The Odyssey Character Analysis

Around the 1200 B.C., Odysseus was sailing the Mediterranean Sea for the purpose of reaching home. In his long narrative poem, The Odyssey, Homer conveys how Odysseus desperately wishes to go home to Ithaca. However, he faces brutal treatment and obstacles from several different antagonists, and more obstacles appear when he reaches home. Odysseus came across many external conflicts, which he dealt with intelligence, determination, and loyalty.

    Odysseus found himself in some dangerous situations during his journey but he was clever enough to think of ways to escape them. For example, when he encountered Polyphemus, Odysseus tricked him when he told

The Odyssey is an epic about Ancient Greek culture written by Homer. This is one of the two major Greek poems. Odysseus is on a long journey back to Ithaca after the fall of Troy. The most valued life traits in an Ancient Greek culture is respect. Odysseus helps portray this by worshiping gods through the epic.

Circe gives him a life of ease and self-indulgence on an enchanted island. In Phaecia, Odysseus is offered the love of a young princess and her hand in marriage. The Sirens tempt him to live in the memory of the glorious past. Calypso, the goddess with whom he spends seven years, offers him the greatest temptation of all: immortality. In refusing, Odysseus chooses the human condition, with all its struggle, its disappointments, and its inevitable end. And the end, death, is ever-present. But he hangs on tenaciously and, in the midst of his ordeals, he is sent living to the world of the dead to see for himself what death means.” (Lawall,

During his visit to the underworld, Odysseus was informed of one of his most formidable enemies: desire. Teiresias plainly told him that “if [he could] contain [his] own desire, and contain [his] companions… [they] might all make [their] way back to Ithaca” (Homer 171). When they finally saw the island, Odysseus did feel the desire to stop at the island, but tried to heed the warnings he received. His men however did not feel the same way he did. His me pestered him until he felt they had “[forced him] to it” but in reality he was just making an excuse to give in to his desires” (Homer 193). After indulging in his (and his crew’s) desires, he thought they would soon proceed off the island, however this was not the case. While exploring the island, his food deprived crew came upon the cattle of Helios, and being starving, began to cook and eat them, even sacrificing a part to the gods. Odysseus was walking back to their camp on his own when “the pleasant savor of cooking meat came drifting around [him], and [he] cried out [his] grief aloud to the gods immortal (Homer 194). Once he smelled the meat he knew that the horrific actions that were predicted would come true. All these things happened because Odysseus’ crew did not follow the instruction of their leader and instead followed their desires, but an even worse fate comes true when they disobey the gods themselves.

Homer 's Odyssey chronicles the journey of the great Greek hero Odysseus and the setbacks he encountered on his way home from the Trojan war. Odysseus

The power of nature had unleashed the ocean and winds against Odysseus, blowing him to an island that would test his body. Odysseus covets his return home, and the embrace of his wife, but he is incapable of achieving either. The intoxicating lotus-eater Circe trapped him for a year and the beautiful Calypso for seven years. During that time, Odysseus partakes in temptations of the flesh of which he has no will power to control. He is no match for the will of the supernatural entities of which caused him great suffering. Odysseus became a prisoner to Circe, poisoned by the false reality of the lotus flower. Odysseus's body was also weak in the face of Calypso. Despite the profound love of which Odysseus had for his wife Penelope, he was unable to resist Calypso's advances. Her beauty is as hypnotic as the poison of the lotus flower. Odysseus was no longer a prisoner of any substance, but he had now fallen on the clutches of Calypso's temptation. Calypso's beauty was divine, and her grasp was tight around Odysseus's lust. At times, individuals seek to end the suffering of a broken heart by plunging into the arms of another. Having no method of escape, Odysseus became a prisoner on Calypso's island, a prisoner whose sole purpose was to please Calypso. Odysseus succumbs to the sexual enslavement of Calypso. What to him felt like days of sexual slavery, in reality were many

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,

When one first considers the facets of the travels of long-suffering Odysseus, the many trials and temptations which he must face would be sure to come into the conversation. However, food, especially its relationship to temptation, would likely not be the initial aspect to jump out. Our modern eyes have the tendency to skip over the long passages of ritualistic feasting and food offerings and do not slow down to consider the implications presented here.

The idea of saying one thing while thinking another is really emphasized by Homer. Odysseus was really careful and he suspected other creatures of being misleading because he used this strategy for

The epic poem The Odyssey, written by Homer, centers around the main protagonist Odysseus and his long journey back home. Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, returns home after defeating the Trojans in a ten year war. On his way back, he angers Poseidon, god of the sea, by blinding his son, Polyphemus the Cyclops. Due to Odysseus’ actions, Poseidon refuses to let Odysseus reach home, and Odysseus and his crew are forced to go through a series of obstacles throughout the epic. Through this adversity, Odysseus must show his heroic attributions in order to survive. Homer portrays Odysseus as a hero by giving him characteristics such as: craftiness, loyalty, and bravery.

The Odyssey, an epic poem written by Homer, tells of the struggles the main character, Odysseus, went through to return to his home, Ithaca, and reunite with his wife, Penelope. The Odyssey is an allegory, meaning it has hidden, interconnected symbols. In other words, while it tells the story of Odysseus, it is also a metaphor for the challenges that everyone faces during their lives.

The life of a God, forever bliss, complete happiness: Odysseus slights all of these things in order for him to return to his loving wife and son. The concept of true commitment was a very commendable quality for a Greek hero to possess. With this character trait, Odysseus models the ideal husband, father, and leader. Unfortunately, in today’s society, one rarely encounters such outstanding morality. Being raised in an explicit society, a decrease in certain morals has become fashionable. In particular, the college experience has become accepted as the “wild times” of one’s life. Certain activities ordinarily shunned are now perceived as a learning experience when involving a college student. Drugs and alcohol abuse are commonplace around

Man’s greatest weakness proves to be the inability to resist temptation. This is confirmed throughout literature as well as daily life. Beginning with Adam and Eve, the serpent tempted Eve to eat the fruit, causing punishment to every generation that followed her. Satan caused the temptation. The inability to resist temptation also appears in the Odyssey when Odysseus is trying to get home, but is tempted by Calypso, a beautiful woman. Temptations also appear in everyday life. For example, temptations appear in the form of cell phones, food, or any other distracting device that can keep a student from doing their homework.

In Homer’s notable epic, The Odyssey, Odysseus, gifted with incredible physical strength and power, is traveling back home to the island of Ithaca. Over the course of his decade long journey across boundless and precarious waters, he learns that though, physically strong, he must use his mind and not rely solely on his physical attributes. He opposes many obstacles that he must overcome, the most important obstacle being temptation. His journey back to Ithaca is riddled with temptation that will test his physical, emotional, and mental capabilities. Through this journey he learns to overcome these weaknesses and temptations to make it home.