Odysseus Character Analysis

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, king of Ithaca, was probably on of the greatest warriors in the history of Ancient Greece. It is said that the poet, Homer, wrote the story of the Odyssey. In this story, Odysseus and his crew are trying to make their voyage back home to Ithaca after they have fought with the Trojans. During the long journey, Odysseus will show some of his character traits which include his bravery, cleverness, and wisdom that will assist him with the situations he encounters on his journey home.

Frightened by the large creature, Odysseus and his men scatter to the shadows of the cave before the large beast notices them. Directly after finishing his work, Polyphemus starts to poke at the fire in his cave, which was previously set by Odysseus and his shipmates. Once the fire flares up, Polyphemus notices Odysseus within the shadows, and without hesitation the gigantic creature questions who they men are, as well as where they’re from. This is when Odysseus begins speaking to the aforementioned creature, claiming his name to be Nohbdy, that he and his men are from Troy, and that their ship had crashed among the rocks of the island. After mentioning that his ship was broken up on the rocks, the mighty man picks up two of Odysseus’s men, bashes their heads in, then eats them whole, and goes to sleep. In the following morning, the cyclopes eats another two of Odysseus’s men. When the creature finally exits the cave, Odysseus looks to his

Odysseus thinks that his reasoning are final and his activities are constantly just and right, although he frequently allows his ego control his rational thinking, resulting harm to his group and messing with the gods’s plans. His men could have went back home Securely for it is the desire of Athena and the other heavenly gods who surround to her in Mount Olympus, however Odysseus takes it to himself to outrage and blind Polyphemus, the monstrous son of Poseidon, adored by his dad yet abhorred by the people, In this way distrusting their whole arrangement . Subsequent to being blinded by the heroine, Polyphemus tosses huge pieces of rocks at Odysseus's ship, nearly obliterating them at the same time. But instead of retreating for safety, Odysseus keeps on provoking Polyphemus and “[calls] out to the cyclopes again, with [his] men hanging all over [him] begging him not to”(Book 9, 491-492). His feeling of pride and presumption influences to disregard the requests of his people even in these critical circumstances . He will fulfill his own feeling of interest and pleasure without thinking of the result it would have on his crew. Despite the fact that he is bound to get away from all passings and assaults, his group isn’t so blessed. Their lives are in mortal peril since Odysseus considers them as child sheeps who should forfeit their lives for him when the circumstances comes, much the same as how mortals make conciliatory offerings of sheeps for the heavenly gods. He is willing to fulfill his own feeling of interest without thinking of his groups lives or their suppositions and is regularly infuriated when they negate his request. If they hurt his sense of pride and self-importance and pomposity , Odysseus will be overcome with outrage and

In The Odyssey, Odysseus changes from the beginning of the story when he was being cocky wanting glory but at the end he is more humble and is more respectful. In this part of the story Odysseus and his men just got out of Polyphemus's cave. The text states,”tell him Odysseus, raider of the cities, took your eye” (Homer 110). This quote reveals how

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:

The Cyclops, Polyphemus, traps Odysseus and his men inside his large cave by blocking the exit with an enormous boulder. Odysseus feels threatened, but decides to cause a scene that would glorify his identity. Odysseus taunts the Cyclops, unnecessarily, to prove authority over it. One particular phrase that he says is, "So, Cyclops, no weak coward it was whose crew you bent to devour there in your vaulted cave- you with your brute force. Your filthy crimes came down on your own head, you shameless cannibal, daring to eat your guest in your own house-

When Polyphemus came he also grabbed some of his friends. Odysseus had to think of a way to set all of them free so he was forced to kill Polyphemus to set his friends free.It was a retribution for Odysseus to kill Polyphemus. “Straightforward they sprinted lifted it and rammed it deep in the crater of his eye”(pg 927). Odysseus and his friends used a masquerade to not be seen by the giant while they were getting the giant spear. Odysseus and 4 other men hurled a giant spear into the eye of Polyphemus. Polyphemus was so gullible to not be hospitable to Odysseus and his friends. Polyphemus should have not been so mean to Odysseus and steal his men. So Odysseus had to kill the cyclops but that is only the beginning of his journey he has greater enemies than just a cyclops. He is now up against the Sirens. “ He will not see his lady nor his children in joy crowding about him home from sea; the Sirens will sing his mind away”(pg

Throughout book nine of The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus’ encounter with Polyphemus is described, as well as the events leading up to the encounter. After taxing run-ins with the Circones and the lotus-eaters, Odysseus arrives at the island of the cyclopses, a rough and uncivilized land. Odysseus’ own greed leads him to put his men into a dangerous situation, and though he uses his metis to save himself and his crew, it is clear that his hubris is still quite intact and may lead to his downfall.

In Epic Poem “The Odyssey” Odysseus is the protagonist. Odysseus’ over-the-top ego caused him to lose his men and his son’s childhood, but taught him a valuable lesson about humility. The Odyssey, written by Homer, tells the story of Odysseus and how he faced misfortune in his attempts to return home after the Trojan War. Odysseus is not famous for his great strength or bravery, but for his ability to deceive and trick. To his friends, he was a brilliant strategist. To his enemies, he was a deceiver and a manipulator of the worst kind.

To begin with, Odysseus is able to defeat Polyphemus by his cunning. Odysseus’ men are eaten alive by Polyphemus. Odysseus wants to attack Polyphemus right there and then, but he is able to think ahead and know that only the Cyclops can move the prodigious boulder. In doing so, Odysseus is able to control his rage and come up with a new scheme that will lead to their success. Next, Odysseus put his plan into play, and when asked by Polyphemus what his name is Odysseus replies by saying “Nobody”. This shows that cunning is important to Odysseus success. As he is again able to think ahead, and know that when Polyphemus calls for help he will be saying Nobody is killing him. Thus taking away the threat of the other Cyclops coming to Polyphemus’ aid, and allowing Odysseus to succeed. Odysseus cunning also shows when he tells his men to cling onto the sheep as

Assessment One: Textual Analysis A traditional Greek hero possesses certain qualities including bravery, confidence and a desire to obtain glory and fame. These are demonstrated in Homer’s Odyssey in the hero, Odysseus, however he additionally displays cleverness. The selected passage from book IX details the interaction between Odysseus and the Cyclopes, Polyphemus. It demonstrates how his curiosity and overconfidence lead to rash decision-making, consequently ending with the imprisonment of him and his men (Homer, Odyssey 9.170-306). Book X presents Odysseus with the same curiosity in his encounters with Hermes and Circe (Odyssey 10.261-347). Both passages have Odysseus presented in similar ways and it is only through subtle points of character development, such as in

            Odysseus is no god.  He is man, and with that comes the mistakes and errors in all of us.  In many situations Odysseus' mortal side is seen.  An example of the power of Odysseus coinciding with his human flaws is his battle with Polyphemous the Cyclops (son of Poseidon).  After escaping the lure of the lotus-eaters and their island, Odysseus and his men find themselves on another island, rich with food and shelter.  After feasting, the men grab a large container of potent wine and go off exploring the new island.  Later in their search they stumble across a large cave filled with food.  Curious where the owner's whereabouts are the men encourage Odysseus to steal the food.  Odysseus (showing his hospitable and genuine character) decides to instead wait for the

In the epic poem, The Odyssey, Odysseus faces many challenges traveling back home at the end of the Trojan War. The hardest challenge that Odysseus had to face was when he encounters Polyphemus, the cyclops. Odysseus’ men were getting eaten by Polyphemus one by one. Then, Odysseus gave Polyphemus wine which made him drowsy and then stabbed him in the eye. Odysseus and his men escaped from holding onto the belly of sheep. Polyphemus was furious once he found out Odysseus stabbed him in the eye. Polyphemus prayed to Poseidon, “Polyphemus was at this he stretched his hands out in his darkness toward the sky of stars, and prayed Poseidon: ‘O hear me, lord, blue girdler of the islands,if I am thine indeed, and thou art father: grant that Odysseus,

When Odysseus arrives at the island of the Cyclops, his first mistake occurs when he decides that he and men should stay in the cave and meet Polyphemus, even when his men advised him to take the goods and leave (IX.215-217). At this instance, Odysseus’s decision is influenced by his ego. He sees all the goods in the cave and the reason he stays is because he hopes that the Cyclops would give him a gift of hospitality. This is interesting because Odysseus does not know whether the Cyclops is civilized or a brute; however, Odysseus goes forward with his plan because he believes the Cyclops will listen to him since the gods are on his side. In this instance, Odysseus is calling himself powerful because he has the support of the gods especially Zeus, when he threatens the Cyclops that “Zeus avenges strangers and suppliants” (IX. 262). If his ego was not already high, Odysseus boosts it even more when he believes that he has outsmarted the Cyclops by not falling into the trap of telling the location of his ships (IX.273-277). At this point, Odysseus