The state of lying is a convincing art that not many people can pull off effectively. There are different factors that have to be taken into account in order to consider something as a good lie. In a text, 3 factors that make up a convincing lie are the character and their traits, the situation involved and how persuasive they are. Speech is a thing of beauty as it can be manipulated in many ways to get people to believe you. A character’s traits allow a person to observe their behavior and how they are able to manipulate the language. Odysseus is able to use his cunning to manipulate the language into his favor making the suitors believe that he is indeed a beggar. It’s his traits of being wise and cunning that allows the suitors to fall …show more content…
The person’s ability to sway the language in their way against their opponent allows them to manipulate their minds. There are always liars throughout many texts but what separate them from the exceptional liars are these factors. A character is often considered strong or weak based on the language and behavior during the epic or story. That same language along with the person’s traits, can determine whether that character is a great liar or not. In the Odyssey, Odysseus goes to great lengths to lie and deceive the suitors into thinking he’s a beggar. During the fight against the beggar Odysseus downplays the whole situation by stating “Friends, how can an old man, worn down with pain, stand to a young buck? Its just this belly of mine, this troublemaker, tempts to take a licking.”(Od.377.60-63). Odysseus’ lie sets up how shrewd he is, allowing the beggar king to believe that he could take on Odysseus with ease. Odysseus uses his wisdom brilliantly by trying to obtain some sympathy making him fight someone who is beyond younger then he is. Odysseus knows his character and how wise he is which allows him to use that to his advantage. He uses his physical appearance as a beggar to convince the suitors of how poor he was that he needed to beg. Another character who uses their traits to their advantage is the daughter of Zeus, Helen. Helen, who is the wife of King Menelaus, is the main point as to why the Trojan war even begun. Her disappearance caused King Menelaus
One can be judged by their actions, but what truly shapes a person is their personality. Odysseus is an over-confident and ill-tempered man. On the cyclops's island, Odysseus's boasting nearly proves costly. A modest and heroic person would have had his men in mind, rather than himself, and left the island. Also, Odysseus revealing his true identity to the cyclops could very well have resulted in the death of his men. After Odysseus's boasting, Polyphemus prays to his father, "Let him lose all companions, and return / under strange sail to bitter days at home" (Homer 9. (537-8). This prophecy, of course, becomes a reality. Another sign of Odysseus's over-confidence shows while he is explaining himself to King Alcinous. In some of his first words to the king, Odysseus again boasts of his accomplishments. "Men hold me / formidable for guile in peace and war: / this fame has gone abroad to the sky's rim" (Homer 9. (127-8). Another very important fact is Odysseus's position on monogamy. Odysseus believes he's above monogamy, as he stays with many goddesses during his journeys while Penelope stays faithful at home. A hero is not a boasting, over-confident person, but someone who does their actions for no reward.
Deception can involve being tricked by others, or tricking one's self. In Card's novel, trickery and false promises are parts of both games and deadly conflicts. Discuss the ways that deception is figured in the novel.
Homer’s Odyssey challenges the common view on deception as employed only maliciously. Both a mortal, Odysseus, and one of the most revered goddesses, Athena, have the common noble goal of bringing Odysseus back home to his family after nearly two decades of absence. To achieve that goal, they mainly use deception and disguise in various forms that their physical and mental powers allow. Odysseus is famous for wittily deceiving others through verbal means, fact noted by Menelaus and Helen of Troy (Book 4). He even doubts Athena, as his own skills have made him doubt other’s honesty. Athena states after realizing Odysseus’s disbelief, “Would not another wandering man, in joy, make haste home to his wife and children? Not you, not yet” (8.
One of the first examples of deception in the Odyssey is the Greek goddess Athena, and her many human disguises. Throughout the book, Athena uses many different disguises, like her disguise of Mentes when she first meets Telemachus, and Mentor when she helps kill the suitors in Odysseus’ home. Her disguises, although they may be deceitful, are actually very helpful to the advancement of Odysseus’ journey. Without her, Odysseus would most likely still be stuck on Ogygia with Calypso, and Telemachus would have lost all hope in his father’s return. Athena helps to instill a sense of strength, hope, and courage to both men throughout the book, and these disguises help her to save Odysseus’ family without sticking out among the mortals.
Many people in our society lie a lot. About insignificant things or serious things it is a huge part of being human and trying to protect what you love and consider important. In stories characters fight wars, kill, and lie to save these things. In “ The Crucible” ,by Arthur Miller, Elizabeth, John, and Giles, sacrificed themselves for what they believed in.
The universal theme of “lying is apart of everyone’s nature,” is evident quite often in,
For example, when Odysseus defeated the cyclops Polyphemus, Odysseus’ arrogance and self-pride showed when he boasted about himself to the cyclops making sure that the blinded Polyphemus would remember Odysseus’ name and how he defeated him; Odysseus’ narcissism was later on the cause of the death of all of his men and was the cause of Odysseus’ horrible ten year long journey to reach Ithaca and his family, for Poseidon didn’t forget and forgive Odysseus’ for what he had done to his son, Polyphemus. Also, Odysseus’ ability to lie and cheat his way out of many situations proves to be an immoral quality of his although this ability saves him at
People today know the act of lying to be a common occurrence and have accepted truthfulness as a rarity. It is because of this acceptance and the usage of deception that horrible instances occur. Deception in its many forms is evil. When a person lies to another person, the person being lied to trusts that the liar is telling the truth and leaves people vulnerable to being cheated. This selfish evil is revealed in a multitude of ways in the Greek myths and also has a presence in the heart of modern day
At times lying can be exceedingly necessary and people try to justify lying. Notably, lying is to not tell people the truth for whatever reason. In particular, some say that being deceitful is merely a part of human nature, but it is not logical. Generally speaking, there are people in this world who lie to protect other people, they lie to aid in increasing their confidence, or they just lie simply to protect themselves. When the truth is misleading, consequently, there are certain facts that are destined to come up causing the situation to turn chaotic. With this in mind, Arthur Miller carefully crafts two plays, The Crucible and Death of a Salesman, where lying is a pivotal part of the characters’ personalities. These characters all lie
In William Shakespeare 's play 1 Henry IV, deception is a recurring theme. Main characters King Henry IV, Hotspur and Prince Hal deceived people to benefit themselves. Were these characters deceiving their subordinates to gain power or were their choices and actions political strategy geared toward gaining honor and maintaining the well-being of the nation? All three main characters deceive people to gain power which can be seen as an act of malice and disloyalty but also as a political strategy. King Henry deceives King Richard II into believing that he is on his side while he is secretly planning a rebellion, Hotspur does the same to King Henry by deceiving him into thinking that he is on his side while also secretly planning a rebellion and Prince Hal deceives the kingdom’s people into thinking he is this wild child so they will be more impressed with him when he becomes the mature prince and adequate potential leader he was expected to be all along. All of this deception brings up the question, do the characters use deception purely for their own benefit or for the benefit of the greater good? Shakespeare 's use of deception for power shows these three characters true intentions, for King Henry IV deception is used to gain power to benefit the kingdom while on the other hand, for Hotspur deception is used to gain power for his own benefit and the benefit of his family while in Prince Hal’s complicated case, deception is used both for his own benefit and ultimately the
What is madness? Is someone considered mad or insane simply because they are different, and they, in turn, see the rest of the world as insane? William Shakespeare 's play Hamlet is about a complex protagonist, Hamlet, who plays the role of a tragic hero. He encounters several misfortunes from experiencing his beloved father’s death, witnessing his mother 's incestuous remarriage to his uncle, and seeing his father’s ghost. Due to all of this, Hamlet falls into a deep depression. Hamlet begins his journey by seeking revenge against Claudius after discovering that his noble father was murdered by his own uncle. Hamlet is a character whose actions and emotions may seem like one of an insane person, however, in the beginning of the play, it is clear that he decides to fake madness in order to gain an advantage over Claudius. This would aid in him in accomplishing his revenge. Hamlet is sane throughout the play: he only shows signs of insanity in front of certain people whom he does not trust. However, even they believe that his madness is not sheer madness but has a reason to it. Hamlet’s character is sane as in the play his rationality is shown through the logic and intelligence he uses in his plots. He usually calculates his movements and his impulsive acts are justified. While there are reasons to believe that many of the hardships could have driven Hamlet to the point of insanity, his display of intelligence and rational thinking throughout the play proves his sanity.
In this play “Hamlet” written by William Shakespeare, there are many soliloquies that are said by Hamlet to depict various meanings of his thoughts, feelings, and actions that are inside of him. More specifically the soliloquy in Act 3, Scene 1, in lines 57-91 starts off with the famous saying known as “To be, or not to be”. Throughout this soliloquy, Hamlet is asking himself the question of whether it is better to live or not to live. In life, we are faced with many situations where we feel the need to give up our life and not face the problems. Only by facing all the troubles, will a person become stronger and more courageous to handle anything in life. By believing in one’s self, can man have the courage to follow what they think is right. Killing yourself or giving up is never a solution in life. This soliloquy reveals Hamlet’s fearful personality by showing that his decision-making process is slow and that he fears risks or uncertainty. These character traits are depicted thoroughly by Hamlet throughout the play.
In the Epic Poem ,The Odyssey, by Homer the story portrays the protagonist Odysseus, facing many tribulations on his journey home to Ithika, after his battle at Troy. However, Odysseus’ strong pride and boastful character provoke Poseidon, god of the sea, to not let him return home easily. During his absence, suitors raid his kingdom intending to marry his wife Penelope, and take Ithika for their own. Helping the hero, but also resisting lord Poseidon wishes, Athena, goddess of wisdom, attempts to bring the hero home. With disguise, Athena brings Telémakhos to venture off on his own journey to find his lost father whom he has never met. Even early, deception and disguise help Odysseus through tribulations; however, can trickery continue to fool the minds of his foes and loved ones? Odysseus must maintain his patience and self-control and not let envy and hatred for the suitors consume him.
In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the character Hamlet must deal with both external and internal conflict. Hamlet encounters many struggles and has trouble finding a way to deal with them. With so many corrupt people in his life, Hamlet feels as if there is no one that he can trust and begins to isolate himself from others. A result from this isolation leads Hamlet to become melancholy. Hamlet struggles with suicidal thoughts, wants to kill King Claudius, and is distraught over his mother’s hasty marriage with his uncle Claudius.
Shakespeare writes in a way that is difficult to understand for anyone that speaks the modern language. His story Hamlet is understood through the emotions felt by his characters. Hamlet is the main character who is conflicted with revenge and conspiring friendships. Hamlet returns home from Germany for his father’s funeral only to find far more troubling things. Hamlet is a conflicted character but that doesn’t stop him from knowing what he wants. Revenge is the main cause of his confliction but with great reason, which is important to understand about this play because it helps explain all the betrayal and tragedy.