Examples Of Actions In The Odyssey

Odysseus’s actions may seem selfless and/or heroic however they are actually being mistaken for acts of selfishness. “They tied me up, then, plumb amidships, back to the mast, lashed to the mast and took themselves again to rowing” (Homer 1134). Homer is describing the crew lashing Odysseus to the mast so that he may hear the sirens sing. Odysseus thinks he is being heroic and manly, but he is actually placing his life and that of the crews in danger all because he wants to hear the song of the sirens. Odysseus knows how loyal his crew is to him so, if one of them was to untie him they could have all ended up dead. Odysseus might think he was performing a heroic action but in actuality he was performing an act of selfishness. When Circe captured Odysseus’s men he was advised not to save them by his best man, Eurylochus, however “Against this advice, Odysseus rushes to save his men from the enchantress” (Homer 1125). Odysseus appears to be heroic but looking closer this rash decision was selfish. He rushed to save his men for honor. He cares more about honor than the safety of his crew. The rest of his crew that wasn’t under Circes spell would have been lost if Odysseus died because they rely so heavily on him. When a leader mistakes his selfish decisions as heroic it can place him and the people around him in danger. Odysseus’s inability to think through his rash decisions and recognize the right choice over the honorable and selfish one makes him unfit to be a

In the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus demonstrates his unimpressive and weak leadership skills. He is brave in his decision-making because he knows what is best for him and what must be done to get back to Ithaca, but it is done out of selfishness. His selfishness is portrayed by being thoughtless about putting his men into dangerous situations even if it results in their deaths along the way. Although he puts himself and his safety before his shipmates, he frightens them into not questioning him which causes them to obey his orders. He does not take advice from anyone because everything he does is to make an impression on the gods and capture their attention. Hardships are thrown his way throughout his journey, and he distracted

In the Odyssey, Odysseus is quite the legend known to people, whether you are high up in the sky with Zeus, or deep in the ocean with Poseidon, everyone knows Odysseus. In the epic poem, the Odyssey told by the one and only Homer, the brave, the godlike human, Odysseus is finding his way home after the big battle victory against the Trojans. This story is about his travels home and how he got caught up in other business. Let’s just say he stabbed Poseidon’s son, had his crew turned into pigs, faced a six-headed monster and whirlpool, and that is to say the least. He may as well be on America’s most wanted list with all the trouble he was causing. Even though Odysseus is a troublemaker, he has multiple great characteristics of a leader. Odysseus, when it comes to his crew and family, is confident, compassionate, wise, and always knows a way to get out of any problem.

Odysseus displays a praiseworthy hero in more than one way. Again, he uses strategy over strength every time he lands upon a new island. Once Odysseus lands on new, unknown lands, he does not run to the king and queen telling them his name and entire life story. He knows that bragging and being rude will not get him very far. When he enters King Alcinous’s castle, the first thing he says to the queen is, “I come to beg you for mercy” (7. 184). He knows that by saying this they will have sympathy

Odysseus is not a hero because he constantly puts his men in danger and makes decisions without thinking. Odysseus is sailing away from Cyclops Island and he is teasing Polyphemus about escaping. The crew tries to get Odysseus to be quiet, but his ego gets in the way, and he tells Polyphemus his name; leading to Polyphemus cursing him and his men to make the journey home slow and painful. Odysseus tells the Phaeacians in his story, “So they spoke, but they could not persuade my great-hearted spirit; and I answered him again with angry heart: “‘Cyclops, if any one of mortal men shall ask thee about the shameful blinding of thine eye, say that Odysseus, the sacker of cities, blinded it, even the son of Laertes, whose home is in Ithaca’””(Homer.9.500-506). Odysseus comments that his crew tried to calm him down and get him to stop talking, but he

In the “Odyssey”, Odysseus goes through obstacles throughout the book that a normal man couldn’t subside. One example is in book 9, his main obstacle that he is trying to face is to escape from being held hostage in a cave by a Cyclops better known as Polyphemus. Odysseus is a archetypal hero, he is also a role model, with an ambition to get to his homeland Ithaca. He goes through resisting temptation and using his intellect and physical strength to get him there, no matter the obstacle nor the negative flaws that he faces. Odysseus put himself and his men in that situation by being curious and wanting to know what kind of land his ship and the winds led him to. This was selfish of him because it cost him some of his men, but a leader and hero has to play that role and some lives will be dealt with on the way. Odysseus says, “The rest of you will stay here while I go with my ship and crew on reconnaissance. I want to find out what those men are like, Wild savages with no sense of right or wrong Or hospitable folk who fear the gods” (Homer 429). Saying this quote alone makes Odysseus a humble man due to the fact that not even a piece of land is going to slow him down on his journey back home.

In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus demonstrates the courage to face danger and adversity. When Odysseus and his men meet the Kyklops Polyphemos, they “felt a pressure in their hearts...but all the same, [Odysseus] spoke up in reply”(Homer 152). Even though everyone was astonishingly scared of the Kyklops and what may happen next, only Odysseus had the bravery to speak up to the Kyklops, even though he was scared himself. Much later, Kirke tells him of the two monsters Kharybdis and Skylla he is soon to face at sea and he listens to this, but exclaims, “Only instruct me...how if possible, can I pass Kharybdis, or fight off Skylla when she faces my crew?”(Homer 212). This exhibits Odysseus’ character as always desiring to find a way to conquer the problem even though the problem might seem out of his reach. After Odysseus and his men pass the monster Skylla, he tells to his men to keep on going and Eurylochus complains, “Are you flesh and blood Odysseus to endure more than a man

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

In The Odyssey by Homer, the development of Odysseus’s characterization through the course of the epic portrays the hero’s journey structure. The hero’s journey chiefly consists of the departure, trials, and the homecoming; the hero matures with the successful completion of each stage. Therefore, Odysseus’s character transformation as a hero metaphorically conveys his progress in the hero’s journey. In the beginning of the epic, Odysseus is like any other young, inexperienced hero with excessive pride in his raw strength. As he truly begins his journey into the unknown (departure), he learns that his character flaws threaten his objective. Up until his encounter with the Cyclops, Odysseus was accustomed to winning with his physical might (Trojan War). However, when his strength could do him no good while trapped in a cave with a beast, he was forced to think beyond killing and combat; ultimately he met success by using his mind, something he had never done before. Yet, still an immature hero, Odysseus brooded over his success and taunted the beast as he left the island. In response, the “blind thing

He was often displayed with heroic qualities, facing each obstacle head on with little fear. However Odysseus was flawed, with emotional constraints of a human he often took risks just to please his pride, this lead to disasters that could have been avoided. An example of this occurred after blinding Polyphemus, Odysseus and his crew paddled off to sea but Odysseus could not leave without taunting his victory. He yelled out to the Cyclops, which made it even angrier. Polyphemus took a mountaintop and hurled it at Odysseus and his crew, nearly beaching them. In response to this Odysseus yelled, “Cyclops, if a mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider if cities, took your eye: Laertes’ son, whose home’s on Ithaca!” (Page 13). Polyphemus then prayed to his father Poseidon dooming Odysseus to never be able to return home. Occasions like this showed Odysseus’s imperfections. But his bold fearless character was quite prevalent for an immense amount of the story. When talking to Polyphemus clever as he was he told him his name was nohbdy. As a result when the Cyclopes got stabbed in the eye he cried out, “nohbdy, nohbdy’s tricked me, nohbdy’s ruined me!” (Page 13) this did not alarm anyone to come and help him. By doing this Odysseus saved most of his crews lives and helped them return back to their ship safely, which showed a high amount of valor and also his

In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus illustrates courage, determination, and intelligence which help him overcome enemies in order

Voyage leader Odysseus experiences personality weaknesses that pave the way for predicaments. First and foremost, Odysseus has difficulty communicating with his crew members. When he receives the bag of winds from Aeolus, Odysseus fails to tell his crew about it. His crew opens it thinking its gold and silver, but then end up farther away from their destination, the island of Ithaca. On the other hand, Odysseus tells his crew not to eat the cattle of the sun god. They are disobedient and do it anyways, which leads me to believe that he should have better

Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus demonstrates multitudinal acts of phenomenal leadership and bravery. First, Odysseus defends his men from the beastly Cyclops, defending his men when nobody else will. After, Odysseus visits Kirke’s island and rescues his crew from Kirke’s potion, jeopardizing his life for his mens. Finally, he protects his men from the treacherous underworld and risks his safety for his crewman.

Another way Odysseus is also a hero is he always finds a way to survive whether he is in conflict or out on the sea. One of the many situations Odysseus survives is his encounter with Skylla. Six of his crew members do perish but through his hard work and dedication he survives. He makes another smart decision in choosing to go through Skylla instead of Kharybdis because only six of his crew members die instead of the whole crew. Another decision Odysseus makes to survive is not eating the cattle of Helios while on Thrinikia, his crew members choice in eating the hallowed cows results in their death, but Odysseus knew the consequences and did not touch a cow. Another way Odysseus' quick-decision skills helps him is when he chooses to leave the island of the Lotous-eaters, because he realized his whole crew would have fell under the curse if he had stayed there. Odysseus is also a master tactician whose complex plans save his crew and help him regain his crown. One of these plans was his ingenious idea to trick Polyphemos, which shows he is a hero by saving countless lives. Another plan he implemented was to kill the suitors which is also a success because Odysseus and Telemakos themselves kill over a hundred men without an injury to themselves .Odysseus is a quick-thinker whose resourceful ideas save many lives.

On the other hand Odysseus can be a smart man. He is clever and tricky which is necessary for a great war hero to have. Like in one circumstance Odysseus tell Polyphemus that his name is “Nobody” so when a person asks who he was the only reply he could say would be Nobody. “Nobody-that’s my name. Nobody-so my mother and father call me, all my friends.” (9.410-411) Sounds like a pretty fool proof plan to me, but the ‘great’ Odysseus can’t stand having all of the fame of defeating a cyclops to someone who isn’t even a person. Once they start heading off after they have gotten out of the grasp of Polyphemus Odysseus yells out his actual name which makes the cyclops furious. He then prays to his father Poseidon for revenge and he wants to give