Cause Unimaginable Consequences Of Pride In Homer's Odyssey

Arrogance and pride have caused people to commit regrettable acts such as a variety of evil deeds. However, these acts often bring disaster back on the individual. The Odyssey is an epic, which is a long narrative poem, usually of ancient oral tradition, that begins in media res and usually details the journeys and adventures of a hero or legendary character. This epic describes Odysseus’ ten-year journey from the Trojan War home to Ithaca, where he is the rightful king. Hubris, which is excessive arrogance and pride, is very common. In the Odyssey, the characters that display hubris in the story are eventually doomed and often die because of their behaviors, while those who have less undesirable qualities are favored. Three such characters are Antinous, Melanthius, and Odysseus. Antinous is one of the most hubristic characters in the entire book.

A hero isn’t shaped by his strengths but by the values he possesses. Homer’s epic, The Odyssey, reveals the moral and ethical constitution of the ancient Greeks. Over time, certain cultures have grown to value a number of human characteristics. Those who acquire such values become respected heroes. After the fall of Troy, the protagonist of the epic, Odysseus, set sail for his home, Ithaca, where his faithful wife and son were waiting for him. Over the course of his journey, Odysseus faced some of the most ferocious opponents known to the Greeks. Even through this formidable journey, Odysseus and his family have stayed true to the diverse aspects of the ancient Greeks. The Odyssey exemplifies the human ideals of hospitality, loyalty and

“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18) is a universal message followed by many. In The Odyssey, Homer personifies this quote in the character Odysseus, the protagonist of the novel. A man beset with a hamartia of hubris, Odysseus’ flaw leads to his tragedy and hardships during his years-long journey to return home. With the utilization of motif of a lion, as well as direct and indirect characterization, Homer warns that pride, when controlled, leads to marvelous fame and recognition; however, if unbridled, leads to one’s misfortune and suffering.

Homer’s The Odyssey is not just a tale of a man’s struggle on his journey home from the Trojan War, but of his struggle from the consequences of revenge. The Odyssey weaves in different characters’ tales of revenge from the gods and what impact revenge actually had on those characters. Revenge is an important underlying theme in The Odyssey because, in essence, it explains why Odysseus’ journey was so prolonged and treacherous. A few examples of revenge in the poem include Orestes’ revenge on Aegisthus, Zeus’ revenge on Odysseus and his men, and Poseidon’s revenge on Odysseus. These different examples of revenge in The Odyssey show the importance of the gods’ revenge in the epic journey of Odysseus.

When the Cyclops returns, he kills some of the men. Odysseus tells the Cyclops that his name is Nobody and plans his escape from the barricaded cave with his crew. They trick the Cyclops into drinking lots of wine, he falls asleep, and the crew stabs Polyphemus in the eye. As they escape onto the ship and begin to sail away, Odysseus yells to Polyphemus: “Cyclops, if any mortal human being asks about the injury that blinded you, tell them Odysseus destroyed your eye, a sacker of cities, Laertes’ son, a man from Ithaca.”(9.662) The Cyclops in response prays to his father, “Poseidon, Enfolder of the Earth, dark-haired god, if I truly am your son and if you claim to be my father, grant that Odysseus, sacker of cities, a man from Ithaca, Laertes’ son, never gets back home.”(9.696) Odysseus tells Polyphemus his true name just to get credit for overpowering the Cyclops. In result, Polyphemus prays to his father Poseidon and this makes his father avenge his son and make Odysseus’ trip home as difficult and as painful as he can. After visiting Aeolus in Aeolia, Odysseus returns to the ship with a bag of winds and refuses to tell his crew what is

Odysseus arrogantly does not think of the safety of his men and does not listen to them, only caring to annoy the Cyclops and to take the credit for blinding him. This shows his pride and his only care, to expand his legacy. By doing so, Poseidon curses his journey and makes it tougher for him to return

We know that Odysseus has had problems with the god of the sea Poseidon, as with his son the Cyclops. When Polyphemus eats two of Odysseus’s men, “He knocked them dead like pups.” (Page 220, Homer) the crew knows that he is trouble. Odysseus gets the giant drunk, and when the cyclops asks Odysseus what his name is, he says that he is “Nobody”. The men shove a sharpened stick into the Cyclops’s lone eye and escape. This Cyclops, being Poseidon’s son, was not someone that Odysseus should have crossed. We also see Athena, daughter of Zeus, take pity on Odysseus, and helps him and Telemachus many times, though disguising herself as mentor when talking to

Pride is a good thing and a bad thing. Odysseus’s greatest problem was pride. When Odysseus tried to return home, there was an island, therefore they stopped looking for food. This island was the home of Cyclops's. Odysseus along with his men infuriated a Cyclops named Polyphemus. Odysseus along with his men ran back to the ship, it was then he had let pride immerse him. Polyphemus ended up asking his father Poseidon for revenge.“The rate of major earthquakes--those with a magnitude higher than 7.0-- more than doubled in the first quarter of 2014 compared with the average since 1979”(Yan and Berlinger 2). Just alike the earthquakes doubling in the amount, Odysseus will encounter more storms than usual. Odysseus was extremely smart at first

As soon as Odysseus and his remaining men have left the island he quickly discloses himself as the great Odysseus (9. 561-3). Yet again the temptation to declare himself as the almighty Odysseus has become apparent. This would prove to be one of the worst ideas that Odysseus ever had. For if he had never revealed himself, Polyphemus’ father, Poseidon, would not know who to take revenge on for his blind son. Therefore stopping the majority of Odysseus’ trials from ever having to happen.

As Thomas Jefferson once said, “Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold”. Hubris causes excessive arrogance in people, and can lead to their downfall. In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus, a prideful warrior, tries to get back home to the island of Ithaca. Odysseus’ hubris ends up leading to many problems for himself and his crew. Hubris played a negative role in The Odyssey due to Odysseus revealing his identity to Polyphemus, not telling his crew about Aeolus’ bag of winds, and staying with Circe for a year.

Odysseus’ ego was so big that he did not listen to his men but yelled to the Cyclops his name, which then the Cyclops prayed, to his father Poseidon to curse Odysseus, which Poseidon does.

The Odyssey gives a great outlook on how a person can develop through time as well as how one’s actions can cause the trouble later and lead to unfortunate circumstances. In the book, there are several cases when Hubris, an excessive pride and arrogance as characteristic of a particular, is shown by different figures. Consequently, this is often followed by Nemesis, as justice has to be determined by the gods for the actions taken to maintain a heroic status, most of the time in form of a punishment. In “The Odyssey” by Homer, Hubris is exhibited by the main character and hero, Odysseus, in the Ancient Greek world, who proves it by his self-confidence in his adventures. Homer uses inter alia alliterations, similes, concrete details, and vivid imagery throughout the

Another occasion, where Odysseus pride was a huge factor of his reaction was when he was in Phaiakians. Odysseus was at an athletic event, where many young mean were taking part in different activities. Prince Loadames, who won one of the activities invites Odysseus to take part in the games. Odysseus refuses, and the prince taunts Odysseus, by saying that he does not look like he is an athletic person. That comment enrages Odysseus, who takes part of the discus game and throws it farther than anyone else.

In addition to Zeus, Poseidon held Odysseus at fault for blinding his son, the Cyclops. Although, Odysseus and his men had to fight off the Cyclops to survive Poseidon still blamed Odysseus for faulting his son after the fact. When Odysseus and his men arrived they found a monster’s cave which they entered and were unable to locate the host. They observed his cave and found many types of cheeses which they indulged themselves in. When the Cyclops returned, “he hoisted overhead a tremendous, massive slab—no twenty-two wagons, rugged and four-wheeled, could budge that boulder off the ground.” (Homer, 362). The Cyclops, feeling no conscious, ate many of Odysseus’ men. Finally, Odysseus decided to take action. He realized they needed the Cyclops to move the door, but needed to stay alive as well. After Odysseus and his men made the Cyclops very inebriated, they heated a stake and thrust it into the Cyclops eye. After the Cyclops had been blinded the men hid under his sheep as they wandered out into the pasture. At this point on the island, Odysseus had been very smart and told the Cyclops his name was Nobody.

When we hide from God, we also hide away not just all the negative that we wish to keep buried, but also all of the good. Our shame covers everything we do and everything we touch. The further away from God we travel the more shame that we feel because we no longer have the warmth of God’s love. In doing so, we invite the enemy into our lives.