What Is Free Will In The Odyssey

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.

Free will and fate are both prominent in the Odyssey. In the Odyssey, free will is depicted whenever characters make decisions. In example, Odysseus blinds the Cyclops, Polyphemus. Fate, in the Odyssey, is the consequences that are dealt out due to certain actions. In the case of Odysseus and Polyphemus, the consequence is that when Odysseus is on a ship heading home to reach Ithaca, Poseidon, being the father of Polyphemus, sends a storm at Odysseus being angry that Odysseus blinded his son. In that scenario, Odysseus makes the decision to blind Polyphemus to escape, and in turn, the consequence is that Poseidon attempts to hit him with a storm in the sea. The contrasting themes of

The debate between free will and determinism is something that will always be relevant, for people will never fully admit that we have no free will. But, while we may feel that we control what we do in life, we simply do not. The argument for free will is that individuals have full control and responsibility over their actions, and what they become in life as a whole (The Impossibility of Moral Responsibility by Galen Strawson, page 16). Determinism, on the other hand, is saying that we have no control over our actions and that everything we do in life is determined by things beyond our control (Strawson, page 7). After analysis of The Impossibility of Moral Responsibility by Galen Strawson and Freedom and Necessity by A. J. Ayer,

fate or determinism and say this was all planned out from the beginning of time knowing some things in nature happen randomly--

These two historical stories have a lot in common. In the Odyssey, Odysseus goes to war and tries to go back home harmlessly. Odysseus was tempted by Calypso, who was the goddess that saved him from the raging sea (Homer). In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh was tempted to find immortality (Beers). Of course, during the

In The Odyssey, Circe's character traits of intelligence and dominance over a situation change Odysseus’ way of thinking and the way he views his future adventures and endeavours. Interestingly, Circe, attempting to help Odysseus survive his future, advises him on how to proceed: “...there is a choice of two courses, and I will not lay down for you which to take; use your own judgement” (Homer 150). The reader sees Circe use her wisdom and begins to understand the overall instincts of Circe. This results in the changing of the way Odysseus acts in the future and alters the way the reader feels about the novel as Circe does not tell Odysseus which choice to make. In addition Circe,

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

    Fate seems to defy humanity at every turn.  A man may have his life planned out to the last second, but then some random force intervenes and he dies the second after he has completed his life plan.  Some believe in fate, believing that our lives are predetermined from the moment we are born.  Other people believe that everything is random, the result of some god rolling the dice in a universal poker game.  Still other people believe that each and every person is in total control of his or her destiny, every step of the way.  Who is to say which viewpoint is false?  Every culture has a unique perception of the role of fate in our lives, and no group has the "right answer," simply a

The Odyssey is an epic poem that showcases the heroic actions contrasted with the grave disasters of Odysseus, a tragic hero on his way home from the war in Troy. The author, Homer, shows through Odysseus’ actions that even a hero such as he, has flaws. Flaws that if not acknowledged and learnt from, can spell grave disaster in the journey yet to come. Many Greeks recognize Odysseus as the most renowned hero of the Trojan war, thanks to his own accounts of his years away from Ithaca. Following the Greek beliefs, many believe that Odysseus couldn’t have kept himself away for so long, for only the gods can do something like this, and Odysseus can’t be the cause of the crew’s deaths, only the gods could be so cruel. While

The Odyssey, a Greek Mythology novel, and The Alchemist, a book about a young shepherd, are surprisingly similar. The Odyssey takes place, mainly, in the Kingdom of Ithica. The Alchemist takes place in Spain, Egypt, and all of the countries in between. The Odyssey and The Alchemist are similar through the themes of divine intervention, the fact that the journey is more important than the destination, and both novels’ main characters need to travel in order to find their treasure. Both novels exhibit the theme of divine intervention.

Fate, as described in the Oxford English Dictionary, is “The principle, power, or agency by which, according to certain philosophical and popular systems of belief, all events, or some events in particular, are unalterably predetermined from eternity.” To the western world, fate is perceived as “a sentence or doom of the gods” (Oxford). They often sought prophecies of the gods, especially from Apollo, the god of knowledge. The Greeks would seek prophecies usually when they had doubts about something, or if they were afraid or in despair. When the gods made a prophecy, the Greeks put all their faith in it and believed that it would happen. When their prophecies did come true, was it really fate that

the gods; while he was fleeing from the Cyclops he yelled "If I could take

In Gilgamesh and The Odyssey, the authors describe the achievements of a hero during a particular period of time. Despite being written thousands of years apart, Homer presented the importance of perseverance and loyalty because he wanted to show how strong-willed people are in returning home safely to stay with their loved ones. Both Gilgamesh and Odysseus developed a strong desire to search for the true meaning of life because it arouses their curiosity. These stories focuses primarily on the protagonists going through the transition to maturity due to a series of events. The literary techniques that both authors used reveals two separate intentions and different conclusions. While Mitchell uses symbolism to show how Gilgamesh evolve into a true epic hero, Homer uses imagery to portray how Odysseus changes for the better during his journey.

One of the most pondered questions in human existence is whether our lives are determined by forces which are beyond our control or by our own free will. It is widely believed that one's own destiny is created by fate. However, some also consider the possibility that one's own choices can determine the reality of one's existence. In Harry Potter, JK Rowling uses fate and choice as forces which shape the events revolving around her protagonist, Harry Potter, as well as the other characters in the story. Rowling does not side with one idea over the other, but instead, argues that both fate and choice are significant factors that determine the events which happen during the course of an individual's development. Although Rowling lays out

When it comes to the realm of epic poetry, and hero-like characters in literature, the two works The Odyssey and the Epic of Gilgamesh can be compared and contrasted in different ways. The Odyssey and the Epic of Gilgamesh can be compared as expressions of searches for the meaning of life through knowledge. The two stories are somewhat mirrors in this manner. Throughout each story, the characters Odysseus and Gilgamesh show growth and change.