Character Sketch Of Hermes

Primarily, Hermes informs Odysseus of his men’s dire situation and Circe’s potential harm. Firstly, Homer uses imagery to depict that Odysseus’ men have been changed in form as Circe decided to turn them into pigs: “...Your men are all in there, in Circe’s palace, cooped like swine, hock by jowl in the sties,” (312-313). Here the reader can picture how squished the men are together and there is once again a hint at the potential risk Odysseus could be in because he could be turned into a swine like the rest of his men were. Finally, Hermes departs with fair warning by saying “but have her swear the binding oath of the blessed gods she’ll never plot some new intrigue to harm you” (331-333). This dialogue shows the potential harm Circe could cause if Odysseus doesn’t make her swear the oath and shows that the oath is a binding agreement of some sort between a god and an epic hero when an epic hero is in a risky

Also, in book twelve: Scylla and Charybdis fate is demonstrated once again. Thirdly in the text, at this point Odysseus men disobeyed his order not to eat the plumed sheep’s, and Zeus help him realize that his men are not promising. Odysseus says on page 166, lines 372 to 373,”…so it was to ruin me the [Zeus] lulled me into a cruel sleep, while left to themselves my men planned this awful crime.” Zeus put Odysseus in a deep sleep so that Odysseus could see that his men are not promising; Odysseus men lack strength and they are very greedy. They only care for themselves! Furthermore, Zeus was punishing Odysseus and his men completely by destroying their boat. Odysseus says on page 167, lines 414 thru 416,”… Zeus thundered and struck the vessel with lighting. The whole ship reeled from the blow his bolt and was filled with the smell of sulphur…” This shows that Zeus is the reason why Odysseus couldn’t get home overall, because throughout the book we seen Zeus take charge more than once and that he is above all gods; therefore, Zeus is the reason Odysseus couldn’t get home.

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

They sent Hermes, the messenger god to convince Calypso to let Odysseus get back to his wife and son. His problems were not over yet once he left the island, however, because he had made Zeus an enemy. Zeus sent a terrible storm to rip apart Odysseus 's raft with the intentions that he be lost at sea forever. Gods saved him from this fate, though, when Ino and Athena give him a veil to keep him from drowning and changing the wind to make sure the waves carried Odysseus home. It was very important that Odysseus was so reverent towards the gods; otherwise he never would have made it home from the Trojan War.

The goddess Athena then appears to Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, disguised as an old friend of his and tells him to travel to Pylos and Sparta in search of his father, meanwhile banishing the suitors from his father’s estate in Ithaca since Odysseus would return soon. In Pylos, Telemachus learns that the two brothers leading Odysseus’ expedition had a sort of disagreement leading to their separation. Later, in Sparta Telemachus learns that Odysseus is being held captive on an island by the goddess Calypso. However, the gods order Calypso to allow Odysseus to return to Ithaca.

Odysseus is the leader of his men and it is his job to return them home safely. They look up to Odysseus and follow him, whether they believe he has made the right or wrong decision. When Odysseus and his men are stuck with the cyclops it is Odysseus that comes up with the plan to save them. Odysseus is smart and is favored by Athena and as such, Athena helps him devise a plan. One time when Odysseus’ men do not seek his advice they make a mistake and it costs them on their journey. “While Odysseus is sleeping the men open the bag, thinking it contains gold and silver. The bad winds thus escape and blow the ships back to Aeolus’ island.” “Book Ten, Page 916.” The quote shows that the men need Odysseus there to help them and that without him Odysseus men make stupid decisions. Because the men opened the bag Aeolus did not help them again, he believed that their voyage was cursed.

Odysseus is on his way to save his men from being from Circe’s spell without a plan. Hermes intervenes knowing what Odysseus’ fate would end up and asks Odysseus ‘“Where [he is going] alone along the slopes and [if he is] ignorant of this strange land? … On your own, be sure, you never will return; you’ll stay together with the others in her sties”’(Homer 200). In short, Hermes is asking what Odysseus

Odysseus was able to get help from the god Hermes and Odysseus came against her spell and transformed the pigs back into his soldiers. They stayed on her island for a year in comfort before moving on and resisting the temptations of the dangerous Sirens. They also had to go through between the sea monster, Scylla and also had to go through the whirlpools of Charybdis and the deepness of Hades to get a prophecy from the blind seer Tiresias. Resting on the island of Helios Odysseus' men didn’t listen to his orders to not touch the oxen. At sea, Zeus punished them. All but Odysseus died in a

Overall, Odysseus went from being imprisoned to the gods allowing him to be set free and return home. The gods believed that he waited long enough and deserved to go home after many years. Hermes being sent was what allowed him to gain enough courage to take the journey home. Hermes also made sure that Calypso let him free so that Odysseus is able begin his journey home. The heroic cycle begins to develop because Odysseus is finally able to return to Ithaca, after ten years in captivity. Without the first step of the heroic cycle, the call, Odysseus never would have gotten back to Ithaca or developed as a hero.

Odysseus receives help from his strongest supporter Athena, goddess of wisdom. Athena assists Odysseus with noble powers throughout his quest. She is the one who speaks up for

After many heroic deeds and much danger and peril Odysseus journeys to the underworld and back, escaped the sirens, evades Charybdis and Scyylla, and loses all of his men. His men eat the sungod’s cattle even after promising Odysseus that they wouldn’t, so Zeus kills all of his men by striking their ship with a bolt of lighting (Odyssey 11-13:1-452).

This is especially evident in The Odyssey, when Zeus sends Hermes to rescue Odysseus from Calypso, where he has been held captive since the battle at Troy. At first glance this may not seem like the typical form of production, but upon closer inspection, and the rest of Odysseus’s story kept in mind, it is a brilliant form of protection of Odysseus’s family. By Zeus sending Hermes to free Odysseus, it enables Odysseus to travel home and protect his wife and son from the suitors which are threatening the financial and power stability of the throne. This in turn preserves the civilization of the Greeks at Ithaca and saves them from becoming uncivilized, or barbarian. Odysseus was also protected in a more specific manner after escaping from Calypso, when Poseidon is trying to destroy Odysseus before he reaches the island of the Phaeacians, Athena and the goddess Ino come to his rescue and allow him to make

Odysseus arrives on Calypso’s island alone, after the loss of his men and ship. Calypso rescues him and loves and cares for him in her cave. At first, it seems like Odysseus doesn’t seem much to mind her taking care of him, but over time it is plainly evident that he is unhappy with her. When Hermes arrives on Calypso’s island to give her the message from Zeus to release Odysseus, he is bawling on the beach a day-long activity for him. Calypso is holding him with her by force; she has no companions to help him back to Ithaka, nor has she a ship to send him in. Athena pleads with Zeus to give Odysseus good fortune, saying that "he lies away on an island suffering strong pains in the palace of the nymph Kalypso, and she detains him by constraint, and he cannot make his way to his country, for he has not any ships by him, nor any companions who can convey him back

At this point, a brief summary of the events leading to Odysseus' underworld experience is in order. The hero and his crew make landfall on an island ruled by the Sorceress, Circe. According to several traditions, she is daughter to Helios, the sun god. When encountered by an advance party commanded by Eurylokhos, Circe transforms all the men into pigs by means of a powerful drug insinuated into food and drink. Eurylokhos escapes this fate and is able to warn Odysseus. Hermes then descends to instruct Odysseus in how to overcome the witch. It is curious that, instead of displaying his power to nullify Circe's magic, Hermes arms Odysseus with a sprig of a plant called moly. Evidently, the aura of herbalism was such that only more herbalism could compete. Having rendered the sorceress helpless, Odysseus is persuaded by her to remain on the island for a full year. At year's end, Circe advises the hero to journey to Hades in order that he may learn from the shade of the blind prophet, Tiresias, how a

Imagine being trapped on an island and you're far from your family. You've fought long and hard against your enemies to bring home victory, but on your way home you get stuck on an island. Odysseus experienced this situation. He wasn't alone though, he had a guardian whose name was Athens. She was protecting Odysseus from a god named Poseidon, the god of the sea. Poseidon didn't want Odysseus to return home. Do you think, besides Athene, could help Odysseus return home for his homecoming? Hermes, whose a god, could help Odysseus return home. Hermes is a courageous god that has little fear. Athens is doing well protecting Odysseus, but Hermes would do well also.