Examples Of Trust In The Odyssey

Odysseus was weary about it, but he was outnumbered, so, he agreed to stop at the island with only one rule they had to obey. They were not allowed to kill or touch the cattle on the island. The stay at the island was longer than Odysseus had planned, there were strong winds sent by Zeus that didn’t let them go bad out to sea, and forced them to stay in the island for a long time. One night Odysseus fell asleep. His men were starving, overcome by their hunger, they killed the cattle to eat. Once Odysseus found out, he cried out to the gods, “ O Father Zeus and gods in bliss forever, you made me sleep away this day of mischief! O cruel drowsing in the evil hour! Here they sat and a great work they contrived” (Homer 842). Odysseus failed at keeping his men from eating the cattle. The failure broke him down, but he still kept on going with his job, that later soon will led to his success. Odysseus succeeded many times along his journey, but there is always room to grow stronger. Odysseus failed once again at Helios’s Island. Once the winds, that were sent by Zeus, came to a stop, the men were able to carry on with the journey. But soon later, “with a

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.

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

In addition, Odysseus was not the only person who made bad decisions. Odysseus’s men, having led to believe Odysseus was hiding treasure, made another one of the worst decisions in this epic. Odysseus’s men thought that the bag of winds he had received from Aeolus was really a bag of treasures that he was saving for himself. Stricken with greed, the men opened the bag of winds which sent them back to Aeolus’s island. If the men would have had trust in Odysseus and believed him, they would never have even thought about opening the bag, and they would have gotten home right then, instead of taking another five years.

     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.

First, one of the recurring themes in the Odyssey is that of cunningness over strength. Although Odysseus was known to be a strong and powerful of individual, his cunning was his strongest asset when it came to overcoming the obstacles in his travels. Instead of relying solely on his strength, he relies on his minds ability to deceive and manipulate individuals to do as he pleases. An example of this is seen when Odysseus with the help of Athena disguises himself as an old beggar. Instead of simply going to his 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

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

Odysseus proves his selfishness by disregarding any advice given to him by others and doing what he thinks will have the best outcome for himself. His egocentric attitude continues to be portrayed as he puts his health and well-being before his men. Aeolus, ruler of the winds, presents Odysseus with a bag of wind to guide him and his crew home, but instead of putting his pride aside and letting his men know what it is, he lets their imagination take over to where they assume it is filled with treasure that he is selfishly taking for himself. Although he was not actually taking treasure, it is selfish of him to keep this information from his men knowing they will open it. He puts all the blame on them when he says, ‘My coward comrades did me in’ (10.71). Odysseus could have easily prevented this, but he was too stubborn. Along their way home, the crew docks on Helios’ island where they are advised not to eat the cattle, but while Odysseus was away attempting to call on the gods, they sacrificed the best cows. A good leader would have explained to them consequences, but he was only worried about his own personal agenda. Because of this, Zeus punishes them when he says, ‘As for those sinners, I’ll soon strike their ship/with blazing lightning’ (12.394-395). These instances cause his

Odysseus does not tell his men many things and he keeps those secrets to himself. In one example of the Odyssey, Odysseus is given a gift from the god of the winds, Aiolos. The gift, a bag of winds, takes all the stormy winds and conceals them inside a cowskin bag. Odysseus’ crew, curious about what is in the bag, decides to open the bag and check what is inside. Thinking that there is gold and silver inside, they greedily open it emanating a windy gale. Odysseus describes the opening of the bag saying, ‘“A scandalous motion, but it was passed. They opened the bag, the winds leaped out; at once a gale caught them, and carried them off to sea tearing their hair as they left their native land behind.”’ (Homer 113). A very scandalous motion indeed for the island of Ithaca was visible to Odysseus and his me. Odysseus is punished for his poor leadership. He does not tell his crew that there are the stormy winds inside the bag, leaving his crew inquisitive. Odysseus also, “fell into a deep sleep…”(Homer 112) which gives the crew freedom because there is no supervision. This flaw gave Odysseus the wisdom of responsibility. Odysseus acts as the leader and tells his men what to do. Unfortunately, Odysseus’s men still disobey him on Thrinacia. The men take all of Helios’ cattle and they feast on them although Odysseus had already warned the men. Odysseus, having learned from poor leadership, said, “My friends, we have food and drink in the ship, so we must keep our hands off these cattle or we may suffer for it.” (Homer 144). Odysseus learns but his crew does not gain any wisdom. Odysseus tries to take leadership by warning his crew but they were all too greedy. Under the circumstances, Helios called upon Zeus and terror struck upon Odysseus men leaving only Odysseus alive. Odysseus gains the wisdom of responsibility after learning from his flaw of poor

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.

This passage is told as a flashback, as Odysseus sits in the palace of the Phaeacians telling the story of his wanderings. Odysseus reluctantly tells his story after King Alcinou notices his weeping during a minstrel, which was about the fall of Troy. So in answer to the King, Odysseus reveals his identity, background and adventures: from Troy, the winds sweep him and his men to Ismarus, city of the Cicones. The men plunder the land and, carried away by greed, refuses to leave until the Cicones turn on them and attack. Odysseus and his crew finally escape, having lost six men per ship.

When someone is being loyal to the person that he serves, the person will come to trust him more and not punish the hard-working laborer. This is seen all over, as the men with authority will trust their most loyal servants to do their most important and serious errands, and not leave it to the people that are less loyal. The reason for this is because they know that the loyal servant will do everything in their power to make sure that the errand is done correctly and successfully. The leader will also learn to depend on them more, and will look to them for help. This is seen with Odysseus, for when he first gets back to Ithaca, he is under disguise because he doesn’t want his wife’s suitors to know he is there. He goes to the home of the servant whom he knows is loyal to him, who is the swineherd, Eumaeus. At his house, Odysseus asks the swineherd who is this king that he is talking about all the time, with which he replies

During his journey Odysseus used what he has learned from is mistakes to return home and kill the suitors of his wife. On the island of Cicones,and with his encounter with Polyphemus, Odysseus learned that bragging can bring great misfortune. On Ithaca Odysseus never brags to the suitors and is able to enter his house with the Antinous and the other suitors knowing his real identity. He takes the punishment of Antinous and the other suitors without saying a word and is able to see those who have invaded his house. Odysseus is able to see who is loyal and who is not and take his revenge with the suitors never knowing who

Similarly, as Odysseus continues his journey at sea, he encounters difficulties after being gifted bags of winds from Aeolus, once again falling prey to his disassociation with consequences. After being a welcome guest in the Iron Island, Odysseus is granted bags of winds to aid him in his journey home. Homer details to us how Odysseus’