Safety and Security in Odysseus

Odysseus must now face the other suitors in order to win Penelope. He must rely on physical strength to get past this task then to face Penelope and convince her it is really Odysseus. After defeating the other suitors Odysseus was cleaned up and made to

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.

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

Furthermore, Penelope is an important character as her identity “functions as a stable and unchanging reference point for the adventures of Odysseus” (Katz, 6). As Katz explains, Odysseus’ travels are interwoven with his lust for home and his desire to be with his wife again. As well, her identity becomes a parallel to Odysseus’ identity through her use of polutropus (tricks and turns). She proves, by the end of the poem, that she is the perfect match for Odysseus as both of them share the same skills with rhetoric and language to get what they want. Their like-mindedness is evident during the recognition scene between the two. Penelope tests Odysseus’ knowledge of their marital bed - before blindly trusting his claim of identity - by asking the slaves to move their immovable bed: “[putting] her husband to the proof-but Odysseus/ blazed in fury, lashed out at his loyal wife” (Homer, 23.203-204). In his angry response to Penelope’s test, Odysseus proves his identity to his wife as he explains why the bed cannot move. When she hears their familiar story of the creation of their bed, - which only the two and a slave know about - Penelope submits to her long-lost husband in an emotional reunion. Her caution, before accepting Odysseus’ claim, shows the wary protectionism stance that she had to adopt while her husband was gone so she could protect the kingdom from the suitors.

Another significant character that remains loyal to Odysseus is Eumaeus. Eumaeus is a one of many servants of Odysseus and one who has remained loyal to his absent master. Before we are introduced to Eumaeus, Athena has told Odysseus to hide at a loyal servants house until he is reunited with his son, Telemachus. One of the first examples of Eumaeus loyalty to his master is when Odysseus, disguised as an old beggar comes up to the hut that he has built and the hounds come rushing toward him. It reads “Another moment, old man, and the dogs would have ripped you open, and it’s me you would have blamed for it, as if the gods haven’t given me enough grief already. It’s for my master, a man like a god, I grieve as i stay out here raising fat hogs for other men to eat.” What is said above is one example of how Eumaeus has stayed loyal to his master. It has been

In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus tests his servants, family, and the suitors, and in the Book of Genesis God tests Abraham. Odysseus returns home alone and unrecognized to find his home in disarray, unsure of who and who cannot be trusted. In the Book of Genesis, Abraham is tested to assure he is loyal to, and trusts, the Lord. Odysseus tests the loyalty of his servants and family members, as well as the suitors, likewise, Abraham’s faith is assessed by God as he commands Abraham to sacrifice his son. The similarities between Odysseus and God, and their assessment of others, draw further on the concept of crossing the boundary between humans and the divine; both Odysseus and God use testing as a form of bringing justice to a world that lives without a justice system.

    Long-tried royal Odysseus is tested for devotion and trust through the absence of his loved ones. His character can be seen through the actions and voice of his very own son Telemachus. Since Telemachus and Odysseus have been away from each other

Spider-Man is your average modern day hero, he is a citizen who was bitten by an unusual and peculiar spider which gave him powers and abilities such as being able to shoot webs out of his hands and climb walls without the need of any equipment. And Odysseus is a Greek hero who was strong, heavily favored by the gods, and could take down any and all challenges he´d ever have to face. And if you ever compared the two you would see that both characters are extremely different. Why you would see this is because we know that Spider-Man is a modern day hero, but can we consider Odysseus as one. My answer to this would be NO. Society today would not consider Odysseus as a modern day hero because of many reasons. One would be that he doesn´t show

In Greek literature of mythology, we have examined Odysseus. Students and scholars alike have held debates about Odysseus. The discussion is whether Odysseus was a true hero, as read in The Odyssey. There is abundant supportive evidence to verify all sides of the debate and opinions held about Odysseus. Odysseus had encompassed many qualities that I believe make him a hero. The qualities he embodied were mental strength, physical strength, and spiritual strength. I would like to advocate for why Odysseus was a hero.

Odysseus displays a praiseworthy hero in more than one way. Again, he uses strategy over strength every time he lands upon a new island. Once Odysseus lands on new, unknown lands, he does not run to the king and queen telling them his name and entire life story. He knows that bragging and being rude will not get him very far. When he enters King Alcinous’s castle, the first thing he says to the queen is, “I come to beg you for mercy” (7. 184). He knows that by saying this they will have sympathy

When Odysseus is testing Penelope he is disguised as a beggar and continues to quiz her well he is disguised and not blow his cover. At the end of their conversation Odysseus cleverly tells her to hang in there that Odysseus will be home soon. Now you might ask what right does he have to ask her if she has been loyal when he himself hasn’t been loyal, when indeed Odysseus only did what he had to do in order to make it home to his beloved Penelope.

When Odysseus returns to Ithaka, his curiosity in viewing whether people remembered and missed him drives him toward testing people. His own beloved wife, Penelope, is apart of his trial making. Without approaching her in his true form and telling her who he is, he rather has a conversation with her lying that he entertained Odysseus. From the deceiving stories of Odysseus, Penelope listened as “ her tears ran and her body was melted… as Penelope wept for her man, who was sitting there by her side” (287. 205). Causing her so much sorrow and grief through Odysseus’ trials. He even has “ pity for his wife as she mourned for him” (287. 210). In his reckless curiosity he generates more pain and suffering upon her fragile self than deserved. Also, Odysseus tests his father in curiosity “to see whether he will know [him] and his eyes recognize [him], or fail to know [him]” (350. 217). However, Odysseus takes it too far, using words of mockery, and even seeing his father break down in tears over him, Odysseus continues in his deceit. Speaking to the extent that Laertes “ caught up the grimy dust and poured it over his face and grizzled head, groaning incessantly” (353. 315). In those days such was the epitome of mourning, to cover ones face in ashes and dirt. Out of Odysseus’ reckless curiosity, Laertes who is already old and weary has to endure mockery and mourning from his own

            Odysseus was a man of honor, a man who had fought in a war and won.  For such a courageous man to return home to find it full, idly standing by would not be considered virtuous.  In order to prove that his status of King remained a strong title, Odysseus had to purge his home of rogues, and fancy women who had dishonored his lady.  Such was acceptable at his time, and therefore considered common.  Odysseus’s sense of honor was vital in his role as an adventurer and a monarch of Ithaka. 

During his journey Odysseus used what he has learned from is mistakes to return home and kill the suitors of his wife. On the island of Cicones,and with his encounter with Polyphemus, Odysseus learned that bragging can bring great misfortune. On Ithaca Odysseus never brags to the suitors and is able to enter his house with the Antinous and the other suitors knowing his real identity. He takes the punishment of Antinous and the other suitors without saying a word and is able to see those who have invaded his house. Odysseus is able to see who is loyal and who is not and take his revenge with the suitors never knowing who

One of his tests is not going to the sirens. It’s a test because the sirens send out this lovely and seductive song that promise to reveal the future (book 12). This shows a test that he went through. If he would’ve went to the sirens it could have been bad for him. Another test Odysseus goes through is the cyclops, Polyphemus. Polyphemus traps Odysseus and some of his men in a cave and eats two of them, then imprisoned Odysseus who later escaped with some of his men(book 9). This shows that Polyphemus tested him by trapping him. He overcame that test by planning a smart escape plan and he eventually got away. Odysseus is tested multiple times but also overcame those