Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus shows multiple times where he made bad choices due to his hubris.He has shown many careless acts were he only thinks of himself. Is this not what a villain does? He believes he is always right and will do what he thinks is right, like a villain. Although he is brave and sometimes smart, so is a villain. Odysseus is no hero, if anything, he is more of a villain. Odysseus puts his men in danger due to hubris and stupidity. When the men said “ Why not take these cheeses, get them stowed, come back, throw open all the pens, and make a run for it? We’ll drive the kids and lambs aboard. We say put out again on the good salt water!” Odysseus then responded “Ah, how sound that was! Yet i refused. I wished to see …show more content…
In addition to this, he also slept with other women and by doing this, he did not respect his wife and again, only thought of himself. Odysseus only cares about himself and his personal benefits, like a villain. “With great power comes great responsibility” this quote is used by many heros and odysseus obviously shows no responsibilities, so his power is simply bad, or evil . When “trapped” on Calypso’s island he shows no attempt to escape and instead finds pleasure in being their. After 7 years on this island he finally decides to go home to has son which he has never seen and his dog who is nearly dead due to old age (not to mention he barely does anything with his dog and the first thing he says to his son is basically to ask him to risk his life for Odysseus's house). “ Don't waste your time on revenge. Those who hurt you will eventually get their own karma”. This quote shows that good people and heros should not seek revenge and should show mercy to their enemies however Odysseus obviously shows no interest in mercy… After killing many people and not letting a single person out which many heroes would have especially if the people did not directly mistreat him and believed he was dead which would be a logical thought he finally revealed himself to his wife. At first his wife did not recognize him which filled him with rage even though he should be happy that his loyal wife wants to make
In the first few books Odysseus is seen as a strong, brave, courageous leader, as well as an awesome fighter. I believe the impression of him continues to show throughout Books 6-10. In fact, in Book 9 when he went to explore the land where the Cyclopes lived it took lots of courage to injure the Cyclopes the way he did then and then a great deal of intelligence to strap his men to the underside of the heard, so they could escape. Although he lost have the men he took with him on his exploration half of them did survive because he thought of away to escape. Yes, Odysseus made some bad decisions and got some of his crew killed, but he also made someone good decisions and some of them survived. We all have to make choices and sometimes they
Odysseus is not a hero because he lets his pride make most of his decisions, which gets him into difficult situations. Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus makes mistakes that causes his men to be killed. Most of these mistakes could have been fixed by Odysseus making better decisions throughout his journey.
His bragging almost results in the death of his entire crew. Odysseus doesn't think highly of his men, and this is apparent throughout the entire story.
In homer's Odyssey the main character Odysseus is a person who only tries to help himself. Although he earns the trust of his men while in Troy, he loses it on his perilous journey home. Many times in the epic he manipulates others, commits foolish acts and is full of hubris. He tries to take shortcuts and as a result of this is men are killed and his boats destroyed. He plays with the lives of his men and he is punished for it. Odysseus is not a hero because, he is foolish, lacks faithfulness and is consumed by his Hubris and selfishness.
If life, ones actions can determine the depths of their fate. In Homer book of the Odyssey this fate appeared throughout the entire book towards Odysseus and his men. Odysseus and his men couldn’t get back home because of the enigmatic gods. Therefore, fate does control Odysseus life; in particular his journey back to Ithaca.
One of the major themes of Homer’s Odyssey is the importance of cunning over strength. This also happens to be the case with Odysseus and his long ten year journey home from fighting in Troy. Odysseus uses his intelligence over strength to ‘fight’ through tough times and bring himself home to Ithaca. Odysseus uses his intelligence when he has his men tie him down while passing the Sirens, so he himself will be able to hear their beautiful song, but not be entranced by their singing. He also uses cunning to escape from the Cyclops’ cave without being harmed. He then uses his cunning by storing away all of the armory, shields, and knives from the suitors so he is able to kill them easily.
Often through great literature, there is an epic hero. In the Odyssey, Homer tells the journey of one man’s journey home from the Trojan War. The protagonist of the epic poem Odysseus is often regarded as a great hero. However, Odysseus is not quite the glorious soldier that people often see him as. Odysseus shows that he is an antihero through his pride, disloyalty, and bloodthirstiness.
A hero accepts who he is as an individual, but strives to change himself for the better. In the epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, the main character Odysseus is a valiant king who embarks on a life-changing voyage. While traveling from Troy back to his home in Ithaka, King Odysseus overcomes daunting obstacles, and in doing so discovers his place in the world. Odysseus is truly a heroic figure because he demonstrates courage, improves his character, and wins the support of the gods.
Odysseus portrays himself as anything but a hero throughout Homer’s The Odyssey. Odysseus goes through his life believing he is the best. He has no regard for anyone’s feelings but his own, and he believes nothing and no one can harm him, not even the gods. Odysseus feels he is always the leader and no one can tell him otherwise. Odysseus should not be considered a hero because he portrays himself as a selfish man that failed his crew, and is controlled by his hubris.
The first reason why Odysseus should be labeled as a villain is because of his fair number of unethical exploits. To begin with, the story opens with him returning home from a war, a war where neither side is particularly exemplary or corrupt; but Odysseus ends up slaughtering innumerable men anyway. He does some things that are just outright horrible - “I stormed that place and killed the men who fought. Plunder we took, and we enslaved the women, to make division, equal shares to all…” Because this tale is told from Odysseus’ point of view, we get a glimpse into his psyche in order to see what his opinions are on everything that is happening. And as you can clearly see, his flippant mention of enslaving, murdering, and looting someone’s home
Many think being a hero is having super powers, but on the contrary it's more than that. A hero is one who is distinguished for their courage and bravery, and looked upon for their great deeds. A hero like this is not just found in modern society today, but in mythology as well. In the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus earns the title of a true hero by conveying many qualities such as: determination, courage and leadership.
During his journeys Odysseus often makes the mistake of bragging to his enemies but learns that doing this gives his enemies a chance to seek revenge against him. After leaving Troy, Odysseus attacks the
Again, Odysseus' darker and 'immoral' acts could be viewed could viewed as metaphors for and/or accurate reflections of the imperfection of the human race. Characteristics that show that heroes too are flawed. A hero who has some shortcomings is a more believable character, they may be godly in the sense that they do what no one else can, but that they are still only human. Drawing on this, Odysseus can be considered a hero for modern times. He possesses admiral skills, such as commitment and knowledge, which are still considered heroic today. He uses these traits to protect himself and his crew as they make the long journey home. Although Odysseus is renowned for his expertise in fighting, he is
Odysseus has no reason to save his men’s lives but for his own convenience. Finally, Odysseus is home and after a long journey in which he shows no heroic actions and yet proves to be nothing but a villain, he once again proves throughout his actions that he is a villain. Odysseus is finally home, on Ithaca, and is then helped by Athena and disguises himself as an old beggar. He proves then to be a villain by seeking his revenge for the suitors and maidservants that once betray him (696, summary). Another way in which Odysseus shows he is a villain is when he finally reunites with his wife Penelope and reacts with rage when she tests him. This reveals Odysseus is a villain because he reacts as if he was innocent and some way being betrayed by his own wife. Of course, though, he never tells his loyal wife Penelope about his love affairs with Calypso and Circe. In conclusion, Odysseus throughout his actions proves to be not only veil but a villain. He leads his men into trouble, kills the suitors and maidservants without mercy, and betrays loyal wife. This allows readers to truly see Odysseus other side. He was a villain and there is no doubt about it. However, think about his so called heroic actions and the way he made everything work out for his own benefits. He knew he was a villain and somehow still got away with
Another way Odysseus is also a hero is he always finds a way to survive whether he is in conflict or out on the sea. One of the many situations Odysseus survives is his encounter with Skylla. Six of his crew members do perish but through his hard work and dedication he survives. He makes another smart decision in choosing to go through Skylla instead of Kharybdis because only six of his crew members die instead of the whole crew. Another decision Odysseus makes to survive is not eating the cattle of Helios while on Thrinikia, his crew members choice in eating the hallowed cows results in their death, but Odysseus knew the consequences and did not touch a cow. Another way Odysseus' quick-decision skills helps him is when he chooses to leave the island of the Lotous-eaters, because he realized his whole crew would have fell under the curse if he had stayed there. Odysseus is also a master tactician whose complex plans save his crew and help him regain his crown. One of these plans was his ingenious idea to trick Polyphemos, which shows he is a hero by saving countless lives. Another plan he implemented was to kill the suitors which is also a success because Odysseus and Telemakos themselves kill over a hundred men without an injury to themselves .Odysseus is a quick-thinker whose resourceful ideas save many lives.