goals. This epic poem is the story of Odysseus who’s sailing home with his crew from the Trojan War; however, they’re sent off course by Poseidon who harbors a grudge with Odysseus. The sea god delays his voyage home to Ithaca, where the suitors are wrestling for his wife's hand, draining his wealth,

Odysseus’s escape from the Cyclops is one of great intelligence. A Cyclops is a giant one eyed monster. Homer said, “The booming voice and the very sight of the monster filled us with panic” (IX, 256). From the first moment Odysseus and his men set eyes on the Cyclops they know they are in trouble and will not be able to get out easily. The Cyclops, Polyphemus, eats two of Odysseus’ men from the start. As soon as this happens, Odysseus

A key event that delays Odysseus immensely on his journey home is Poseidon’s revenge. While sailing home, Odysseus and his men come to encounter Polyphemus, Poseidon’s Cyclops son. Odysseus and his men try to steal food from Polyphemus while he is away tending to his flock (Homer 362). When Polyphemus returns to his cave, he finds Odysseus and his men, and traps them in his cave. While trapped in the cave, Polyphemus eats many of Odysseus’

Hospitality is a recurring theme throughout the Odyssey. Whether it is how Penelope and the people at Ithaca treat their guests, or how Oddyseus and his companions are welcomed in many of the lands they arrive to, hospitality is revealed as a significant feature and value in the Ancient Greek society. In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus, the main character, has different types of encounters throughout his long years of adventure. In Book IX “New Coasts and Poseidon’s Son” he arrives to the Cyclopes Land and he faces Polyphemos, a Cyclops. Jeffrey Jerome Cohen states in his text “Monster Culture (Seven Theses),” that monsters express societies’ desires, fears, limits, and values, among others. Moreover Cohen states that monsters represent the “other”: the one opposite to oneself. Thus by analyzing a culture’s monsters one is able to learn about the culture itself. Taking this into account, this paper will demonstrate how Polyphemos’ savagery and man-eating behavior is representative of his lack of hospitality and what does this reflect about the Ancient Greek society and their values.

Annabeth had figured Polyphemus would still have a grudge about that name, and she was right” (212). Annabeth confronts the cyclops on her own to distract him and uses her wits to think of a way to throw the cyclops off balance. Annabeth rightly believes that using the name Nobody will bring out Polyphemus’s hatred and cloud his mind, thus putting him mentally off balance. The bravery and ingenuity displayed by Odysseus and Annabeth are highlighted as positive traits to have in both Ancient Greece and modern times. The authors want their readers to develop these characteristics as part of their personality, thus they show the positive consequences these traits had for both Odysseus and Annabeth.

Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, translated by Robert Fitzgerald, is a tale about the epic hero Odysseus returning home and his conquering of the trials and tribulations that are thrown his way during his long journey. In his epic, Homer effectively employs various literary devices in order to argue that pure brute strength disadvantage can be overcome. In the passage about Odysseus’s encounter with Polyphemus, the Cyclops (pg. 155, lines 402-441), he demonstrates the Greek core beliefs in the gods’ power and that the mind prevails over the muscles. He advocates these beliefs by first painting a vivid picture of Polyphemus’s persona as a big threat through direct characterization, than by emphasizing the power of the gods that aided Odysseus through elevated speech, and finally by poking fun at the fact that Odysseus’s guile and wit led to Polyphemus’s ignominious downfall.

            Odysseus is no god.  He is man, and with that comes the mistakes and errors in all of us.  In many situations Odysseus' mortal side is seen.  An example of the power of Odysseus coinciding with his human flaws is his battle with Polyphemous the Cyclops (son of Poseidon).  After escaping the lure of the lotus-eaters and their island, Odysseus and his men find themselves on another island, rich with food and shelter.  After feasting, the men grab a large container of potent wine and go off exploring the new island.  Later in their search they stumble across a large cave filled with food.  Curious where the owner's whereabouts are the men encourage Odysseus to steal the food.  Odysseus (showing his hospitable and genuine character) decides to instead wait for the

When Odysseus arrives at the island of the Cyclops, his first mistake occurs when he decides that he and men should stay in the cave and meet Polyphemus, even when his men advised him to take the goods and leave (IX.215-217). At this instance, Odysseus’s decision is influenced by his ego. He sees all the goods in the cave and the reason he stays is because he hopes that the Cyclops would give him a gift of hospitality. This is interesting because Odysseus does not know whether the Cyclops is civilized or a brute; however, Odysseus goes forward with his plan because he believes the Cyclops will listen to him since the gods are on his side. In this instance, Odysseus is calling himself powerful because he has the support of the gods especially Zeus, when he threatens the Cyclops that “Zeus avenges strangers and suppliants” (IX. 262). If his ego was not already high, Odysseus boosts it even more when he believes that he has outsmarted the Cyclops by not falling into the trap of telling the location of his ships (IX.273-277). At this point, Odysseus

Odysseus thinks that his reasoning are final and his activities are constantly just and right, although he frequently allows his ego control his rational thinking, resulting harm to his group and messing with the gods’s plans. His men could have went back home Securely for it is the desire of Athena and the other heavenly gods who surround to her in Mount Olympus, however Odysseus takes it to himself to outrage and blind Polyphemus, the monstrous son of Poseidon, adored by his dad yet abhorred by the people, In this way distrusting their whole arrangement . Subsequent to being blinded by the heroine, Polyphemus tosses huge pieces of rocks at Odysseus's ship, nearly obliterating them at the same time. But instead of retreating for safety, Odysseus keeps on provoking Polyphemus and “[calls] out to the cyclopes again, with [his] men hanging all over [him] begging him not to”(Book 9, 491-492). His feeling of pride and presumption influences to disregard the requests of his people even in these critical circumstances . He will fulfill his own feeling of interest and pleasure without thinking of the result it would have on his crew. Despite the fact that he is bound to get away from all passings and assaults, his group isn’t so blessed. Their lives are in mortal peril since Odysseus considers them as child sheeps who should forfeit their lives for him when the circumstances comes, much the same as how mortals make conciliatory offerings of sheeps for the heavenly gods. He is willing to fulfill his own feeling of interest without thinking of his groups lives or their suppositions and is regularly infuriated when they negate his request. If they hurt his sense of pride and self-importance and pomposity , Odysseus will be overcome with outrage and