Cunning Overpowers Physical Strength In The Odyssey

Odysseus displays many examples of fatal flaws throughout The Odyssey, however, his most prominent is his hubris. Odysseus is favored by the gods, and he appears to have a strength and intelligence that are larger than life. As one may guess, he can be a bit proud. But Odysseus’ confidence can lead to trouble at times, especially when he gets trapped in Polyphemus’ cave. During this trial of his 20 year journey, Odysseus gets trapped with some of his men in a Cyclopes’ cave. Crafty as he is, Odysseus manages to escape at the cost of a few nights and some of his crew. By escaping on the Cyclopes’ sheep, Odysseus and his men make a hasty retreat to their ship; but Odysseus, proud of defeating the Cyclopes by blinding him and claiming that his name is Nohbody, shouts back at the Cyclopes instead of making a silent escape. In his ranting, Odysseus shouts at the Cyclopes, “if ever a mortal man

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

Odysseus shows bravery when put against evil beings such as Circe and Polyphemus the cyclops. He shows his bravery when Polyphemus eats some of his crew but still finds a way to combat the cyclops. Odysseus explains, “Cyclops, try some wine. Here’s liquor to wash down your scraps of men”(155). This shows that even though the cyclops ate his men, he developed a plan to get the cyclops drunk. His plan works and it helps he and his men attack this cyclops which is a very brave

In the cyclops episode in the epic poem, Odysseus uses brute force against the cyclops because he treat Odysseus and his men awfully. In this episode Odysseus “bored that great eye” (12) by talking a huge stick and “rammed it deep” (12) into the cyclops eye whom the speaker Odysseus uses brute force on the cyclops to prove a point for being a awful host to him and his men. The characters view this as positive because some of the men were eaten by the cyclops. The characters got excited as “white blood ran”(13) from the cyclops eye when they jabbed a giant tree into his one socket.

To begin with, Odysseus is able to defeat Polyphemus by his cunning. Odysseus’ men are eaten alive by Polyphemus. Odysseus wants to attack Polyphemus right there and then, but he is able to think ahead and know that only the Cyclops can move the prodigious boulder. In doing so, Odysseus is able to control his rage and come up with a new scheme that will lead to their success. Next, Odysseus put his plan into play, and when asked by Polyphemus what his name is Odysseus replies by saying “Nobody”. This shows that cunning is important to Odysseus success. As he is again able to think ahead, and know that when Polyphemus calls for help he will be saying Nobody is killing him. Thus taking away the threat of the other Cyclops coming to Polyphemus’ aid, and allowing Odysseus to succeed. Odysseus cunning also shows when he tells his men to cling onto the sheep as

In this essay, I will be going over the important factors and events in the book,” The Odyssey”. Odysseus and his men has been traveling since the fall of Troy, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. In the part of the book, when Odysseus and his men were traveling through the sea, Poseidon was messing with their boat and making them rock around and having bad sea storms. Odysseus and his men were treated badly by the gods. Mostly, because Odysseus was disrespecting the gods and saying how they were weak and Odysseus took all the glory when him and his men took over the city of troy. The altercations in this part of the book were how

In almost every Epic Journey story, the main character, the hero, faces many obstacles. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus, the main character, encounters a twenty-year journey. In this journey, Odysseus comes across Zeus’ son, a Cyclopes and he has trouble dealing with his own pride getting himself in trouble. Many real life lessons can be taught through Odysseus’s voyage. Odysseus’s journey teaches people that life does not come easy, the whole time he is fighting at sea. Another lesson people can take in from The Odyssey is when Odysseus is fighting off suitors that want to marry his wife, Penelope; the readers can understand that giving up certainly does not result in success.

The Odyssey is an epic poem about all of the many trials and challenges Odysseus goes through to return home after fighting in the Trojan War. He leaves his kingdom and his pregnant wife Penelope at home for twenty years without him. As he travels home, he encounters

Strength is a major factor not only in Homer’s epic poem, but in many epic poems. Many of the gods are shown and described with strength, for example, Zeus is primarily described as the strong ruler of the gods. Strength is important, but wit is a large contributing theme in Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey. Not only did wit over strength help the men escape dangerous situations when fighting the Cyclops, but equally when Penelope creates a challenging contest. Wit was also demonstrated when Odysseus tricks the Cyclops into believing his lies. On the other hand, the opposite of wit was shown when he yelled back at the Cyclops informing Polyphemus of his name. Without wit, strength is nothing more than an action, but with wit, actions are meaningful

In The Odyssey by Homer, the main character, Odysseus, goes through a series of challenges on his endeavor to get back to Ithaca with his family. Once he gets back to Ithaca, he utilizes these skills while applying new ones to his repertoire as well. For every encounter he faces, he learns something new that changes who he is from the war. While sailing from Troy, he and his men attack the Cicones. This is foolish as many of his men lose their lives and the raid was unnecessary after the victory at Troy.

The Greek poem, The Odyssey, is a very long detailed story of the epic hero Odysseus, and his adventures. The story takes place on the open ocean, and tells the obstacles/places Odysseus and his crew come into contact with. Odysseus is the main character, and is said to be a marine captain and soldier. Throughout the story, the reader gets to know Odysseus through his actions, and his crewmates perspective of him. We also learn who Odysseus is as a person, and learn much about Greek Mythology as well.

The Odyssey by Homer follows the story of Odysseus’ return home to Ithaca after the Trojan War and the challenges he has to face with his men. After escaping from Calypso with none of his belongings, Odysseus finds help to make his way to Ithaca where he stays in disguise until able to kill every disloyal servant and suitor. A person who feels like he or she must show their superiority is falling into the temptation of hubris. When characters in the odyssey make decisions using their hubris it often results in suffering serious consequences.

Firstly, the sharp character of Odysseus is revealed by the external conflict between him and Polyphemus, the cyclops. Stuck in the cyclops’ cave and looking for a way to get elsewhere, Odysseus and his men “bored that great eye socket” (382) of the cyclops as step one of the process out of the cave. Odysseus thinks there is no way out until his quick thinking comes in action and he thinks of a way to blind Polyphemus. Odysseus and his men

The Odyssey by Homer is, an epic poem, set in ancient Greece around the eighth century. In The Odyssey by Homer the main character Odysseus is dragged along adventures and trials: temptation, danger, and influence along with passel of others and unpleasantness Odysseus faces and overcome parallel a regular person’s day, more specifically, myself.

In The Odyssey, the main character Odysseus travels a long and distant journey to find himself making many decisions that lead to consequences. Odysseus’s excursion took Homer three parts to explain. The first part was the description of how Ithica was struggling. This was when Odysseus went to the Trojan War. Then in part two and three is his accounts and how he struggles to get home after the war. The Gods make his journey tough, especially Poseidon. Even though Odysseus’s trip was lengthy and difficult he achieved a lot from it. He learned a lot alongside his curiosity leading to a rich life packed with wisdom. The journeys of Odysseus bring him both pleasure and pain.