Odysseus And The Raid In Homer's The Odyssey

Odysseus spoke to his men before they left to face the deceased prophet, Tiresias. "When the men had assembled, I addressed them. "You're probably thinking that we're off for our dear native land. Circe, though, has shown us another way –we must first go to the land of the dead to consult the soul of Tiresias, the blind prophet." Poor fellows, they began to weep." 63. Odysseus never wept himself, and felt pity for the others. Oftentimes Odysseus is set with other men who are not half so courageous, such as his crew, to make him stand out. This constant interaction with more "inferior" beings thrusts Odysseus into the otherworldly epic light.

    Long-tried royal Odysseus is tested for devotion and trust through the absence of his loved ones. His character can be seen through the actions and voice of his very own son Telemachus. Since Telemachus and Odysseus have been away from each other

The Odyssey by Homer, is a epic based off the actions, travels, adventures, and heroic episodes of a greek by the name of Odysseus. Throughout the story, Odysseus’ travels take him to new places on new adventures with no insight on what could happen next. Odysseus refers to himself, and is referred to a number of times, as a hero. Throughout the time of book 9 to book 12, there are many scenes throughout the story that portray the qualities Odysseus possesses that lead him to be given the heroic title. On the contrary, there are numerous occasions where Odysseus does things that might not be expected of someone seen as heroic. One of the first things that stood out to me starting in book 9, was Odysseus’ pride for his native land and where he comes from. Here, Odysseus states, “Nothing is sweeter than your own country” (Book 9, Line 37). This quotes shows how Odysseus is prideful of his home, Ithaca, and believes it to be the “sweetest sight” (Book 9, Line 31). Another scene that represents Odysseus’ heroic qualities is when Odysseus and his crew were being held by the cyclops, Polyphemus, and he comes up with an escape plan. During this, Odysseus states, “And I bade my comrades cast lots among them, which of them should have the hardihood with me to lift the stake and grind it into his eye when sweetsleep should come upon him.” (Book 9, Lines 328-329). To me, this portrays Odysseus as a quick thinker and a problem solver. In this situation, the problem was that him and

As he is sailing he is greeted by a goddess, Athena, and she becomes his guardian. He then sails to an island and is trapped by the goddess Calypso for seven years until Hermes comes to the island and tells her to let him go. He ends up going to another island and is trapped in a Cyclop’s cave. He pokes the Cyclop’s eye out and escapes the island. He ends up sailing away with his men and ends up on the island of Circe, a powerful witch, she turns all of his men into animals. Odysseus is given a flower so that he cannot be turned into an animal. He is told that he must go to the land of the dead and offer many things. He does what he is told then he is left to set sail again. They get back into the open sea and are attacked by Sirens, and murdered by the Scylla and Charybdis. He finally makes it home to Ithaca and he sees his son, his son helps him get into the castle. They suitors for Penelope are given a task to shoot an arrow through 12 ax holes. He then reveals himself as Odysseus and eliminates all of the suitors. He then goes to Penelope and reveals himself to her.As we go through life we are determined and always want to go back home to people we love. No matter how long it takes you, you will always want to go back to your loved

Now that Odysseus is home and disguised as a beggar he has to find a way to kill all of the suitors. This makes Odysseus frightened.

Through this brief speech, Odysseus informs the suitors exactly what they did wrong, and then proceeds to carry out a bloody, violent end to them, using his bow. The Ancient Greeks would have felt that his awful actions were justified, because Odysseus is able to defeat his enemies using his strength and knowledge about battle. In addition to his physical strength and intelligence, Odysseus can also be seen as a hero due to his faithfulness to his wife, Penelope. Despite his many affairs with women throughout his voyage, Odysseus is determined to return home to his family, turning down a marriage offer from Princess Nausikaa and the gift of immortality from Calypso. To the goddess, he says,

Odysseus returns home to Ithaca. He stays with Eumaeus for the time being. Odysseus plans to disguise himself a beggar to see how the suitors treat him. When odysseus angers Antinous by asking him for food, the narrator states, “the stool he let fly hit the man’s shoulder... Odysseus only shook his head, containing thoughts of body wook, as he walked on”(Homer 3. 1228-32).

Odysseus has a sense of hubris that leads to adversity and causes him harm, he also has humility; however, the lack of balance between these emotions takes Odysseus through many tough obstacles. When Odysseus tricks Polyphemos, he does it logically, and he uses his mind and reason; however, his hubris comes out when he feels the need to expose his true identity thus leading to his difficulty to return to Ithaka and future problems. Odysseus’s men beg him to stop harassing the beast, but Odysseus has one other plan in mind when he says, “Kyklops / … Odysseus raider of cities, took your eye: / Laertes’ son, whose home’s on Ithaka!” (Homer 160). This provoking of Polyphemos that Odysseus displays is a cause for the pain Ithaka is going though, as well as personal and direct grieving directed at Odysseus and his immediate

Their odyssey includes years of sailing the open sea, as well as encounters with numerous dangerous monsters. Though the trip home is already going to be long and exhausting, Odysseus makes it even worse for himself and his men by leading them along several unnecessary detours. For example, Odysseus makes a mistake that adds extra time to his journey when he disrupts the life of an angry cyclops on his island. Out of curiosity, and not caring to measure the consequences, Odysseus leads his men into the cave of the beastly cyclops, Polyphemus. The cyclops traps the men in his cave, so Odysseus tricks Polyphemus into sleeping, which gives Odysseus the opportunity to blind him.

During his journey Odysseus used what he has learned from is mistakes to return home and kill the suitors of his wife. On the island of Cicones,and with his encounter with Polyphemus, Odysseus learned that bragging can bring great misfortune. On Ithaca Odysseus never brags to the suitors and is able to enter his house with the Antinous and the other suitors knowing his real identity. He takes the punishment of Antinous and the other suitors without saying a word and is able to see those who have invaded his house. Odysseus is able to see who is loyal and who is not and take his revenge with the suitors never knowing who

Though Odysseus is the leader, and the one who holds the fate of his men, he is rendered helpless in quite a few situations, which leaves his crew members to make poor decisions. One of the stops on the journey back to Ithaca is the floating island of Aeolus, where the crew meets the wind god himself. “Odysseus and his crew arrive next at the island of Aeolus, god of the winds, who helps them homeward by bottling up unfavorable winds and sending them a fair breeze. After nine days’ sail, with Ithica in sight, the men untie the bag of winds, and their ships are blown straight back to Aeolus’ island,” (ln 489-494). Odysseus constantly warns his men to not touch the bag of winds at all, yet as he drifts asleep, the crew’s curiosity gets the better of them, and they open the bag. The bad winds come rushing out, blowing the crew back to Aeolus’s island. However, this time, Aeolus does not help them. At one of the later stops, Odysseus and his men stop at Helios’s island because of a torrential storm sent by the gods. The voyagers become trapped there for a month, which is how long the storm lasts, with no food to survive on. There are cattle present on this island, but they are not to be eaten, as they belong to the sun god Helios. Odysseus prays to the gods for help, but they put him to sleep. The other men want the starvation to end, so they kill the cattle and eat them. “Now, that day tranquil cattle with broad

Odysseus and his companions arrived at the underworld where they saw an old mate who was not buried properly, his own late mother who passed away grieving for him, and Teiresias who is a prophet. After promising Elpenor to properly bury his body, he see to his mother. Later, he notices a blind prophet. After offering blood from his sword, the prophet warns them not to eat any of Helios’s cattle. He also reveals that Odysseus alone will survive their journey. He and his companions must have self-control to make it through. A God who is angry at Odysseus will not hesitate to make them suffer, therefore they must be vigilant.

In the Underworld, Odysseus meets many different shades, or ghosts. In order for these shades to talk to Odysseus, they have to drink the sacrificed blood. The first shade to talk to Odysseus was Elpenor. Elpenor is one of Odysseus' crew mates that Odysseus has left behind at Circe's home. Unfortunately, he falls off of Circe's roof and dies. Odysseus is sad and ashamed for not being up to task. After, Elpenor asks for a proper burial because he did not receive one. Odysseus accepts and promises that he will carry out this task. Odysseus then sees his mom, Anticlea. He is surprised that she is a shade, but they do not talk just yet. Tereisias of Thebes, the dead blind prophet, shows up. He warns Odysseus of Helios' cattle and that he will die if he eats it. He tells Odysseus that he will be the only one to survive getting back to Ithaca and his companions will die. He warns him that even when he gets home, he will have to deal with troubling suitors and most likely, have to kill them all. Not only that, Odysseus has to travel far inland. He then has to make a very important sacrifice to Poseidon and pray for peace. Odyssseus then speaks back to his mother, and wants to know about his family situation back in Ithaca. She tells him that Telemachus has grown older but still cannot fight against the troubling and overwhelming suitors. Also, Penelope is loyal but still very depressed. He tried to hug his mother three times, but failed because she

Odysseus left Calypso’s Island and began his journey back home. His odyssey might be described as one’s own life struggles. There are ups and downs to every situation, and through reading The Odyssey, readers can connect parallels between Odysseus’ experiences and lessons learned in their own life. Human weaknesses can still prevail through even the strongest men you may think of; examples of this are shown in this epic. Even though there is a large gap in space between Odysseus’ travels and the present, human nature and weakness still share the same obstacles.

Homer's epic tale The Odyssey is a story of the triumphs and downfalls that are in store for one warrior's long pillage home.  Odysseus, the hero from the Trojan wars, has led his people of Ithaca and other Achaean soldiers to victory and now wishes to return home to his wife and family of Ithaca.  Through his twenty year journey Odysseus is often tested not only of his physical strength, but his wits as well.  The many accomplishments he achieved earned him great status and recognition throughout ancient Greece.  The mistakes he made caused the deaths of many men.  Consequently, we as readers are able to see the many personas that Odysseus carries with him.