Temptations Of Odysseus Essay

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.

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.

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.

The majority of those who read The Odyssey consider the protagonist of the story, Odysseus, a hero. On many occasions, however, Odysseus makes decisions beneficial to himself alone. For example, when Odysseus and his men find themselves on Polyphemus's island, Odysseus's actions are self-centered and at the expense of his men. This can be said for most of Odysseus's actions in the story, as his main objective is to reach his home. Having his men by his side when he returns seems a trivial thing to him. Odysseus could be considered a hero, but many of his actions say otherwise. Due to the many unfaithful and self-centered decisions he makes in the story, Odysseus is not a hero.

In the epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, Odysseus goes through many trials while trying to return home from the Trojan War. On his voyage home, he must visit the Land of the Dead, evade the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis and when he does arrive home, participate in a tricky reunion with his wife, Penelope. All of these examples show that Odysseus has extreme determination and perseverance. Perseverance is an excellent quality that few possess which can spark achievement.

First, Odysseus is not a hero because he is a foolish leader who makes many mistakes on his journey back home to Ithaka. His first mistake is his decision to let his men raid and

Joseph Campbell once said, “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” True heroes are those who do something for others rather for themselves, Odysseus doesn’t exactly show this trait in The Odyssey. In The Odyssey, Odysseus along with his men try to go back home to Ithaca but due to Odysseus nature, only he actually returns alive. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus proves he is not a hero because he is arrogant, secretive, and unfaithful; resulting for readers to believe that every action has an consequence.

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.

After Odysseus came from the encounter he had with the beautiful witch goddess Circe,, his men are grateful to see him . His men gather around him like a master and a shepherd, his men surrounded him. Odysseus a well respected man who is admired by his men and treated as a mortal god due to his God like qualities . While his crew are stranded in the middle of a cross road without his leadership and guidance, pivoting towards all directions but incapable of moving forward with

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 disproves his title of a hero through his pride, his disloyalty, and his bloodthirstiness.

After drifting for nine days out in the dangerous seas Odysseus's men were thrilled to find land on the island of the Lotus Eaters. The men are welcomed by them “who showed no will to do[them]harm” (205). Which shows that they are being kind and welcoming. However, their presumed kindness unfortunately leads to an unexpected outcome and the men are now “forgetful of their homeland” (210). The Lotus Eater deceived the men into eating the lotus and the result was that they didn't want to leave. So Odysseus then, “[drags] them, all three wailing to the ships, /[and] tied them down under the rowing benches” (211). Odysseus cares very much for his men and could have

After defeating Troy in the Trojan War, Odysseus decides to pillage villages on his way home. During the pillaging they find an island with the Cicone people where they loot their villages. After partying through the night the men collapse on the beach. While they are asleep the Cicone people attack and Odysseus and his crew barely escape. When he found the cave of the cyclops Odysseus waited because he thought he was getting a present or could beat him. Instead, when the cyclops returned to the cave it ate two of his men and Odysseus feared him and his men were going to die.

After Odysseus tells the Phaeacians about his wanderings, him and his men all leave from Troy and drift to Ismarus, when the Cicones live. Odysseus decides that if the Cicones do attack that he can face them, so he stays on the island of Ismarus. But as soon as the Cicones attack they flee onto their ships and leave, losing 6 men per ship in the battle. While at sea Odysseus and his men come upon a storm that blows them off course to the island of the Lotus- eaters. While on the island of the Lotus-eaters some native to the land give Odysseus and his men lotus, a intoxicating fruit of the lotus. This fruit makes the men lose their thoughts of home and just want to stay on the island and eat more fruit. The only way to get his men onto the ship

Epics were originally oral and later became narratives. The basic guideline for epics is long narrative poems that are about a serious or worthy event. In this case the epic has to do with the events of a hero that represented an entire nation. The events of this hero are dramatic and tae place in a vast amount of area, which makes it more worthy. The epic poem also includes super natural human beings, another requirement for epics. In Homers The Odyssey Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Vintage Books, 1990 the use or these epic requirements employ the tale in a exceptional fashion. In other words these epics guidelines are used to the best of their ability to make Homer’s majestic poem outstanding.

Odysseus and his crew beached there ship on the island of Aeaea. They slept on the shore until waiting for day break. Morning came and of his crew to tell Circe of their return from the underworld and had a funeral for Elpenor. Circe put on her finest clothes and brought meat, bread, and red wine for Odysseus’ crew to enjoy. Circe said she will tell odysseus everything he will encounter on his route. While his crew fell in a deep slumber Circe took Odysseus away from his men to a more secluded place to sit and talk. She said their first encounter would be the sirens and that he should listen to their song alone. He should put wax in his men’s ears and have them tie Odysseus up. Circe tells him that there are two option of where to go next one being past the beetle crags that only one person has gotten past. The next being past Scylla and Charybdis. Both of them on separate rocks across from each other. She told him to stay on the side of Scylla’s rock or death would be certain for Odysseus’ entire crew. Scylla has 6 heads with 3 rows of razor sharp in each. Six of his crew would die for certain, there being no question to it. She said it’s flight not fight, it’s a battle that can’t be won with all his crew intact. Charybdis inhabits the other rock under a leafy fig tree. Three times a day she sucks up the water and three times a day she belches it out. Odysseus wants to escape from Charybdis and protect his crew from scylla. Circe was getting annoyed by his hero complex.