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Flaws In The Odyssey

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Why does the main character in a tragedy almost always fall into a series of catastrophic events and suffer while attempting to overcome the struggles? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a tragedy is defined as “a very sad, unfortunate, or upsetting situation that causes strong feelings of sadness or regret.” It is a common misconception among many people how a tragedy is written for the audience to simply mourn and experience emotional catharsis. In fact, however, a tragedy discloses the main characters’ hidden flaws, and allows the audiences to empathize with the characters by indirectly experiencing the moderate and extreme sufferings. This interpretation of a tragedy can be illustrated through several tragic heroes in Greek mythology …show more content…

The cleverest general of the Greek forces, Odyssey finally sails back to his homeland, Ithaca, after ten years of the Trojan War. However, because of Odysseus’ ego and some unintentional accidents, he incurs wrath of gods and suffers through various adventures for another ten years. One significant event that has a huge impact throughout Odysseus’ journey is when Odysseus blinds the son of Poseidon, Polyphemus. After this event, furious Poseidon impedes various attempts of Odysseus to go back to Ithaca. Another significant event is when Odysseus’ servants kill Helios’ cattle when the famous prophet named Tiresias warned Odysseus to be careful when his ship lands on Helios’ island. After this incident, Zeus avenges for Helios by killing all of Odysseus’ men. Throughout this series of ridiculous events, Odysseus still does not give up and he attempts to overcome all kinds of adversities by using his intelligence and intuition. The audiences can also relate to Odysseus by similarly portraying a person in a life long journey; a person can sometimes unintentionally go astray, be surprised by unexpected events, or eve become involved in a disaster that can take away everything that one used to own just like Odysseus did. However, compared to the majority of people who loses courage and immerses in depression, Odysseus successfully overcomes so many unpredictable events and ultimately reaches his goal of the long journey. Thus, by illustrating Odysseus’ persistence and fearlessness, Homer encourages the audiences to have hopes about the future and positive attitude in all good or bad

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