Odysseus Challenges

Not only does Odysseus demonstrate a strong sense of courage in his journeys to prove that he is a hero, but he also shows never-ending perseverance through the countless adversities berating him. Although much of Odysseus’ journey is guided and assisted by various gods, especially in tough situations, what he does is ultimately of his doing and free will, as demonstrated by his tenacity when coming across many hardships. An example of this is later on in Odysseus’ story, as he and his men sail away from the Island of Aeaea to complete their journey home to Ithaca, they encounter many obstacles. The sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis terrorize and put Odysseus’ men and journey into peril, as his crew is struck with the terrifying might of the sea monsters.

Around the 1200 B.C., Odysseus was sailing the Mediterranean Sea for the purpose of reaching home. In his long narrative poem, The Odyssey, Homer conveys how Odysseus desperately wishes to go home to Ithaca. However, he faces brutal treatment and obstacles from several different antagonists, and more obstacles appear when he reaches home. Odysseus came across many external conflicts, which he dealt with intelligence, determination, and loyalty.

Odysseus was warned of the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis. When he approaches the Sirens, he has his men tie him to the mass so he will not be lured to their tempting singing. When he reaches the location of the deadly whirlpool, Charybdis, and the concealed deadly trap across from Charybdis, Scylla: a six headed monster that catches men in her mouth and eats them; Odysseus sacrifices a few of his men for the majority of the other men. He sacrifices for the better good. Hiding his knowledge of these obstacles and sacrificing his men, takes a full amount of determination for his objective to get home; it shows his vast amount of unconditional willingness and sacrifice. Perseverance takes time and sacrifice. His time and knowledge lead him through another dangerous obstacle.

Odysseus tends to make rash decisions and does not take the full brunt of the aftermath. His men gave up their lives to protect each other and the captain. Odysseus has not used their sacrifices to preserve the rest alive. He only uses his crew for his own agenda. While Odysseus is good at fabricating solutions to get out of a pinch, he is too headstrong and that cost lives. He often confers with himself on plans and heeds no warning or advice. Since Odysseus has authority over his crew, it causes his men to be caught in the “crossfire”. At the island of Polyphemus, his search party came to him. He says, “My men came pressing round me pleading, ‘Why not take these cheeses, and make a run for it? We’ll drive the kids and lambs aboard. We say put out again on good saltwater’“ (Butler 9).

Scylla was a monster with six heads and charybdis was also a monster that created a whirlpool with its mouth to trap ships and eat them. Odysseus would have to go in a straight line between the two monsters. Odysseus was being heroic here because he didn't tells his men so they wouldn't panic, and he faced to to monsters, and even though he lost six men he didn't get his whole ship wrecked and was able to get the rest of this men out of there

Odysseus and his men must navigate the straits between Scylla and Charybdis. Scylla is six-headed monster who, when ships pass, swallows one sailor for each head. As instructed by Circe, Odysseus holds his course tight against the cliffs of Scylla’s lair. As he and his men stare at Charybdis on the other side of the strait, the heads of Scylla Swoop down and gobble up six of the sailors. “Avoiding this we skirted the cliff where Scylla exacts her toll. Each of her six slavering maws grabbed a sailor and wolfed him down”.

Even great heroes must face difficult challenges, and even great heroes receive advice on how to overcome them. In “the Odyssey,” written by Homer, the hero Odysseus faced three different adversaries on his way back to Ithaca: the Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis. The goddess Circe advises Odysseus on how to overcome them.

During Odysseus’s journey, he must defeat many monsters to get home. Odysseus would not make it passed these vicious monsters without the help of the gods. One monster Odysseus must defeat is Charybdis. Charybdis was a sea monster who swallowed ships and killed the sailors. He loses many of his men to sea monsters, another

Odysseus then tells his men, that should he beg to be untied they are to disobey his orders, take more rope and tie him tighter to the mast. By giving his crew a plan against the Sirens, Odysseus lowers the chance for disaster and gains the trust of his men at the same time. The text states “My faithful company rested on their oars now, peeling of the wax that I had laid thick on their ears; then set me free” (Homer 754-756). Odysseus is able to complete Circe’s command without and harm done to himself or his crew. If Odysseus had always given his crew a plan with truth and honesty, perhaps they all could have made it back to

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.

Both men struggle to make it home and encounter many people, creatures, and natural disasters during their expedition. In the Odyssey, Odysseus and his crew fight off a

There are countless characters in ancient texts, such as Homer’s The Odyssey, that little is known about, creating an opportunity for their backgrounds to be developed. A myth that has always stood out to me is that of the Sirens. Therefore, I have chosen to create an adaptation of their legend, in the form of a board game, to give them a deeper background. Drawing from the influence of Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad, which humanizes and provides background to the twelve hanged maids, I developed a history for the Sirens of The Odyssey and The Metamorphoses of Ovid.

He transformed and imprisoned her at the Strait of Messina. Trapped either in a cave or under the rock on which a huge fig tree grew, Charybdis was allowed to continue her duties, but only three times daily for ebb, and three times daily for flow. Because of this action being centrally localized, a huge whirlpool was formed in the strait, creating a danger to any who would attempt to pass. This danger is compounded by the fact that, on the Sicily side of the strait lived another monster, Scylla, who would snatch sailors from ships that cruised to near her

The striking voices of the Sirens attract many ships and sailors onto the jagged rocks of the island. Their voices seduce the people who pass into crashing their ship and travelling to see where the voices come from. No one has lived to tell the tale of the Sirens, but Odysseus will be the first one. The Sirens are just another obstacle to Odysseus and his crew in The Odyssey written by Homer, and the undescribed beings teach Odysseus a lesson he is to learn. During Odysseus’ interaction with the Sirens, he will hear their voices, but also learn what it feels like to be a nobody.

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.