Odysseus And The Cyclops: An Analysis

The Odyssey is a fascinating epic poem consisting of twenty-four books all written by Homer. It is based on a Greek hero named Odysseus, who spends twenty years away from his family. Odysseus was in a battle against the Trojans in the Trojan War for the first ten years. Then, another ten years of painful obstacles was added due to his boastful attitude towards the gods and goddesses. When returning back to Ithaca, Odysseus encounters numerous of hardships with the help of the goddess, Athena. He bravely dealt with the wrath of Poseidon, the Cyclops, Aeolus’ winds, the Sirens, Lotus-Eaters, Cattle of Helios, Circe, Calypso, Scylla, Charybdis, the loss of his crew members, and also went to the underworld. The epic poem also includes the

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.

Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus experiences many ups and downs throughout his journey home. He is throw into peril and there often seems to be no hope for his return home. While he remains victorious in the end, returning to his wife, son, and father, the poem itself is filled with many darker moments filled with doubt and sadness. Odysseus is the hero of the Odyssey, and in order to exist as a hero he must be relatable. His story cannot be one entirely of triumph, it must include a more human perspective. Triumph cannot come without strife, and heroism cannot come without tribulation. Athena and Odysseus’ experiences as divine and human, respectively, and define whether or not they are heroes. By comparing Odysseus to Athena, it is apparent that what makes Odysseus a hero before anything else is his humanity.

Throughout The Odyssey, the audience often feels sympathy for Odysseus and his men: our idealistic minds want to root for the long lost king to make it home to his true love and his kingdom. His return home takes priority in our minds, causing us to root for the fall of anyone and anything that may come in between him and his happy ending. At a closer glance, however, it seems that Homer does not want us to blindly root for the human adventurers. It may be his intention to reveal the humanity and redeeming qualities of the so-called monsters in the epic. In Book 12, lines 251 to 256 of his epic, Homer demonstrates this point with the following simile, describing sea monster, Skylla, capturing six of Odysseus’ men out of their ship:

Some may believe a hero is a person who fights evil and saves people. In reality, it is more than than that. A hero is someone who fights for what they believe in, they are courageous, fight for the greater good, and above all, would sacrifice their life to save the lives of many. For example, in The Odyssey, a hotshot is shown in the life of Odysseus. While many believe Odysseus was a great figure and leader, he was far from that. He failed his crew, and for one reason only, he was not the chieftain his men needed.

Homer implements the idea of strategy overpowering strength in The Odyssey as he introduces and develops Odysseus’ character as an admirable hero. The author accomplishes this when narrating Odysseus’ travels and his impact on people. His encounter with the Cyclops, Polyphemus is a huge contributor to how he utilises his intellectual prowess over his might. Further, he dons the guise of a beggar rather than using strength in order to complete his goals. This epic poem is the story of Odysseus who’s sailing home with his crew from the Trojan War; however, they’re sent off course by Poseidon who harbors a grudge with Odysseus. The sea god delays his voyage home to Ithaca, where the suitors are wrestling for his wife's hand, draining his wealth,

Odysseus is the main character in an epic poem called the Odyssey. In the poem Odysseus has had some bad luck getting home, with some of the gods helping him and some hindering him; his journey towards home is a constant struggle. In this poem we see a man being broke and rebuilt, through constant irony his faith was damaged and without the help of Athena he probably would have given up on his journey. Through his hard work and wise spirit he finally does achieve his goal.

In The Odyssey by Homer, the development of Odysseus’s characterization through the course of the epic portrays the hero’s journey structure. The hero’s journey chiefly consists of the departure, trials, and the homecoming; the hero matures with the successful completion of each stage. Therefore, Odysseus’s character transformation as a hero metaphorically conveys his progress in the hero’s journey. In the beginning of the epic, Odysseus is like any other young, inexperienced hero with excessive pride in his raw strength. As he truly begins his journey into the unknown (departure), he learns that his character flaws threaten his objective. Up until his encounter with the Cyclops, Odysseus was accustomed to winning with his physical might (Trojan War). However, when his strength could do him no good while trapped in a cave with a beast, he was forced to think beyond killing and combat; ultimately he met success by using his mind, something he had never done before. Yet, still an immature hero, Odysseus brooded over his success and taunted the beast as he left the island. In response, the “blind thing

In Homer's The Odyssey, Odysseus shows time and again his heroic characteristics such as, courage, leadership, and cleverness that prove him and others to be a hero, even today. Odysseus’s goal is to return home to Ithaca after fighting in the Trojan War, but is forced to overcome obstacles set throughout his journey designed to make him fail. Odysseus uses his heroic traits to conquer these obstacles. The same traits that make Odysseus a hero are also present in many of the people who are labeled as heroes today. For example, Martin Luther King Jr., an undeniable hero, is courageous, a leader, and clever. Odysseus’s courage helps him to stay determined while he propels himself through bumps in his journeys on his way home.

Odysseus from the Odyssey is a controversial figure because it can sometimes be unclear if he is supposed to be a hero or not. However, It is actually very clear. Odysseus is most definitely a hero because of all of the things that he did to help his men survive as long as possible. By no means was Odysseus a perfect leader but he learned from his mistakes and he was an effective leader.

Do you consider odysseus to be a hero? Many people have different beliefs if he was a hero or not. With all of the things he did, Odysseus would not fit the descriptions of a modern day hero. Odysseus did a lot of things in his time that were bad, one was he was really arrogant and sneaky he was also killing people and hero’s do not kill people they help people.

Odysseus portrays the Cyclops as a savage monster and a bad host who is rightfully punished when Odysseus blinds him. But when you compare Odysseus slaughtering the suitors and the Cyclops eating Odysseus’ crew, you find similarities between their actions. Both return to their homes to find intruders stealing their property, and then proceed to mercilessly kill the intruders. Since the cyclops defends his home, he may use deadly force.

Odysseus, the main character in “The Odyssey”, is conveyed as an epic hero and an ordinary man in several ways. Odysseus was the son of Laertes and Antikleia, the king of Ithaca, who was married to Penelope and had a son named Telemachus. On his travels with his men, Odysseus survives encounters with many of ancient literature’s most famous characters, from the monstrous one-eyed Cyclops to the tempting (and deadly) Sirens. He is by turns aided and thwarted by the whimsies of Zeus, Poseidon and other Greek gods.

Based on my reading of The Cyclops, I think that the ancient Greek culture is based on vengance. For most charachter, the interior motive is revenge. When Odysseus escapes the Cyclops' cave, he gloats about his victory as his vengance. After, Polythemus's retaliation to that is throwing rocks at the ship that Odysswus and his men are escaping on. Not only does Polythemus not find almost depwning their ship enough, since he is son of Poseidon, he acts his father for vengance on Odysseus or to his men. Later on, the vengance grows thicker between Poseidon and

When Odysseus is in trouble he always shows that he is depending on the gods by praying to them. The fact that the gods usually listen to him shows that he is well liked by the gods. In order to be a Greek hero you had to be liked by the gods since religion was such a big part in their lives. Odysseus, with the help of the gods, can survive adventures that kill most other men. Odysseus travels to the island of the Cyclopians. The Cyclopians are giants that have one eye, they don't fear the gods because they believe that they are better than the gods and they eat people. They represent the opposite of what Greek men should be. Odysseus and his men meet Polyphemus the Cyclops. Polyphemus being a Cyclops eats some of Odysseus' men. Odysseus with the help of the gods figures out a plan to escape and he does. Scylla is a ferocious monster with six heads that kills most men that pass by her island. She kills six of Odysseus' men. Odysseus prevents her from killing himself and more men. There is another ferocious monster named Charybdis. Charybdis sucks in water from the sea and creates a whirlpool that kills any ship that passes by. Odysseus passes by her. His crew is killed and his ship is destroyed in the whirlpool but Odysseus alone survives. There is an island that Odysseus passes by with monsters called Sirens on it. The Sirens sing beautiful songs that lure ships toward them. The ships then crash into the island and the people are killed.