Overcoming Obstacles In Odysseus In Homer's Odyssey

The Odyssey, by Homer, translated by Robert Fitzgerald, is about a man named Odysseus, who was one of the Greek heroes in the Trojan War. In the Odyssey, Odysseus goes on a journey to return home to Ithaca. On the way, he encounters countless life-threatening obstacles, but he survives all of them, as a result it costs him several of his men. Throughout the journey, Odysseus stays adamant in his perseverance, which comes from his longing to be reunited with his family. Perseverance means to be able to do anything, even if there are many difficulties or obstacles in the way. Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus used perseverance to conquer the difficult obstacles in his journey home.

Imagine you’re on a ship in the deep dark sea attempting to find your way home, but instead, you discover yourself farther and farther from your loved ones. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus faces the hardship of this exact scenario. In a time of hardship, personalities are revealed, ranging from heroic to cowardice. A hero is someone who is valued by his intelligence and confidence, allowing him to be a leader. Odysseus is a hero because his leadership is valued by his shipmates, his intelligence was exemplary when a plan was needed, and his confidence was indisputable when theirs was uncertain.

As a leader one must make hard choices. These choices may not always be popular, they may not always be right, they may not have the outcome intended or wanted, and sometimes these hard choices involve the lives of those from whom one leads. This hasn’t been more prevalent than in book twelve of the Odyssey. Odysseus is faced with two hard choices, he could sail his ship close to Charybdis and risk the destruction of his ship and the death of all his crew, or sail his ship towards Scylla guaranteeing his ship will survive, but six of his men will not. Odysseus chooses the latter. The lesson learned here is that it is better to sacrifice the few to save the many.

Whenever I think of a hero, visions of characters such as Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman often come to mind, as these strong figures have save their respective communities from danger using their remarkable skills. Odysseus from the Ancient Greek epic The Odyssey by Homer is often considered a hero, although he does not share the same characteristics that most people who are considered heroes in today’s popular culture have. This led me to wonder, what characteristics qualify or disqualify someone to be considered a hero? The thematic idea of heroism plays a key role in The Odyssey, as there are several occasions throughout the epic where Odysseus puts himself at risk to keep others out of harm’s way. After careful analysis of these textual

The Wanderings of Odysseus from the Odyssey, written by Homer, is a poem that narrates the hardships of a mortal named Odysseus and the challenges he faces while separated from his family back in Ithaca. The god and goddess, Apollo and Athena, played a major role in Odysseus’s success due to the plentiful amount of guidance and support they gave him. After a twenty year disappearance, Penelope, Odysseus’s wife, was still grieving the missing King of Ithaca. With Odysseus was gone, Penelope desperately needed a man to take her husband's place. She decided that if someone could succeed in her challenge, she would give that skillful suitor her hand in marriage. The challenge required the many suitors to shoot twelve consecutive shots into axe

A hero can be defined by many things. According to Bob Riley, “Hard times don't create heroes. It is during the hard times when the 'hero' within us is revealed.” Odysseus, the protagonist of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, (translated by Robert Fitzgerald) exemplifies this definition of a hero through his perseverance and survivor's mentality. A real hero isn’t perfect, they make mistakes and learn from them, showing that a setback doesn’t mean failure unless they give up. The Odyssey maintains its relevance by presenting a protagonist with character flaws, allowing readers to learn from history, and being one of the original stories to follow the Hero’s Journey archetype. The Odyssey set the precedent for literary works all over the world,

Lyndon B. Johnson once said, “Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time”. In the Odyssey the main character Odysseus sets out on a journey that leads him to face many obstacles. He is forced to resist temptation , pridefulness, and being away from his family. Each one of this obstacles had a tremendous affect on him and how he is portrayed as a character. In the Odyssey, Homer uses Odysseus’s journey to show how one’s journey can affect them as a person.

Ultimately, when Telemakhos demonstrates pity toward his enemies where Odysseus doesn’t, Homer is hereby emphasizing yet another way that Telemakhos is no match for the heroism of Odysseus. Epic heroes should have a greater yearning for justice than for mercy; and if justice comes by way of the sword, then all the better. Throughout the entirety of the poem, situation upon situation was revealed to the reader where the hero had to make a choice between mercy or death. When faced with such odds, Odysseus consistently chooses death while Telemachus chose the opposite. Homer very clearly wanted the reader to accept Odysseus’ revenge on the suitors. This was evident when Odysseus exclaimed, “not for the whole treasure of your fathers, all you enjoy, lands, flocks, or any gold put up by others, would I hold my hand. There will be killing till the score is paid” (p.411 line 65-68). When confronted with this amazing sense of confidence and bloodthirsty revenge(???) and aggression, we as readers are

The Odyssey was a book filed with adventure. I do not think Odysseus was a bad person but he was not all that great. However the gods liked him because they would always keep him protected. The people should have been punished. But I am not sure that all of the people needed to be punished.

Odysseus is a hero because he helped to defeat the Trojans and he was smart enough to overcome the obstacles he faced in the 20 years it took him to return home with the help of Athena, Hermes, and other gods. In Homer’s The Odyssey the protagonist Odysseus was a king of Ithaca which is found in Greece. Odysseus went to Troy for one purpose, to fight in the trojan war . “A hero is someone who we determine to have demonstrated behaviors and decisions that are ethically and emotionally worthy of our awe.” stated by Rob Cipriano Founder, Chairman, and CEO, of The AllHumanity Group (The Huffington Post,. 'What Is A Hero'. N. p., 2015. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.). The war took 10 years and at the end Ithaca won with the help of poseidon. “In Homer’s day,

Everyone knows about superheroes and everyone has a favorite if it begin superman or batman. Not all heroes have to be superheroes many people have heroes in their life too. Heroes could be anybody in someone’s life that helps them a for example many people's heroes are their parents because they help them in their life. The difference between a superhero and a hero is that heroes are normal people just trying to help while superheroes are just a made up character in a book or movie. Everybody makes mistakes we are all human but the difference between a normal person and a hero is that when a hero makes a mistake they work to fix it or overcome the problem.

There are several ways leadership is portrayed from Odysseus. Even though he’s a leader he still comes across as self-centered and full of himself. In the Odyssey, Homer uses internal and external conflicts to show how Odysseus is a good leader, but at the same time can be arrogant and selfish.

“A happy life consists not in the absence but in the mastery of hardships”(Helen Keller). In the Odyssey, Odysseus faced many hardships thanks to the Gods. Poseidon sent storm winds and waves to his ship. Zeus left him in the sea and kept attacking him, and hitting his ship. In the end, those hardships got Odysseus home. They gave him the strength and courage to defeat the suitors and have his arms around his wife once again. The Gods intention through the hardships was to help Odysseus.

In Homer’s notable epic, The Odyssey, Odysseus, gifted with incredible physical strength and power, is traveling back home to the island of Ithaca. Over the course of his decade long journey across boundless and precarious waters, he learns that though, physically strong, he must use his mind and not rely solely on his physical attributes. He opposes many obstacles that he must overcome, the most important obstacle being temptation. His journey back to Ithaca is riddled with temptation that will test his physical, emotional, and mental capabilities. Through this journey he learns to overcome these weaknesses and temptations to make it home.

In The Odyssey, the main character Odysseus travels a long and distant journey to find himself making many decisions that lead to consequences. Odysseus’s excursion took Homer three parts to explain. The first part was the description of how Ithica was struggling. This was when Odysseus went to the Trojan War. Then in part two and three is his accounts and how he struggles to get home after the war. The Gods make his journey tough, especially Poseidon. Even though Odysseus’s trip was long and difficult he achieved a lot from it. The journeys of Odysseus bring him both pain and pleasure. Odysseus learns a lot alongside his curiosity leading to a rich life packed with wisdom.