The Odyssesy Essay

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.

In book nine: the Cyclops fate is demonstrated; these are the times you see that the gods take action in Odysseus life. Odysseus is talking to the terrifying Cyclops; Odysseus is explaining to the Cyclops how fate has brought them to his island. Odysseus says on page 116 lines 159 thru 163. “We are Achemans…took the wrong route as Zeus I suppose instead that we should.” Odysseus says that he

A hero accepts who he is as an individual, but strives to change himself for the better. In the epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, the main character Odysseus is a valiant king who embarks on a life-changing voyage. While traveling from Troy back to his home in Ithaka, King Odysseus overcomes daunting obstacles, and in doing so discovers his place in the world. Odysseus is truly a heroic figure because he demonstrates courage, improves his character, and wins the support of the gods.

After assisting Telemachus, Athena ventures to the Island where Calypso lives to free Odysseus. Odysseus is then given a boat by Calypso to return to home. On the way home, he lands on a strange place which is unknown to him. Athena, cognizant of Odysseus' arrival, travels to the palace of Alcinous disguised as one of Nausicaa's friends. Athena enters the palace and gives Nausicaa advice to venture to river so she would clean herself up to make her presentable to men. In doing this, Athena has sent Nausicaa to meet up with Odysseus at the river. It was then Odysseus' turn to be disguised.

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.

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.

Though Odysseus is as great a man as ever lived, he is still only mortal and at the gods’ mercy. Odysseus does not control his own destiny, but instead the gods determine what shall befall him and whether he shall ever reach his home. Odysseus is only a man and "hard is a god for mortal man to master" (36) even if he is great amongst his brethren. Odysseus can not control the gods anymore then he can control his fate and so he is left at their mercy. Even Zeus, who gives Odysseus many signs, will sometimes deal Odysseus woe which he is powerless to stop. To avenge the Sun god upon Odysseus’ evil crew, "…Zeus with a gleaming bolt smote [Odysseus’] swift ship and wrecked it in the middle of the wine-dark sea" (47). Such acts illustrate the control that the gods exercise over Odysseus and his inability to deliver himself from woe.

These temptresses who hinder Odysseus are contrasted with the women who help Odysseus in his journey homeward. One example is Nausicaa, the Phaeacian princess. The shipwrecked Odysseus washes up on the Phaeacian shore. He comes across Nausicaa and her maids washing clothes. He beseeches her for help. Nausicaa kindly helps Odysseus by providing him with a bath, clothing, and food. She then advises Odysseus to enter the palace and ask for help from her mother, Queen Arete. Arete also wields much influence. Nausicaa tells Odysseus that if the queen “take[s] [him] to her heart”, then there is “hope” that he will return home (278). Nausicaa and Arete are instrumental in bringing about Odysseus’ homecoming.

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

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.

The gods play an important part in Odysseus’ journey home, bringing him closer and farther from his homeland. They constantly intervene in the lives of the many characters in The Odyssey. Though Odysseus is a hero, the gods control his life. It is as if he were the main character in a video game and the gods are fighting over who controls his life. Personal responsibility is overshadowed by the gods’ eagerness to grab the controller.

Penelope is also important because she (along with Telemachus) is the main reason for Odysseus to return home. Odysseus shows his great love and determination when goddess Calypso offers him immortality (Book 5) on the condition that he remains on Ogygia as her husband. At Odysseus's first opportunity he builds a raft and sails away, leaving the lonely Calypso behind. When he reaches Phaeacia, he is then offered the hand of King Alcinous daughter, Nausicaa, who must have been beautiful because Odysseus had mistaken her for the goddess Artemis on first site. Instead Odysseus wished to return to Penelope.

Calypso lusts for Odysseus so much that she holds him captive for many years. Odysseus, however, does not feel this lust for her. At this point in the epic, he wants nothing more than to reach his home and his wife, whom he loves very much. Finally, the gods tell Calypso that is time to release Odysseus, and she obeys.

The islands of Circe and Calypso in Homer’s Odyssey are places where Odysseus’ most challenging problems occur. In contrast to battles with men, Cyclops, or animals, sexual battles with women are sometimes much more difficult to win. These two female characters are especially enticing to Odysseus because they are goddesses. Though it is evident that Odysseus longs to return to Penelope in Ithaka, it sometimes appears that he has lost vision of what life was like with a wife, a son, and with thousands of people who regard him as King. Although his experiences on the islands of these goddesses were similar in that he was retained from Ithaka for the longest periods of his adventure, these goddesses and the

Later on he is awoken by the sound of women shouting and stands up to see the daughter of King Alcinous, Nausicaa, and two of her handmaid's washing clothes in a river. Nausicaa will be of great help to Odysseus on his way back home, “seeing you’ve reached our city and our land, you’ll never lack for clothing or any other gift, the right of worn-out suppliants come our way.” said Nausicaa to Odysseus, “I’ll show you our town, tell you our people’s name. Phaeacians we are, who hold this city and this land, and I am the daughter of generous King Alcinous. All our people’s power stems from him.”