joseph stalin, francisco franco, napoleon bonaparte, alexander of macedon, xerxes, mao tse tung, all leaders in charge for massive massacres, saddam hussein, idi amin dada, mobutu sese seko, suharto. Does Odysseus belong on this list of mass killers because of the actions he took? Odyssey is a 1200 line poem allegedly written by Homer and it's based on the Greek and Roman myth of Odysseus and is telling his 20 long year journey. Odysseus was a passionate leader who cared for his men but in many instances he was filled with rage and unforgivingness that lead to arrogance and death. In Odyssey written by Homer, Odysseus was unforgiving and vengeful. Odysseus returned home after his 20 year adventure. He came home to find that his wife was looking for a new suitors, and was choosing which one to marry with a competition of strength. After the bow challenge that only Odysseus could win he has revealed himself to every suitor and his wife, and he is very angry at all the suitors. So the leader of the suitors Eurymachus tries to apologize and says. “he tried to trap your son and would have killed him.
He is dead now and has his portion. Spare your own people. As for ourselves, we’ll make restitution of wine and meat consumed, and add, each one, a tithe of twenty oxen with gifts of bronze and gold to warm your heart.
Meanwhile we cannot blame you for your anger.” (Book 22 lines 50-60). Eurymachus tries to apologize to Odysseus by saying that he understands why he would be mad and
Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus has the tendency to be a narcissistic, selfish and inconsiderate leader towards his men. When Odysseus and his men finally escaped certain death from the giant cyclops, Polyphemus, the not-so-heroic king of Ithaca shouted a taunt above the pleas of his aghast crew, towards the blinded cyclops. He yelled to the enraged cyclops,”If any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shame you so--say Odysseus(Homer IV. 558-560).” With this reproachful act of arrogance, Polyphemus, son of the wrathful Poseidon, cried out to his father, praying that Odysseus' travels be cursed and that he would return home a “broken man” and with “all shipmates lost(IV. 593).” This event shows how he is too unworthy
Resulting in angering Polyphemus’ father, Poseidon, who has curse Odysseus to never return home with years of bad luck. Indicating that Odysseus cockiness has lead Odysseus to try too hard to be heroic in unnecessary situation. Though, a point could be made that the Polyphemus does do bad things to people on the island, but nobody really ask for help from Odysseus. He kind of just take self liberty to bring justice to the people by defeating the Polyphemus. Not to mention, that the Polyphemus offer him a chance to forget all about the incident and be friend, but instead of accepting that offer, Odysseus provoke him even more by saying, “If I could take your life I would and take your time away, and hurl you down to hell!” (line 480, pg. 997). To put in simpler term, Odysseus indicate that he will never befriend the Cyclops for he is horrible creature that should be annihilated. Showing the reader how rashly Odysseus made his decision, as he could have make friend with Polyphemus, and continue on to his voyage home instead of putting himself in a bad position by insulting the Cyclop. Lastly, another quality that is bad about Odysseus is that he is selfish. For once, when he has come across an island on his way from Troy, he had decided to raid the village and take women as hostages for sexual pleasure. Showing how he is only doing this for his own need and not caring about the people that live in that village. He
On the island of the Cicones, after a fierce battle, Odysseus instructs the crew ( formerly a small army squadron) to round up slaves, food and other materials and board the ship to row back home. The crew says no and wants to feast on the comfy beach. A few survivors of the battle run inland to the main city to warn the main army. In the end, Odysseus and his men escape, leaving many dead. Now, it is right that this time, their deaths were not entirely his fault and Odysseus did care about his crew over here, trying to convince them to get on the ship and go home. But Odysseus couldn’t have done anything to change their minds. It was him against many who wanted to just stay on the beach. This time, it was the crew’s fault that so many were slain. But at the Cyclops, they were making a getaway, and Odysseus taunted the Cyclops and brought Poseidon’s wrath upon himself, making him at the fault for his crew’s deaths from that point on. So, to sum it all up, Odysseus is responsible for the deaths of his crew. If he hadn’t neglected them, brought a powerful god’s wrath upon them and expected them to follow him blindly, they would have made it back to Ithaca. Odysseus is a good example of what a leader shouldn’t be like. That is what Homer may have been trying to hint at when Odysseus had all his men killed; that a great leader shouldn’t be reckless and think about their own needs, but rather
In the epic called The Odyssey there are multiple violent and graphic scenes. These three examples will prove this belief.
Joseph Campbell once said, “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” True heroes are those who do something for others rather for themselves, Odysseus doesn’t exactly show this trait in The Odyssey. In The Odyssey, Odysseus along with his men try to go back home to Ithaca but due to Odysseus nature, only he actually returns alive. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus proves he is not a hero because he is arrogant, secretive, and unfaithful; resulting for readers to believe that every action has an consequence.
Near the end of this chapter when he has finished off all of the suitors, (mostly with the aid of Athena), Odysseus feels he has prevailed as the winner, righted the wrong. At one point he exclaims "these men the doom of the gods has brought low, and their own indecent acts. They'd no regard for any man who chanced come their way. And so thanks to their reckless work, they met their shameful fate."(435-438). The irony of this quote is the fact that he is
This suggests that Odysseus is not a forgiving person and that he will punish anyone who is in the way of his wrath. His uncontrolled anger is a hazard to his life and those around him. Narcissism (hyperephania) is also characterized in the book, and it can allow a person to always have an expectancy for praise and adulation from others, and this can lead a person to think too highly of oneself, when truly one is not able to be compared to that esteem. In “The Cyclops” Odysseus had not told Polyphemus his name, but when he was sure of success, Odysseus proclaimed his name with pride, “...how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye’ (503-504):” Odysseus once again cannot leave without the cyclops knowing who did this atrocity to him, so that when he gets home people will know his name and of the great things he did. This tells us that Odysseus is a man that needs other people to know his accomplishments and achievements for he himself to feel accomplished. This means that everything that Odysseus does, he will need to receive praise from others, for it to mean
Not only does Odysseus’ decisions lead to the death of crewmates, his choices also brutalize innocent people. He lacks the control to restrain himself and his crew from pointless violence. At the first stop on the journey, the land of the Kikones, the king and his crew “stormed that place and killed the men who fought.” (146) Extending their barbarism, they plundered and “enslaved the women, to make division, equal share to all”. (146) Odysseus has no control of reason, causing irrational bloodshed and atrocities upon mere strangers.
At then end of the Odyssey, Odysseus kills all of the wooers and everyone associated with their plan. I believe that his actions were justified because of what the wooers did. I also think that no one was punished that should not have been. The punishment might have been a bit too severe, but i do not blame him for what he did.
In the Odyssey, Odysseus is quite the legend known to people, whether you are high up in the sky with Zeus, or deep in the ocean with Poseidon, everyone knows Odysseus. In the epic poem, the Odyssey told by the one and only Homer, the brave, the godlike human, Odysseus is finding his way home after the big battle victory against the Trojans. This story is about his travels home and how he got caught up in other business. Let’s just say he stabbed Poseidon’s son, had his crew turned into pigs, faced a six-headed monster and whirlpool, and that is to say the least. He may as well be on America’s most wanted list with all the trouble he was causing. Even though Odysseus is a troublemaker, he has multiple great characteristics of a leader. Odysseus, when it comes to his crew and family, is confident, compassionate, wise, and always knows a way to get out of any problem.
For generations, heroes have always fascinated people and people have strived to achieve certain qualities of their heroes. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus is considered the hero of the story. While Odysseus does demonstrate some qualities that are not heroic, he is still defined as a hero because of his better, more heroic qualities in which he is far superior in than any other man. The qualities in which define Odysseus as a hero are courage, intelligence, and leadership.
Odysseus believed he was in the right when killing the suitors “You dogs! You never imagined I'd return from Troy- so cocksure that you bled my house to death, ravished my serving-women- wooed my wife behind my back while I was still alive!” (Homer 22: 37-40). Odysseus was dead set on killing the suitors since the beginning. He even told them “. . . all your necks are in the noose-your doom is sealed” (22: 43), illustrating how he would kill them as to avenge his wife and his honor. In doing so he was perceived as a hero by the most prevalent male figures in Ithaca, displaying an excellent example of Kleos, “fame through having great honor and virtue. Earned pride.”
At many points in the epic Odysseus should have stopped and thought about his actions and choices, this could have saved the lives of his fellow soldiers.
Eurymachus promised Odysseus that if he does not kill them they will give back to him have they have taken while he was gone plus more. Eurymachus told Odysseus “So spare us, who are your own people. And afterward we will make amends to you by a public levy for all the food and drink that has been consumed in your house. We will each bring a contribution to the value of twenty oxen, and repay you in bronze and gold, till your heart softens. Meanwhile, no one could blame you for your anger.”(Odyssey, Book 22, line 54-59). The Suitors are willing to pay Odysseus for everything they have done plus more, but he does not accept their payment whatsoever. Odysseus said “Eurymachus, not if you made over all your patrimony to me, everything you possess, and anything else that may come your way, would I keep my hands from killing until you Suitors had paid for all your transgressions. The choice now lies before you, either to face me and fight, or else to run and see if you can escape death and doom, though I do not think any of you will get away alive.”(Odyssey, Book 22, line 60-67). Odysseus’ mind is made up. He does not care what the suitors have to say he is going to kill them even though the suitors are willing to ask for forgiveness, but that’s not enough for Odysseus and he proceeds to kill all of them. Eurymachus see that and speaks up “My friends, this man will not refrain
Because Odysseus doesn’t want any guilt, he puts the blame on others and not himself. One example of this is after Odysseus kills all of the suitors. He explains to Eurycleia that "the gods’ doom and [the suitor’s] reckless deeds destroyed them…So through their own perversity they met a dismal doom" (220), so he should not be blamed. Odysseus’ avoidance of the responsibility is brought on by his arrogance. He thinks of himself to be above death. One of Homer’s epic similes illustrates Odysseus’ arrogance when "he found them all laid low in blood and dust, and in such numbers as the fish which fishermen draw to the shelving shore out of the foaming sea in meshy nets; these all, sick for the salt wave, lie heaped upon the sands, while the resplendent sun takes life away: so lay the suitors, heaped on one another" (219). Odysseus thinks of the suitors as no more than fish. Taking responsibility comes form respect of others, so Odysseus can’t accept responsibility for something he doesn’t have respect for.