Not True Love In Homer's Odyssey

Despite these few instances, Odysseus remains faithful to Penelope in their twenty years apart.  He does not love either Calypso or Circe as he did Penelope, and thusly chooses not to stay with either of the two.  Although the principle might get lost in the tale, Penelope played the part of the goal for Odysseus to obtain, or re-obtain by the end of the

This time spent on Circe's island was a test of whether he could resist lust from a goddess, and he fails. At first it appears as though the only reason Odysseus sleeps with Circe is to regain his companions, but she easily persuades them to stay. What makes it worse is the fact that Odysseus is not even the first one ready to go. His men are the ones who urge him to leave: "What ails you now? It is time to think about our own country" (Book X, line 472). At a glance, it appears that Odysseus is merely succumbing to Circe's schemes for reasons related to their health and well being, if we read between the lines, we soon begin to realize that Odysseus is weak in the voracious hands of lust. Odysseus arrives on Calypso's island in her cave. At first, it seems like Odysseus doesn't seem much to mind her taking care of him, but over time it is plainly evident that he is unhappy with her. When Hermes arrives on Calypso's island to give her the message from Zeus to release Odysseus, he is bawling on the beach-- a daylong activity for him. Calypso is holding him with her by force; she has no companions to help him back to Ithaca, nor has she a ship to send him in. Athena pleads with Zeus to give Odysseus good fortune,

Odysseus is also disloyal to his wife who stayed faithful to him despite the circumstances. During his journey back home to Ithaca, Odysseus commited adultery twice. When he landed on the island of Aiaia, he sleeps with Kirke. He has been cheating on his wife by sleeping with another woman. Odysseus doesn’t do this only once through his journey back, he does it again with Kalypso for seven years and by will: “He lay with her each night, for she compelled him.” (V, 163). Odysseus doesn’t resist Kalypso’s charm and cheats on his wife Penelope. Despite all of the suitors, Penelope stays loyal to Odysseus. Even when Odysseus was thought to be dead, she still puts up with the suitors’ behavior and refuses to remarry. She came up with a ruse so she could stall having to remarry: Ruses served my turn…with honor. (XIX, lines 163-190) Penelope is experiencing so much pressure from the suitors and her family, but she still refuses to succumb and does not cheat on

Women are constantly portrayed as tempting men by using their sexual charms. And so women who remained chaste were held in a higher esteem than those who highlighted their sexuality. Walcot writes, “The Greeks believed women to be incapable of not exercising their sexual charms and that the results were catastrophic, irrespective of whether or not women set out to cause trouble deliberately or acted in a blissful ignorance of what they were doing” (39). In Homeric tales we see the character Odysseus being held by Calypso and Circe due to their sexual appeal despite him journeying home to be reunited with his wife Penelope after twenty years. However, Penelope is portrayed as being chaste while she waits for her husband to return. This

In The Odyssey, Odysseus realises how much he truly loves his wife and country. For many years Odysseus was held captive and had an intimate relationship with the nymph Calypso. She held him there for years, "by nights he would lie beside her” yet he was not happy “all the days he would sit upon the rocks, at the seaside, breaking his heart in tears and lamentation and sorrow

A major part of being a hero is trying to protect the ones you love from any harm, hurt, and danger. Odysseus, however, does not protect his family from harm because he leaves Ithaca for so long. In particular, Odysseus does not protect his wife from hurt when he cheats on her. Every minute of each day that Odysseus was gone, Penelope was mourning the absence of her husband, not knowing that he was deceiving her. Odysseus not only cheats on Penelope once, but twice. First, Odysseus is held sex captive by Calypso, a nymph goddess, on her island for many years. This means that at some point Odysseus had fallen for temptation. Odysseus then cheats on his wife yet again with another goddess named Circe. Although this affair does not last as long, Odysseus still sets

There comes a point in the story where Odysseus and his men are constantly bombarded with offerings for food, comfort and a long happy life. Upon leaving Aeolus’ island for the second time and quickly escaping the Laestrygonians, Odysseus and his crew stumble upon Circe’s island of Aeaea. After a few tribulations with Circe the men are all comforted, bathed and fed for a years time. The crew stays on Circe’s island for an entire year, and are tempted to spend the rest of their days with her (10. 327-8). Odysseus is also tempted considering he lives there, with her, in her bed for an entire year. Yet, even this great temptation is put aside and the men, unhappily, cast off from Circe’s island. Not long after, Odysseus would end up shipwrecked and alone on Calypso’s island. Odysseus is supposed to be being held against his will on Calypso’s island. Yet, when someone lives somewhere for over five years and does

Odysseus was both physically and emotionally unfaithful to Penelope, his wife. On the island of Ogygia, Odysseus slept with Kalypso numerous times over the seven years. Although it was Kalypso that wished to lay with Odysseus, it was his choice to agree to her, “She received me, she loved me.” (224) His decision to be unfaithful to his wife was caused by no one but himself. His promiscuous behavior followed him to the island of Aiolia. He was smitten by Kirke, a witch who had transformed Odysseus’s men into pigs. His affair with her lasted for an entire year. If it were not for his crew, it is without a doubt that Odysseus would have forgotten about Ithaka and remained on Aiolia forever, “So day… year grew fat.” (pg 179). All the while Odysseus had been

Calypso fell in love with Odysseus and wants to marry him. She was possessed by her ‘love’ for Odysseus. Although Odysseus did not

Odysseus is also unheroic because he shows disloyalty during his journey home by indulging himself in treacherous acts. Odysseus commits adultery twice. When he lands on the island of Aiaia, he sleeps with Kirke. Later in the journey, Odysseus commits adultery again with Kalypso for seven years and by will: “He lay with her each night, for she compelled him.” (V, 163). Odysseus does not resist Kalypso’s charm, thus cheats on his wife Penelope. Despite the suitors, Penelope stays loyal to Odysseus. Even when Odysseus was thought to be dead, she still puts up with the suitors’ behavior and refuses to remarry. She even comes up with a ruse so she can stall having to remarry. Penelope is experiencing so much pressure from the suitors and her family, but she still refuses to succumb and does not cheat on Odysseus. Odysseus’s acts of adultery and

In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus is away from his home, Ithaca, for twenty years. Despite the low odds of Odysseus ever returning home after such a time, those in Ithaca were expected to remain loyal to Odysseus as they awaited his return. While this was a daunting task, those who accomplished it were heavily rewarded, while those who didn’t were met with death. Upon his return, Odysseus promised Eumaeus, the loyal swineherd, that he would find him a wife, grant him property next to his own, and that he would become one of the “comrades to Telemachus, brothers from then on” (21.243). His own wife Penelope remained loyal for all of the twenty years of Odysseus’ absence, never once giving in to the many suitors who invited themselves into her home and spent years vying for her hand. While she probably would have been killed by Odysseus if she had been unfaithful to him, perhaps her greatest reward was just being able to be with her husband again and being able to live. The suitors, however, were not so lucky. Odysseus, along with the help of the goddess Athena, carefully plotted and executed the death of every suitor that entered his home and gone after his wife. With the help of his son, the swineherd, and the goddess, Odysseus took down every suitor, until “the suitors lay in heaps, corpse covering corpse” (22.414). The resulting death of every disloyal character in the epic

Calypso lusts for Odysseus so much that she holds him captive for many years. Odysseus, however, does not feel this lust for her. At this point in the epic, he wants nothing more than to reach his home and his wife, whom he loves very much. Finally, the gods tell Calypso that is time to release Odysseus, and she obeys.

The islands of Circe and Calypso in Homer’s Odyssey are places where Odysseus’ most challenging problems occur. In contrast to battles with men, Cyclops, or animals, sexual battles with women are sometimes much more difficult to win. These two female characters are especially enticing to Odysseus because they are goddesses. Though it is evident that Odysseus longs to return to Penelope in Ithaka, it sometimes appears that he has lost vision of what life was like with a wife, a son, and with thousands of people who regard him as King. Although his experiences on the islands of these goddesses were similar in that he was retained from Ithaka for the longest periods of his adventure, these goddesses and the

How does love govern a family? It governs husbands to return to their wives, to go on a journey to home. We have all been on a journey. A journey, however, does not usually include coming home. The Odyssey is Odysseus’s journey home to his family. Home is where the family is. While the relationship in a healthy family is communication, there are some instances in the Odyssey where there is an unhealthy relationship. In the Odyssey, are the families that are portrayed ‘rooted and grounded in love?” The loving relationship of family had valuable impact on Odysseus, that he made the journey home, while other families became scattered.

Even though Odysseus is the hero in this epic, it is shown he is only human and he makes mistakes too. No matter how noble or strong we may be, it is only natural to error. When he traveled to Circe’s home, he was enchanted by her and was unfaithful to his wife, Penelope. By being around a beautiful goddess and not having seen your wife in years, Odysseus naturally had a tendency to cheat on Penelope. We see that in our culture today. When spouses are gone for too long and if you know they don’t have a chance to find out about your whereabouts, people succumb to their