Free Will In Odysseus In Homer's Odyssey

Constantly throughout the book, Odysseus shows great courage in any and every situation he is put in. We see this glimpse of courage when he fights the suitors, or when he saves his whole crew from the Cyclops. In book 9 as Odysseus and his crew are journeying through the cave of a Cyclops, Odysseus decides to make a very bold decision and blinds the Cyclops. “Hoisting high that olive stake with its stabbing point, straight ingo the monsters eye they rammed it hard.” (page 223, line 427-428) In this scene Odysseus drives a stake into his eye, in result blinding him. This was a very courageous decision because of the fact that he and his men are up against a Cyclops. At the same time, Cyclops’s are very strong and big, and Odysseus could have easily been killed . It turns out that the Cyclops is a offspring of Poseidon which put him and his crew into a lot of trouble and danger later in their journey, and if Odysseus knew that or not it was still a brave thing to do in order to save him and his crew at that moment.

Not only does Odysseus demonstrate a strong sense of courage in his journeys to prove that he is a hero, but he also shows never-ending perseverance through the countless adversities berating him. Although much of Odysseus’ journey is guided and assisted by various gods, especially in tough situations, what he does is ultimately of his doing and free will, as demonstrated by his tenacity when coming across many hardships. An example of this is later on in Odysseus’ story, as he and his men sail away from the Island of Aeaea to complete their journey home to Ithaca, they encounter many obstacles. The sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis terrorize and put Odysseus’ men and journey into peril, as his crew is struck with the terrifying might of the sea monsters.

His curiosity costs him the lives of his men. He decides to take a group of men to go see what these creatures look like. When then go to a cave of one of the Cyclopes they are trapped in by a huge stone the Cyclopes has placed in the doorway. Odysseus, as usual, strikes a conversation with the Cyclopes only to have some of his men eaten. “His hands reached out, seized two of them, and smashed them to the ground like puppies.”

This quote not only shows that he is fearless, but also loyal as he was willing to risk himself to save his comrades. Although sensing the danger and knowing that there was going to be trouble, Odysseus had plucked up the courage to save his comrades and headed towards Circe’s palace. If it wasn’t for Odysseus’ bravery and loyalty, the comrades would still be swine. He also had an risky encounter with a majestic stag. When the stag felt it under attacked, it “lowered it’s great antlers and rushed straight” at Odysseus, but he was ready and drove a spear “through the animal’s heart” (57). This shows that he is brave because he remained calm when the stag charged at him and didn’t hesitate when he killed it. Odysseus was also forced to sail past the six-headed monster, Scylla. The Scylla is a “hideous sea-hag” that “sits in her own filth” while “waiting for her pray” (83). Circe had warned him about losing six men, whom will be eaten by “each of her gruesome heads” (83). Nevertheless, Odysseus

He states “as for myself I took my twelve best fighters and went ahead”. This shows his bravery in the face of death. Odysseus did not back down from the fight and he was not scared to put himself in danger just like Martin Luther King Jr was not afraid to put himself in

Odysseus Overcame his foe (the cyclops) because of his analytical skills he was always focused on the current task which was to get out of the cyclops's cave alive. After the cyclops had ate two of his men Odysseus knew he was a threat but he thought to himself “ If I kill him we perished there as well, for we could never move his ponderous doorway slab aside.”-(Homer) This quotes show how Odysseus thinks analytically by thinking ahead on how to escape. He then put his goal into a step by step plan. He starts by blinding the cyclops by stabbing his eye but now he needs to escape and Odysseus says “ Twining cords of willow from the ogre's bed; then slung a

During Odysseus’s journey in The Odyssey, his own guile, the gods’ obstacles and their assistance for him affected his destiny. Odysseus uses his crafty sense of trickery and guile to get out of situations, which allow him to reach his destiny of returning home. Many times in The Odyssey the gods who dislike Odysseus set obstacles to try to stop him from returning home. However, there are gods who favor him and give him assistance to reach his homeland of Ithaca.

During his stay with the Cyclops, Odysseus heroically saves his men from death, but during this encounter he demonstrates the character flaw of selfishness. On his

Who we are depends on how we react to major events in our lives. Our character traits build off of these experiences, too. In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus shows many traits while he travels on this adventure. Some of these include cleverness, leadership, and self-restraint.

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

Oedipus the King by Sophocles is the story of a man who was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. The story continues in the tradition of classic Greek plays, which were based upon the Greeks’ beliefs at the time. The ancient Greeks believed that their gods decided what would ultimately happen to each and every person. Since those gods destined Oedipus to kill his father and marry his mother, Oedipus’ life was definitely fated. However, the gods only decided where Oedipus’ life would eventually lead; they never planned the route he would take to get there. All the decisions that Oedipus made in order to fulfill his destiny, and the decisions he made after the fact, were of his own free will,

A hero is someone who puts others before themselves. In the epic poem “The Odyssey” by Homer, Odysseus is knows how to trick anyone into anything, is helpful to his crew, and tries to learn from his mistakes. Therefore Odysseus is motivational, has leadership and has courage to do whatever he desires If Odysseus didn’t motivate his crew they probably wouldn’t have been alive for most of the story. “I drove my big hand spike deep in my embers charring it again and cheered my men with battle talk to keep their courage up” (Homer, 323).

Odysseus ship returned to Aiaia,where Circe met them with food and wine.She took Odysseus alone and told him of the dangers that were going to happen.First,they would go through the island of Sirens,who bewitched anyone who listened to there music.Circe told Odysseus to put wax into his men and his ears so that they wouldn’t hear the muic.Next,Odysseus would make the decision on which way he wanted to go.One way would be the Moving Rocks that crished anything that came between them.The other would make Odysseus sail between the two cliffs.The larger cave is where Scylla lived who has been waiting for a ship to pass so she can stick out her six heads out and get six men from the ship.At the base there lived Charybdis.Three times a day,Circe said she sucked in much of the water of the surrounding water,and spat it out.Circe told Odysseus to sail by Scylla’s base because he would only lose six men and not his ship.Circe told him next would be the island of Helios where he kept his cattle and sheep.Which the prophecy stated.Circe

Without a second thought Odysseus rushes to rescue his men, not caring about the danger, even after Eurylochus begs him to leave the island. The quote reads,” Eurylochus tells Odysseus what has happened and begs him to sail away from Circe's’ island. Against this advice, however, Odysseus rushes to save his men from the enchantress.”(Page: 1225, Lines 46-48) Bravery shines through this act of loyalty, by Odysseus putting his own life at risk to save others. The abundant amount of mental strength that it took for him to do this, really proves how loyal of a person Odysseus

Curiosity gets the best of them, Odysseus and one ship sail over to the Island of the Cyclops. Once again there curiosity gets them in danger, they wander into a cyclops cave and end up get trapped inside. The cyclops was seen as a big intimidating figure who was typically seen as a scary beast to many humans. “ We felt a pressure on our hearts, dread of that deep rumble and that mighty man.” This shows that even The Odysseus raider of cities was afraid of the one eyed beast. Odysseus and his men knew their fate if they ended up getting trapped in the cave with the hungry cyclops. Odysseus and his men then disguised themselves after they stabbed the cyclops in the eye impairing his vision. This is a push for Odysseus but of course he has to prove his superiority and tricks the cyclops into thinking his name is