Examples Of Loyalty In The Odyssey

One of the most important values in The Odyssey is loyalty as it appears multiple times throughout the epic poem. One of those multiple times where it happened Calypso wants Odysseus to stay with her after he has been trying to get back to his wife and she even offers him immortality. “My lady goddess, here is no cause for anger. My quiet Penelope - how well I know - would seem a shade before your majesty.” (p# 893) That quote is important

Odysseus’s men are not loyal. They are good people that stuck with him, but they still went behind his back. And thanks to them not being faithful, the outcome for them is pretty bad. The first example is when they got a bag of winds that would have them sail smoothly all the way home. Odysseus told them not to open the bag, and they opened the bag because they thought there was gold in there.

Intro: There are a wide variety of themes present throughout the Odyssey, written by Homer. Be it hospitality, perseverance, vengeance or power of the Gods, loyalty is truly the theme that brings the whole book together. Being 10 years after the Trojan War, many have forgotten about Odysseus and his men as they constantly brave what the gods throw their way. This essay will be talking about Odysseus and Penelope’s mutual loyalty to one another, the loyal relationships between Gods and men and finally, the loyalty Odysseus’ men show for him until death. This essay with prove to us that without loyalty, Odysseus’ legendary journey would have been put to an end near where they started. The general theme of loyalty is what kept Odysseus

Odysseus showed indirect loyalty on page 564, “I drove them, all three wailing, to the ships, tie them down under their rowing benches” (Homer 564). This showed loyalty because, Odysseus instead leaving his men on the island, he dragged them back to the boat. Any other leader would of probably left their men there. He expressed loyalty on page 578, “Unhappy spirit I promise you the barrow and the burial” (Homer 578 ). When Odysseus went to the land of the dead he ran into one of his men spirits lurking because Elpenor did not get buried. Instead of continuing one to his journey back home he went out of his way to go to Circe's island and bury him. When Odysseus expressed his loyalty it was more relevant that he was an epic

Odysseus makes some substantial mistakes, thus leading to the failure to his men. Odysseus shows extremely inadequate leadership qualities throughout the story. When Odysseus is on the journey to Ithaka, he neglects to let his crew know how long they will be staying on each island. He also neglects to let them know of the journey that lies ahead. This is very poor leadership in the eyes of his crew members. The crew relies on their leader to be honest with them when it comes to situations such as these. They expect Odysseus to make decisions for the well being of the crew. When Odysseus receives advice, even if it is helpful he tends to ignore it. He thinks he is the most intelligent human being, even more so than the gods. A prime example of this is when Odysseus receives advice from Kirke about Scylla. Kirke tells Odysseus not to fight Scylla, yet he chooses to anyway. Another example of Odysseus’s ignorance toward people is when Eurylochus tells him not to go onto Kirke’s island because he knows the crew would be turned into swine. Odysseus again chooses to ignore the intelligent advice given by the gods, and finds out that hard way that Eurylochus was correct. After all that Odysseus has done to the crew, it is true to

Loyalty is heroic. Loyalty is defined as faithfulness or devotion to a person, cause, obligations, or duties. In Homer's Odyssey one can see loyalty in many forms. Odysseus is loyal to the gods whom he realized held his life in their hands. Penelope was loyal to Odysseus, while trying not to offend the rude suitors. Telemachus was loyal to a father whom he only knew from the stories he had been told. Time and time again we see loyalty in the strongest sense, complete fidelity in time of uncertainty.

In the Odyssey, Odysseus shows loyalty when he stands up to the Cyclops Polyphemus. During this, Odysseus shows loyalty to his men by tying them under the two rams’ bellies, and sending them outside. Then Odysseus holds on to the ram’s wool, he had to have upper body strength, and he choose him to put himself last in leaving the cave. Odysseus did this so that the Cyclops didn’t know that they left the cave.

     Odysseus shows loyalty like Telemakhos and Penelope to the gods and his family. Odysseus is a man that can be described as tenacious. He is always focused on one objective and that is to get home. He is persistent and overcomes any temptation that gets in his way. An example of this is when he is with the beautiful nymph Kalypso. She offers him immortality to stay with her and leave his thoughts for home but he gave it all up for his family and home. He never gave up hope and continued to trudge his way back home. He also shows loyalty to the god by not cursing them for all the harmful events that occur during his journey home.

Odysseus’ support to his crew through every situation and hardship, throughout The Odyssey, is one main sign that the Ancient Greeks valued loyalty. In the Lotus Eaters, Odysseus, “...drove them, all three wailing, to the ships, / tied them down under their rowing benches / and called the rest…”(9.48-50). Through this difficult situation, Odysseus is shown supporting his crew as their leader and keeping them on the right path by taking control of those who were possessed by the magic of Lotus plants. When his crew members struggled to stay on course, Odysseus was able to take responsibility by supporting and guiding them. Another event that showed this is Odysseus and his crew’s encounter with the sirens. According to the text, "Going forward / I carried wax along the line, and laid it / thick on their ears." (12.115-17). Here, Odysseus shows his support to his crew by contributing to protecting them from being hypnotized by the tempting sounds of the sirens by preparing wax to plug their ears with. Again, Odysseus and his crew know they will face the challenge of staying on course, and Odysseus takes these actions to support them and secure their safety. Odysseus’ support in both situations that put him and his crew in danger, reveal the Greeks’ value of

Loyalty in the Odyssey In a book such as The Odyssey you may cite different times in which loyalty was shown. Depending on the relationship between the characters loyalty is displayed constantly throughout the story. Both viewed as good and bad characters in the story have shown faithfulness to certain people. Loyalty is very important in a relationship as Penelope refused to marry another man never losing hope in her husband, Telemachus sets sail his own journey to find his father not believing in his father’s death and as a sea god Poseidon caused Odysseus numerous delays as retaliation for his son, Polyphemus.

Just imagine you get classmates, teammates, and co workers out of trouble or bad situations constantly, but they show you any loyalty. In the book The Odyssey By Homer, the main character Odysseus runs into conflicts with his crew when they are at Troy fighting and when they are trying to come home back to Ithaca. His crew has many reasons to be loyal to him but sometimes they aren't and don’t respect Odysseys. Odysseus deserves loyalty from his crew because he gets his men out of tough situations, he won the war in troy, and he got he min from pigs back to humans.

Loyalty is easily one of the most obvious themes in the Odyssey. Several of the characters have varying levels of loyalty. This loyalty may be weak, strong, or even nonexistent. Some of the most loyal characters appeared when Odysseus returned back home, because most of them didn’t even know if he were still alive, yet they held out faith for his return. Odysseus’ family is particularly loyal, but they aren’t the only loyal ones when he returns home.

Loyalty is a major theme displayed in Homer’s epic, Odyssey. Homer gives the characteristic of loyalty to Telemachus, Penelope, Odysseus, and Eurycleia. There are also some characters that show disloyalty. These characters are Antinous, and a few of Odysseus’ maids. Telemachus goes on a journey to find information about his father who he has never met. Penelope makes sure she doesn’t marry a suitor until she knows for sure that Odysseus is dead. She waits twenty years for Odysseus’ return. Odysseus is always focused on one thing and that is to get home to his family. Eurycleia keeps secrets for both Telemachus and Odysseus. Antinous disrespects Odysseus, he is very ungrateful and very rude. Some of Odysseus’ maids were sleeping with the suitors, so they were punished. If someone was loyal to another person they would be rewarded and if someone was disloyal they would be punished.

Another trait that Odysseus demonstrates repeatedly throughout the story is his loyalty. In various situations he never gives up on his crew, even when he has reason to. During an episode in the epic, Odysseus travels to the underworld to receive a prophecy. He meets his great friend Elpenor, who has died earlier in Circe’s hall. Because he is unburied and unmourned he asks Odysseus to build a cairn in his honor. Odysseus replies, “Unhappy spirit, / I promise you the barrow and the burial.” (Homer, lines 609-610). Although Odysseus is preoccupied with finding Tiresias, he shows loyalty to his crew mate by spending time with his spirit, and carrying out the spirit’s request. It could have been easy for Odysseus to ignore the spirit of Elpenor, but Odysseus shows a real emotional reply to this meeting. Not only does he show loyalty to his crew but his homeland as well. Although he could have given up during the ten year span Odysseus wandered from home, he persisted even though giving up would have been easier. At one point Odysseus is detained by the enchantress, Circe, but remains determined to reach home:

“The Odyssey” is read as a moral story. Odysseus learned lessons and faces many obstacles that challenge his faith and loyalty. He was able to survive because he learned he needed to listen to the Gods and Goddesses. An example of Odysseus being loyal to his wife and crew was when he heard the Sirens. In book 12, line 192, it states, “So they spoke, sending forth their beautiful voice, and my heart was fain to listen, and I bade my comrades loose me, nodding to them with my brows; but they fell to their oars and rowed on. And presently Perimedes and Eurylochus arose and bound me with yet more bonds and drew them tighter. But when they had rowed past the Sirens, and we could no more hear their voice or their song, then straightway my trusty comrades took away the wax with which I had anointed their ears and loosed me from my bonds.” He warned his men, told them to put wax in their ears, and tied himself to his ship. This shows how he was loyal and faithful for not being tempted by the Sirens.