Odysseus Of Homer's Odyssey

"The Sirens", taunt and tease Odysseus as him and his crew sail towards the, “Land of the Dead". Crossing the bumpy ocean in order to reach the Land of The Dead, Odysseus and his man sailed into trouble. Sirens were on the horizon and Odysseus had to think quickly. As his mind raced he finally came up with a solution, he grabbed a handful of wax and rolled it in his hands. “Going forward I carried wax along the line, and laid it thick on their ears.” (Lines 712-713 The Odyssey). Whilst finishing this tedious task, Odysseus was tied down to the mast and left with his thoughts. The men continued to row while the Sirens flew in and sang

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’ support to his crew through every situation and hardship, throughout The Odyssey, is one main sign that the Ancient Greeks valued loyalty. In the Lotus Eaters, Odysseus, “...drove them, all three wailing, to the ships, / tied them down under their rowing benches / and called the rest…”(9.48-50). Through this difficult situation, Odysseus is shown supporting his crew as their leader and keeping them on the right path by taking control of those who were possessed by the magic of Lotus plants. When his crew members struggled to stay on course, Odysseus was able to take responsibility by supporting and guiding them. Another event that showed this is Odysseus and his crew’s encounter with the sirens. According to the text, "Going forward / I carried wax along the line, and laid it / thick on their ears." (12.115-17). Here, Odysseus shows his support to his crew by contributing to protecting them from being hypnotized by the tempting sounds of the sirens by preparing wax to plug their ears with. Again, Odysseus and his crew know they will face the challenge of staying on course, and Odysseus takes these actions to support them and secure their safety. Odysseus’ support in both situations that put him and his crew in danger, reveal the Greeks’ value of

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

In the cyclopes island Odysseus and his men wander into the cyclopes cave, once the cyclopes enters his cave he shut the only way out of his cave and spots odysseus and his men. The cyclops asks odysseus why he is here, odysseus responds him trying to convey the cyclopes to treat them like guests but odysseus insults poseidon the cyclops father the cyclopes get mad and eating too of odysseus men. The cyclops passes out and odysseus think of a way to get out. Odysseus blinded the cyclops and escaped by holding on to the sheep that the cyclops let out. Odysseus was the most heroic here because he was able to free the rest of his men and he stood claim while coming up with the plan to escape.

“They longed to stay forever, browsing on that native bloom, forgetful of their homeland. I drove them all three wailing, to the ships, tied them down under their rowing benches.” (Homer, 99-102) In addition, Odysseus, when held captive in Polyphemus’ cave he plans an escape by him and his men hiding underneath Polyphemus’ rams. Odysseus takes the wooliest ram, biggest ram there is, and using his physical strength he holds on tightly all night long until morning comes and then they escape underneath the sheep. Another strength is Odysseus’ persistence and drive to keep going no matter what. When Odysseus is in the Land of the Dead, he faces many frightening spirits coming at him from all directions, yet he never gives up. With their ugly looks, and dreadful, loud noises coming out of there months. Odysseus’ still sticks with his main precedence which was getting to see Tiresias, the blind prophet that would ordain his future on his journey, and he made sure nothing would stand in his way of getting there. Also, Odysseus, when facing the mesmerizing, angelic sounds of The Sirens, (half bird, half human creatures) he has his men tie him up to the mast of

Through this story the reader is revealed to the true despair Odysseus feels towards getting home to Ithaca. Odysseus comes up with a brilliant plan to be able to hear the call of the sirens and live to tell the tale, which no man has done. He orders the men to tie him to the mast and not to untie him, under any circumstances. After he hears the call he explains the encounter,

He “...drove…” his “...big hand spike deep in the embers, charring it again, and cheered…” his “...men along with battle talk to keep their courage up...” (Homer 380) Odysseus was challenged in facing the Cyclops, and had to persevere through the torture of being trapped in a cave with a savage monster, as well as having to witness his men literally being torn apart and eaten alive. He also had to persevere through the agony of having to strategically think and come up with a plan in this extremely chaotic environment, as well as physically facing the Cyclops. The author uses this conflict to emphasize the vitality of perseverance in Odysseus’s quest. In order to escape the Cyclops, he had to really think and persevere through a number of terrifyingly stressful situations. Yet another obstacle in Odysseus’ path that he had to persevere through was the Sirens, creatures with voices so enticing, it would be impossible for anyone to restrain themselves from following them solely with their own willpower. However, their voices masked their true nature, as they ate any men who followed their voice and came near them. Odysseus had to travel and lead his men through the Sirens, and he had to

First, Odysseus men came to Circe island and some of his men went off to hunt for food. To begin, One of his men come back and told Odysseus that everyone else was turned into an animal by a witch and one of them is the pig the men who stayed back were trying so hard to kill. Second, when Odysseus went back to his men he almost died from falling from the mountain that Circe house was on. Third, Odysseus boat was almost destroyed from the sand and erosion that happened to it, but that did not stop him, he fixed up his boat and went back to his journey. Finally, Odysseus did not back down from a witch that could have easily harmed him but he was not scared he wanted to keep his men safe.

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”.

Odysseus ship returned to Aiaia,where Circe met them with food and wine.She took Odysseus alone and told him of the dangers that were going to happen.First,they would go through the island of Sirens,who bewitched anyone who listened to there music.Circe told Odysseus to put wax into his men and his ears so that they wouldn’t hear the muic.Next,Odysseus would make the decision on which way he wanted to go.One way would be the Moving Rocks that crished anything that came between them.The other would make Odysseus sail between the two cliffs.The larger cave is where Scylla lived who has been waiting for a ship to pass so she can stick out her six heads out and get six men from the ship.At the base there lived Charybdis.Three times a day,Circe said she sucked in much of the water of the surrounding water,and spat it out.Circe told Odysseus to sail by Scylla’s base because he would only lose six men and not his ship.Circe told him next would be the island of Helios where he kept his cattle and sheep.Which the prophecy stated.Circe

During his journey home, Odysseus continues to be determined and looks ahead through the tough times. Odysseus’ men “tie him up” as they approached the Sirens (Homer 550). Aside from Odysseys' courage, his drive to go home pulls him through his challenge. By sacrificing his temptation of the Sirens, Odysseus values completing his journey more and tries harder to keep his men safe. Later on, Odysseus uses his experience to the men ready for the monsters Scylla and Charybdis.

Travelling by boat on the sea through a cloudy, windy night is hard. When Odysseus and his men went back to sea, a supernatural storm hit them. Since the storm unexpectedly hit them, Odysseus and his men would be in shock and probably in terror on trying to save each other and the boat by trying to sail safely. However, the violence the of the wind ripped their sails into three and four pieces.

Odysseus recurrently uses his bravery, cunning, and wit to weasel out of tricky situations, yet he does not have much control over what happens when his crew sails past the Sirens. Why is it that he chooses to put himself at the mercy of the Sirens in order to gain the knowledge they supposedly grant, saved in the end only by his loyal men? It is important to examine the importance of wisdom and knowledge to the Greeks and why Odysseus was so eager to be the first man to live to tell the tale of the Sirens’ deathly song. Odysseus has all the facts; the “queenly goddess” Circe tells him exactly what to do to get past the Sirens, and provides him vivid imagery to emphasize the fact that he, a mere mortal, needs her knowledge to survive (12.40). As his crew approaches the island, the behavior of Odysseus suggests that he is ready for a battle, though more of a mental one than a physical.

Throughout Odysseus’ journey he is able to persevere against the overwhelming odds he is faced with. The driving force behind Odysseus’ perseverance is his hunger to get home; his crew however does not share this passion and therefore lacks the strength of character to fight on. Odysseus looks back on his life or death struggle as his ship is lost in Poseidon’s storm, " out of the ship my comrades fell and then like sea-fowl were borne by the side of the black ship along the waves; god cut them off from coming home. I myself paced the ship until the surge tore her ribs off the keel, which the waves then carried along dismantled. The mast broke at the keel; but to it clung the backstay, made of oxhide. With this I bound the two together keel and mast and getting a seat on these, I drifted before the deadly