The Odyssey written by Homer highlights the character development of Odysseus, the epic hero, in his journey of self-discovery. Odysseus is accredited with many strong traits including his nobility, smarts, and bravery. Having one tragic flaw, being his arrogance, was put to the test throughout his heroic journey. Homer stripped the protagonist of his arrogance as the story goes on, by giving him many challenges, giving dire consequences for his mistakes, and allowing him to continue to overcome obstacles. The main purpose of Odysseus’ journey was to reach his home as a humbled man. The hero’s journey can be used as a way to look at life’s morals. The reader is able to see the protagonist continue to make mistakes, because of his arrogance and continue to be punished by the gods. Once he overcame this, he is greatly awarded with the security of his home. This essay will analyze the arrogance of Odysseus along with his extraordinary traits, the molding of his identity, and his new found lesson of humility.
Odysseus encounter many adventures in his Twenty year journey to his home land in Ithaka. The most devious adventure he encounter was with Polyphemos the kyklops (cyclops), a man eating giant with a single eye. Homer presents Polyphemos in an abhorrent description. It is therefor depicted that the cyclops Polyphemos is uncivilized by not following the rules of hospitality in Odysseus presences. This essay will explore the views on Polyphemos hospitality as boorish. On the contrary, it is Odysseus misunderstanding of the cyclops in comparing him to the Phaiakians hospitality.
Odysseus, King of Ithaca, and the main character in homer’s The Odyssey, was gone for twenty years before finally returning to his family and his homeland. He struggled through many hardships and lost many loyal companions. The King of Ithaca would not have made it home without the assistance of the Greek gods. Despite all of the help and advice that Odysseus receives from the gods, he is a very brave man because his courage and daring in the cave of the Cyclops, his inability to give up and abandon his men on Circe’s island, and his flawless following of the gods instructions are acts of bravery that is uncommon in most men.
While traditional readers of Homer’s, The Odyssey, view Odysseus as a hero, they often reduce Penelope to Odysseus’s helpless wife, but Penelope is more than just a damsel-in-distress. Penelope proves to be Odysseus’s heroic equal, as through her resilient, witty and strategic actions she ensures Odysseus fighting advantages over the suitors.
One can be judged by their actions, but what truly shapes a person is their personality. Odysseus is an over-confident and ill-tempered man. On the cyclops's island, Odysseus's boasting nearly proves costly. A modest and heroic person would have had his men in mind, rather than himself, and left the island. Also, Odysseus revealing his true identity to the cyclops could very well have resulted in the death of his men. After Odysseus's boasting, Polyphemus prays to his father, "Let him lose all companions, and return / under strange sail to bitter days at home" (Homer 9. (537-8). This prophecy, of course, becomes a reality. Another sign of Odysseus's over-confidence shows while he is explaining himself to King Alcinous. In some of his first words to the king, Odysseus again boasts of his accomplishments. "Men hold me / formidable for guile in peace and war: / this fame has gone abroad to the sky's rim" (Homer 9. (127-8). Another very important fact is Odysseus's position on monogamy. Odysseus believes he's above monogamy, as he stays with many goddesses during his journeys while Penelope stays faithful at home. A hero is not a boasting, over-confident person, but someone who does their actions for no reward.
Another great example of Odysseus using these traits would be on his way home when he comes upon Kirke’s Island. Kirke is a powerful witch that lurs Odysseus’s men in by her beautiful voice. She brings the men food that is drugged turning them into pigs. “Scarce had they drunk when she flew after them with her long stick and shut them in a pigsty- bodies, voice, heads, and bristles all swinish now, though minds were still unchanged. So, squealing, in they went.” (10. 262-266). Eurklokhos a crew man didn’t feel safe going in the house. Soon he came running down to the ship to alarm Odysseus about what had just happened. Odysseus refuses to leave his men behind, so he takes matters into his own hands. On his way over to Kirke home he runs into Hermes who is there to guide him and help him save his crewman. “ But I can tell you what to
During Odysseus’ wanderings, a change comes over him. A change that is motivated by the immense suffering he brings both on himself and on those around him through his prideful actions. Beginning with the prideful raid on the city of the Cicones and culminating with Odysseus taunting the newly-blinded Polyphemus, Odysseus’ pride heaps more and more suffering upon himself and often kills those around him. Because of this increase in suffering, Odysseus changes. He becomes more humble, more tactful, less of a barbarian and more of a planner; this change can been seen primarily through his diplomatic actions in Phaeacia and his cunning use of Athena’s disguise during his time of testing in his own home.
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
The epic, The Odyssey, centers around Odysseus, whose disposition can be controversial. Like all heroes, Odysseus displays both positive and negative characteristics, which determine whether he is a admirable figure or not. In my opinion, the parts of his character that are commendable outweigh his lesser qualities, making him an honorable role in the poem. Odysseus’s three main favorable attributes are his cleverness, his determination, and his leadership.
My name is Nohbdy'"("The Cyclops" lines 312-315). Odysseus' astuteness is apparent in this situation because he refused to reveal his identity to Polyphemus while he was vulnerable. His decision prevented the other Cyclops from coming to aid of Polyphemus. By precluding this beforehand, he demonstrated his heroic quality of wiliness. The ingenuity established by these actions personifies Odysseus as a hero.
Throughout the epic Homeric poem, The Odyssey of Homer, Odysseus is a hero known for his cunningness, vigilance, and overall attainment of homecoming. Odysseus’ journey home is one of many mental and physical tests that which involve numerous encounters with others whose characters are in opposition with his. It is important to understand that through his encounters with certain opposing characters, Odysseus’ qualities of possessing heroism and cleverness are vividly portrayed. In this instance, the characterization of Odysseus will be discussed in terms of how Agamemnon’s, Odysseus’ companions’, and the suitors’ characters reinforce Odysseus’ cleverness, prudence and heroism, as well as his avoidance of self-destruction and attainment of homecoming.
After Odysseus and his men are on the boat, he calls out to Polyphemus, “Cyclops- if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so- say Odysseus raider of cities, he gouged out your eye, Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca”(IX). His pride from escaping the Cyclops’s lair gives him a rush which causes him to tell Polyphemus his name. By telling the Cyclops his name, Odysseus seals his fate for the rest of his journey home. Once Polyphemus learns the name of his attacker, “,,,[Polyphemus] prayed and the god of the sea-blue mane Poseidon heard his prayer”(IX). Polyphemus is able to curse Odysseus’ journey home, because he knows his name. Once he curses Odysseus, the man’s way home becomes distorted, drawn-out, and difficult. Because Odysseus lets his pride get the better of him, his simple journey home becomes years of twists and
Tales, Creatures and mythical adventures tells the story of Percy Jackson and Odysseus. Their both known as courageous heroes.In their journeys they both share motivation, adventures and assistance. However they have different roles in their characters. In there perspective of their adventures Percy and Odyssey had a motivation to start a mission and they had similar barriers throughout their experience.
Odysseus’s most known trait of an epic hero is his intelligence. He is always thinking and he is usually one step ahead of everyone else. He was also the one to come up with the idea of the wooden horse to finally end the Trojan war. On his long journey home, he encountered some obstacles that could not be overcome with just fighting and strength, like Polyphemus the cyclops. When Odysseus and his crew came upon Polyphemus’ island they helped themselves to his sheep, they then established a plan to blind the cyclops by stabbing him in the eye. Odysseus called himself Noman so that Polyphemus wouldn’t know his real name and tell his brothers who hurt him (Homer 104-108). But Odysseus didn’t show his intelligence for long. When him and his men got away from the cyclops and were on their ship, Odysseus yelled, “I say, Cyclops! if ever anyone asks you who put our your
Homer’s The Odyssey is home to many classics within its pages. From the Cyclops, Scylla and a myriad of other creatures, The Odyssey is a classic in every sense of the word and its influence on modern day culture is plain to see. However, it wasn’t just the monsters that drew people into Homer’s tale, it was also characters. Describing the tale of Odysseus, who after winning a ten-year long war thanks to his quick wits and high intelligence. The story delves into his journey on trying to get back to his wife, Penelope and child, Telemachus. For twenty years, Odysseus sailed, fought and outsmarted many obstacles, losing most of his men in the process. And when he finally reaches his home, suitors trying to court his sorrowful wife, who