The Tragic Characteristics Of Joseph And Odysseus

Odysseus, King of Ithaca, and the main character in homer’s The Odyssey, was gone for twenty years before finally returning to his family and his homeland. He struggled through many hardships and lost many loyal companions. The King of Ithaca would not have made it home without the assistance of the Greek gods. Despite all of the help and advice that Odysseus receives from the gods, he is a very brave man because his courage and daring in the cave of the Cyclops, his inability to give up and abandon his men on Circe’s island, and his flawless following of the gods instructions are acts of bravery that is uncommon in most men.

    In order for Odysseus to encounter and pursue his destiny, he must be tried and tested by obstacles put forth by gods or their offspring, such as Poseidon, the Sirens, and Polyphemus. One instance of this occurring was when Poseidon sent a storm in an attempt to capsize Odysseus’ boat. Poseidon shows his hate for Odysseus when he says, "I hope to plunge him into sufficient trouble" (50). Poseidon sets forth an obstacle to test Odysseus by making a huge storm in the seas to capsize and break up his boat. Without these obstacles put forth by the gods, Odysseus would have made it home without any trouble. The epithet, "Long-tried

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.

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.

All Poseidon along with Polyphemus wishes is revenge. The number one rule is to never anger a god. Thankfully for Odysseus the other gods are on his side. Odysseus is human, so he too was battling pride. This pride Odysseus is battling is when you have the urge to be in people's faces and be superior. Odysseus and his men knew they were going to be in Siren territory. His men put wax in their ear. Odysseus on the other hand was tied up with no wax in his ear so he could hear the sirens. He wanted to be the only person that has heard them and not died. “ The San Andreas is considered “the ‘master’ fault of an intricate fault network,” the Geological Survey said”(Yan and Berlinger 3). Odysseus is seen as an amazing fighter. People have very high expectations. You could call him a master just like the San Andreas which is considered the “master fault”. Although Odysseus is a master of many strengths, his pride gets the best of him. No matter how strong and powerful you are, pride will always be there. You may think this wouldn’t be a problem for him, but it is. Odysseus is still human and has weaknesses as well. Just like us Odysseus struggles with

Perseverance is exhibited again in the episode of “Circe, the Grace of the Witch,” when Circe gives Odysseus a magic drink but it does not affect him and he threatens to kill her with his sword.” (Homer, P.387) This shows that Odysseus used his mind and perseverance when dealing with Circe and ended up creating a deal with her, which eventually saved his men. This is important because his key quality of perseverance played a big role in his part of surviving, and without perseverance, the story might have changed completely. Perseverance was another bold trait that identified Odysseus as an epic

We know that Odysseus has had problems with the god of the sea Poseidon, as with his son the Cyclops. When Polyphemus eats two of Odysseus’s men, “He knocked them dead like pups.” (Page 220, Homer) the crew knows that he is trouble. Odysseus gets the giant drunk, and when the cyclops asks Odysseus what his name is, he says that he is “Nobody”. The men shove a sharpened stick into the Cyclops’s lone eye and escape. This Cyclops, being Poseidon’s son, was not someone that Odysseus should have crossed. We also see Athena, daughter of Zeus, take pity on Odysseus, and helps him and Telemachus many times, though disguising herself as mentor when talking to

In The Odyssey, perseverance is an important lesson and is one repeatedly seen throughout the whole play and occurs with more than one character. Odysseus, his wife Penelope, and his son Telemachus all displayed strong actions of perseverance. Odysseus fought through terrors and deadly sins in order to get back to his wife and son, his family, his home. He persevered from the beginning of Homers’ epic all the way through till the end. From his escape from Calypso’s hold to Circes temptations Odysseys was relentless in getting home and never gave up on that. He and his men can in contact with the lotus-eaters and the sirens of the sea, but never once did he stray his course and give up his perseverance. Everything from his way of thinking to his desire to survive and conquer, fall into the promotion of perseverance. When Odysseus finally returns home and finds his wife’s suitors he undermines them and takes his rightful place back on the throne of his house. Odysseus’s wife Penelope exhibits this heaven worthy trait also, by relentlessly pursuing the belief that her husband is not truly dead, and even though she lets her suitors take advantage of her house and her kindness she never once sways in loyalty to her husband. Through tears and grief she persevered and when he finally returned to her, her heart was filled naught with guilt but with love for him because unto him she had done no wrong. Lastly, Telemachus displayed perseverance by pursuing the truth of his father even when his own doubt clouded his judgment. Telemachus went on voyages and discovered the real truth about his biological father all the while growing as a person. Perseverance appears to be one of the strong traits in Homers’ The Odyssey and the fact that several of his characters all have this trait and displays it in different ways and at different times to one another really goes to show how profoundly

In The Odyssey, Odysseus portrays an important trait to the story, perseverance. His perseverance really stands out as something that he has and always will have. On his long journey home, he never gives up and just stays where he is, no matter how tempting. He always manages to push through and keep getting closer to his goal of returning home. An example of when he does this is when he is faced with the challenge of getting past Skylla and Kharybdis. He knows that either path will kill at least some of his men and possibly him, but he knows he has to keep going. "And all this time,/ in travail,

Though Athena takes the prize for interfering with Odysseus’ life the most out of the rest of the gods, Poseidon also fights and claims the controller, but he prevents Odysseus from reaching Ithaca instead of helping him (please refer to the quote from page 78). Because of Odysseus’ actions against Poseidon’s

One of Odysseus's many privileges was having the trust of many gods. The book says, “Yet all gods pitied Lord Odysseus, all but Poseidon,” (Pg 3). Odysseus used the gods’ feelings to his advantage. Whenever he needed help to look better or get off of Calypso's Island the gods helped him. This leads the reader to believe that Odysseus would not have survived

Odysseus’ good fortune angered Poseidon so he sent down waves to drown Odysseus. Poseidon, “the god of earthquake heaved a wave against him / high as a rooftree and of awful gloom” (Lines 365-366 Book V). These waves splintered Odysseus’ ship and just as he was about to drown, the nereid Ino saw him, gave Odysseus his cloak which made it impossible for him to drown and told him to swim to swim to Skheria. Odysseus swam for two nights and two days before he was thrown against rocks on the shore. Athena came down and saved him from dying on the rocky coastline. Odysseus was pulled back out to sea and after searching the shoreline he found a mouth to a calm river. He was pulled into the river and ended up on a bed of leaves on shore. This series of events shows Odysseus’ strength, physically and mentally, and shows how Odysseus’ quest tested him in many

Odysseus and Joseph are both intelligent enough to use their charisma as a tool of

Odysseus is one of the greatest epic heros in the history of literature. The Odyssey, by Homer, is an epic poem, which depicts the journey home of Odysseus. Angering many gods, this voyage takes him through multiple obstacles, and ends up taking almost twenty years longer than it should've. Throughout his journey, “The Son of Laertes” must get his crew out of trouble multiple times. He uses his intellect and other strengths to do so, and never gives up, no matter the circumstance. Even after losing everything he needs in a storm worthy of the gods, Odysseus still never gives up, and gets himself out of trouble yet again. Throughout his entire journey, coming home from the Trojan War, Odysseus repeatedly uses many heroic traits to get himself and his crew out of many unfortunate situations. These heroic traits, how Odysseus uses them, and the steps of his journey all come together to illustrate that he is an epic hero. Odysseus characterizes himself as an epic hero based on how he almost perfectly follows the characteristics of an epic hero, gets his crew out of trouble multiple times, and follows the Hero's Journey.

Odysseus and his crew receive help from and face many gods and goddesses. One example of these Gods is Zeus. In the story Zeus exclaims “Let me throw down one white-hot bolt, and make splinters of their ship in the Winedark sea”. (Homer 627) Zeus is talking from his point of view in the statement. In Greek Mythology, Zeus is the king of all gods and his lightning bolt is a symbol of his power. Zeus makes himself important by threatening to destroy Odysseus’ ship. If Odysseus’ ship is destroyed, it would take a major toll on Odysseus and his men who are trying to return home from the Trojan War. Therefore, Zeus is a God with major importance in the story. Furthermore, Odysseus also has a conflict with Poseidon. The monster named Polyphemus is the son of Poseidon. In the escape from