According to both Greek and Homeric values humans should have reason, but very often they express passion, which leads to contradictory emotions and obstacles in life. Odysseus, a man with a complex life, struggles with many internal, personal contradictions that have a collective impact on his decisions throughout his existence. The most important contradictions Odysseus faces are loyalty and betrayal; humility and hubris; and wisdom and folly,
Throughout the Odyssey Odysseus faces an internal battle between loyalty and betrayal in the presence of numerous temptations. Odysseus’s first situation was with Kalypso. Although Odysseus does cheat on Penelope with Kalypso, he still remains loyal, and his love for her hardly wanes. Kalypso
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Odysseus is deceived by Kirke’s beauty and falls for her mysterious ways, but his devotion continues for Penelope. Kirke, deceiving Odysseus with her quick mind, says, “your cruel wandering is all you think of, / never of joy, after so many blows” (Homer 179). Kirke’s desire for the men and her persistence captured Odysseus’s logic, and he ends up living with her for quite awhile, but thankfully his reason comes back. Odysseus’s odyssey was so complex that even small occurrences like the sirens and the lotus plants make him reconsider his priorities and what is truly important to him and his future.
Odysseus has a sense of hubris that leads to adversity and causes him harm, he also has humility; however, the lack of balance between these emotions takes Odysseus through many tough obstacles. When Odysseus tricks Polyphemos, he does it logically, and he uses his mind and reason; however, his hubris comes out when he feels the need to expose his true identity thus leading to his difficulty to return to Ithaka and future problems. Odysseus’s men beg him to stop harassing the beast, but Odysseus has one other plan in mind when he says, “Kyklops / … Odysseus raider of cities, took your eye: / Laertes’ son, whose home’s on Ithaka!” (Homer 160). This provoking of Polyphemos that Odysseus displays is a cause for the pain Ithaka is going though, as well as personal and direct grieving directed at Odysseus and his immediate
In the Homer’s, The Odyssey, Odysseus has a very resilient view of himself and is exceptionally selfish. The book starts out with Odysseus on an island where he is “held captive” for 7 years. He really is cheating on his wife with Calypso, a persuasive nymph. Eventually Athena is sent to fetch Odysseus and return him to his Kingdom where he has been missing for 20 years.
Odysseus is considered to be a typical hero, in a typical Hero’s Journey. Odysseus, however, shows a style of change that was pioneered in the Odyssey. Throughout each book of The Odyssey, Odysseus does not only fight monsters on his way home, but also monsters inside of him as well. His monsters, or flaws, must be addressed for Odysseus to be able to come home victorious at the end of the novel. Despite Odysseus may have more unknown character flaws, 2 specific ones come into play throughout the book. The first is pride, or hubris, is exemplified primarily by Odysseus, while the second one, lust, is exemplified more by his crew, but can be seen in Odysseus as well. These two temptation provide numerous temptations and pitfalls to Odysseus on his nostos, or journey home, and both me be bested by him before he finishes his journey and reunites his with his wife, son and father. In the Odyssey, Homer demonstrates that despite Odysseus’s flaws, he successfully accomplishes the hero’s
On the contrary Homer’s writing in the Odyssey displays Odysseus as a loyal and wise character through the use of internal and external conflicts. Odysseus knows it is “better to mourn six men that lose them all” (705-706) during a rigorous journey where he needs them. Despite being determined Odysseus was also loyal. Odysseus shows how much he cares about his men through his dialogue. This is even after he knows that he will be the only survivor of the, and he still does not want to see any of his men die. Sitting at the foot of death Odysseus knows if he does not keep “thinking how to win the game” (198) he and his men will not make it home to ithaca. Since Odysseus knows he wants to make it home he is going to have to outsmart the cyclops.
Homer gives Odysseus series of conflicts even to the point of Odysseus returning home after 20 years. When Odysseus is given a chance to compete for Penelope, he does not hesitate in killing the ringleader of the suitors. As a result of Odysseus's determination, he tells them that will not “escape death”(1286). This act proves that he will not let anyone try to get with his women. This sense of courage and determination get him what he wants. In spite of Odysseus conquering this task he still has a more important one ahead. Penelope still has doubts and believe he could just be a trick from the gods. As a result, Telemachus tries to convince his mother that he is the real Odysseus and she does not need to question him. As a
The epic, The Odyssey portrays Odysseus as a man of great respect and worth. Along with these great attributes, Odysseus is ill fated with the trait of arrogance, and brings death along with him wherever he goes, which conveys that his arrogance towards his men and his surroundings lead to the death of others. Homer uses Odysseus’s hubris to create a crestfallen mood, conveying that the arrogance of leaders will lead to the demise of others. Homer uses the incidents at the Cyclops Island to portray Odysseus as a man who puts himself above his men. Odysseus’ men were unwilling while they were trekking into the cyclops cave, but Odysseus “wishes to see the caveman.”
Odysseus is the main character in an epic poem called the Odyssey. In the poem Odysseus has had some bad luck getting home, with some of the gods helping him and some hindering him; his journey towards home is a constant struggle. In this poem we see a man being broke and rebuilt, through constant irony his faith was damaged and without the help of Athena he probably would have given up on his journey. Through his hard work and wise spirit he finally does achieve his goal.
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.
She is also faithful to her husband even as she is tempted by suitors who invade her house. She stays true to Odysseus: “So I pay no heed to strangers, suppliants at my door not even heralds out on their public errands here — I yearn for Odysseus, always, my heart pines away” (Homer 19. 149-151) Odysseus’ obstacle with Penelope is getting home safely. The motivating factor for this journey is to see his wife, Penelope. His survival is tested over and over but he understands his love is waiting for him.
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.
The novel started while Odysseus was missing, leaving Penelope alone to take care of Telemachus and the suitors. The time she was away from Odysseus seems shorter than reality, but she had been away from him for around twenty years. Penelope was a strong example of faithfulness, and was a reason that students should read the novel The Odyssey because she was always thinking of Odysseus. In contrast, the character Odysseus played with the idea of faithfulness. The novel portrayed Odysseus in the scenes with Kirke and Kalypso as helpless and trapped, but the novel never told of Odysseus resisting their love.
Despite these few instances, Odysseus remains faithful to Penelope in their twenty years apart. He does not love either Calypso or Circe as he did Penelope, and thusly chooses not to stay with either of the two. Although the principle might get lost in the tale, Penelope played the part of the goal for Odysseus to obtain, or re-obtain by the end of the
By the actions of his subordinates, Odysseus receives a first-hand experience of Zeus’ rage as not only was his entire crew murdered, but he also drifts further away from the now seemingly impossible destination of Ithaca. Stretching back to his shipmates opening Aeolus’ bag of winds and getting transformed into lowly animals on Circe’s island, Odysseus should have learned not to trust his companions much earlier in his odyssey; it is no coincidence that once he is rid of all companions, he finally makes it back to Ithaca. Through this episode, Homer teaches us how some lessons we learn are not from our own mistakes, but
Odysseus’s hubris leads him into many troubles and contrasts with all of the heroic deeds he is known for. As he returns home, he lands on the island of the Kyklopes. He insists that they meet with the unknown host, with the prospect of receiving gifts. His desire for more loot to bring back to Ithaka leads him and his
During Odysseus’ journey back home to Ithaca, him and his crew encountered many evils and troubles. Almost every one of these took at least one of his men. Scylla is an example of this. This monster took six of Odysseus’ men while on the journey home. Nearly ever was it Odysseus’ fault. His men caused most of the problems that haunted them back to Ithaca.
When people think of a hero, they think of a tall, handsome, loyal, brave, and a type of man that could do no wrong. The “hero” that is portrayed in the Odyssey is a man named Odysseus. This “hero” may be tall and handsome, but he is often arrogant, disrespectful, conceited, and rude. Odysseus consists of positive and negative characteristics that is shown in the text by Homer. These characteristics impact the characters day to day, or in the book’s case, the quests. In the Odyssey, Homer values the characteristics hospitality and cunning, but he objects bad leadership.