Having background information is very important when reading about anything, so here is some information about the topic of this paper. “The Odyssey” is an epic poem told by Homer, a poet from ancient Greece. Homer was blind so “The Odyssey” was most likely written by someone else after he told the poem. “The Odyssey” was originally written in Greek, due to this many parts of the poem may have been lost in translation. It is possible that some parts of the story may have changed or been lost, however the general point of the story likely remains. The hero of “The Odyssey” is Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, whose fatal flaw is hubris. Hubris is excessive pride. This paper is about how Odysseus is affected by hubris. How hubris affects his actions, …show more content…
Thanks to some quick thinking from Odysseus, he manages to blind the cyclops so he and his remaining crew can escape. After getting away from the cyclops, he turns back to the cyclops and tells him who he is. He said that his name was Odysseus and that he lives in Ithaca. After hearing this, the cyclops prays to Poseidon, the father of all cyclops, to get revenge on Odysseus for blinding him. Though there are no immediate effects, this causes trouble for Odysseus later on. He gained
Anderson 2 nothing from telling the cyclops who he was, yet told him anyway. Odysseus was so proud of his accomplishment, that he could not help but brag. In another part of the story, Odysseus and his crew have to sail past the sirens. Odysseus decides that instead of plugging his ears like his crew does he want to listen to the sirens song. He then has his crew tie him to the mast of the ship with orders to not untie him until they have past the sirens. Odysseus seems to have done this out of pride and curiosity. He most likely does it out of pride. To show his crew how strong and brave he is. He is probably also curious about the sirens song, wondering what could be so beautiful that it could lure so many people to their death. Doing this could lead to respect from his crew, and satisfying his
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His pride has continuously caused a lack of trust from his crew. An example of this is when he does not tell his crew about the bag of winds, which makes his crew believe that it is treasure that Odysseus wants to keep to himself. Another example is when he does not tell his crew that they will die if kill the cattle of Helios. Odysseus does not tell the men about these things because he is to full of hubris. He seems to believe that he is the only person who can know about these things. It has been shown time and time again that Odysseus trusts his crew, probably more than he should. So other than because of his pride, he has no real reason to not tell his crew about these
The Odyssey written by Homer highlights the character development of Odysseus, the epic hero, in his journey of self-discovery. Odysseus is accredited with many strong traits including his nobility, smarts, and bravery. Having one tragic flaw, being his arrogance, was put to the test throughout his heroic journey. Homer stripped the protagonist of his arrogance as the story goes on, by giving him many challenges, giving dire consequences for his mistakes, and allowing him to continue to overcome obstacles. The main purpose of Odysseus’ journey was to reach his home as a humbled man. The hero’s journey can be used as a way to look at life’s morals. The reader is able to see the protagonist continue to make mistakes, because of his arrogance and continue to be punished by the gods. Once he overcame this, he is greatly awarded with the security of his home. This essay will analyze the arrogance of Odysseus along with his extraordinary traits, the molding of his identity, and his new found lesson of humility.
When they were involved with the Cyclops, Odysseus was a very brave, smart, and caring man (although he did do some bad things as a leader too). He came up with a very clever plan to hurt the Cyclops, which he did do. Then he told the Cyclops his name was “Nobody” so he
Throughout the time being on this island full of cyclops, Odysseus has showed his ability to think of a well put together plan. The next way Odysseus shows he is a great leader was how quick he was to react to a situation. In book X, lines 137-146 Odysseus shows his skill of reacting quickly when they were on the island and they started getting slaughtered but Odysseus got his men out of there. There was much chaos and commotion but Odysseus figured out what he needed to do to get his men out of there quickly and still alive. He even made a quick decision to cut the rope to his own ship leaving some men behind but this in the end saved more men rather than if they had stayed trying to fight back. Also in book X, lines 287-290 Odysseus shows his skills when one of his men come running back after the other men got turned to pigs by the girl. Right as Odysseus heard of this he grabbed his bow and was about to head out. Instead of Odysseus leaving those men there and sailing away he tries to go fight
His bragging almost results in the death of his entire crew. Odysseus doesn't think highly of his men, and this is apparent throughout the entire story.
He believes he has a higher status than the cyclops. Because of his excessive pride in himself, many men are eaten by the cyclops and Odysseus loses a huge portion of his
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 displays his pridefulness in the Odyssey with his uncautious actions. He takes pride in his strength, virility, and quick wit. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus leaves home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. Odysseus is the king of Ithaca and he sails overseas to return home with his crew. He is known throughout the story for being prideful and heroic, but his pride is more harmful than helpful. Sometimes Odysseus lets his crew get into dangerous situations that effect their lives and slow their journey. He is hotheaded and often doesn’t think about how his actions will impact his future.
Odysseus being one of the most flawed characters in the book struggled vigorously with his imperfections. Odysseus presented many flawed actions throughout the book conveying him as an arrogant and conceited individual. He demonstrated on many occasions his arrogant thoughts and actions and he did not seem to have any sort of remorse to his actions making his doings almost inhumane. One example of Odysseus arrogance is observed when he and his crew are escaping the firm and fatal grasp of Cyclops, the son of Poseidon, God of the Sea. They come up with a plan to get Cyclops intoxicated with the wine they had brought for their voyage before getting captured, after succeeding with the first half of their plan they set out to complete the second part; gouging out his eyes.
As he is sailing he is greeted by a goddess, Athena, and she becomes his guardian. He then sails to an island and is trapped by the goddess Calypso for seven years until Hermes comes to the island and tells her to let him go. He ends up going to another island and is trapped in a Cyclop’s cave. He pokes the Cyclop’s eye out and escapes the island. He ends up sailing away with his men and ends up on the island of Circe, a powerful witch, she turns all of his men into animals. Odysseus is given a flower so that he cannot be turned into an animal. He is told that he must go to the land of the dead and offer many things. He does what he is told then he is left to set sail again. They get back into the open sea and are attacked by Sirens, and murdered by the Scylla and Charybdis. He finally makes it home to Ithaca and he sees his son, his son helps him get into the castle. They suitors for Penelope are given a task to shoot an arrow through 12 ax holes. He then reveals himself as Odysseus and eliminates all of the suitors. He then goes to Penelope and reveals himself to her.As we go through life we are determined and always want to go back home to people we love. No matter how long it takes you, you will always want to go back to your loved
“Cyclops- if any man on the face of the Earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so- say Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged out your eye, Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca!” (Homer, 227). This act puts him and his crew in danger because the Cyclops is the son of the god Poseidon. Polyphemus then offers a prayer to his father to take revenge on Odysseus. “Hear me, Poseidon who circle the earth, dark-haired. If truly I am your son, and you acknowledge
As he gets the Cyclops drunk he then says his name is nobody. He then pierces the spear through the sleeping Cyclops’s eye, blinding the giant beast. The Cyclops then tells everyone that nobody blinded his eye. Nobody is actually Odysseus who is king of Ithaca who can be very smart and cunning in the story. The author of this story is a man named Homer. Homer cannot be proven the author of this book because there is no proof he ever existed. Odysseus king of Ithaca set sail with his crew to fight at Troy, but Odysseus and his crew run into some problems returning to Ithaca. Odysseus’s character in the story shows he is very cunning, he is very cocky, and he is very brave.
To start, Odysseus’ pride is shown during one of his first trials he overcomes when trying to get home: the Cyclops. This is part of the beginning of the Tests, Allies, and Enemies stage of his Hero’s Journey. After he had successfully defeated the Cyclops with his guile, he and his men successfully escape and are making a run for their ships. Odysseus taunts the Cyclops, despite his crew members’ warnings. Odysseus then says, “I would not heed them in my glorying spirit, but let my anger
In Epic Poem “The Odyssey” Odysseus is the protagonist. Odysseus’ over-the-top ego caused him to lose his men and his son’s childhood, but taught him a valuable lesson about humility. The Odyssey, written by Homer, tells the story of Odysseus and how he faced misfortune in his attempts to return home after the Trojan War. Odysseus is not famous for his great strength or bravery, but for his ability to deceive and trick. To his friends, he was a brilliant strategist. To his enemies, he was a deceiver and a manipulator of the worst kind.
Hubris is much pride or self-confidence. This deadly sin is displayed much throughout Odysseus’s journey. Multiple characters in The Odyssey distinctly exemplify that excessive hubris leads to consequences. Three characters that illustrate this theme are Odysseus, Irus and Ctesippus. The first character that shows excessive pride is Odysseus.
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.