Theme Of Loyalty In The Odyssey

Loyalty is a theme that represented all throughout Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey. To be loyal means to be committed to a person, group, or country. In this composition, there are a select few of loyal people. Penelope making the shroud, Eumaeus being loyal to Odysseus, and Athena assisting to the success of Odysseus’s journey are all examples of loyalty. Penelope, Eumaeus, and Athena are all characters that show why loyalty is important in any relationship.

“There’s something wrong with your character if opportunity controls your loyalty.” Throughout the story The Odyssey, Odysseus’ loyalty is majorly controlled by opportunity. Every path he chooses to take on his journey home, an opportunity arises which then makes his loyalty to his wife grow weaker and weaker. The Odyssey takes place after the Trojan war and depicts the journey home of the well known war hero and king of Ithaca, Odysseus. Odysseus encounters many different situations in which his loyalty to his wife is compromised. While it is true that Odysseus did a lot of things that he did not necessarily want to in order to get home, there were other options to help him get home that would have allowed him to still stay loyal to Penelope

Intro: There are a wide variety of themes present throughout the Odyssey, written by Homer. Be it hospitality, perseverance, vengeance or power of the Gods, loyalty is truly the theme that brings the whole book together. Being 10 years after the Trojan War, many have forgotten about Odysseus and his men as they constantly brave what the gods throw their way. This essay will be talking about Odysseus and Penelope’s mutual loyalty to one another, the loyal relationships between Gods and men and finally, the loyalty Odysseus’ men show for him until death. This essay with prove to us that without loyalty, Odysseus’ legendary journey would have been put to an end near where they started. The general theme of loyalty is what kept Odysseus

In The Odyssey, the theme of loyalty relates to Odysseus’s physical journey back to Ithaca. Many characters in the epic are loyal and faithful, like Penelope, Telemachus, Eumaeus, and even Odysseus himself. Penelope remains loyal to her husband, by not choosing a suitor during the 20 years he’s gone. “And there she [Penelope] sat down with the case on her knees and burst into sobs as she drew out her husband’s bow,” (Homer 317). Just carrying out Odysseus’s bow with such sorrow shows how in love she was with Odysseus and how the thought of choosing a new husband moved her to tears. As Penelope remained loyal to Odysseus and

In The Odyssey, the hero Odysseus shows many heroic traits, the one I think is most important is loyalty.

Odysseus also knows that he can depend on his now grown son. He does not hesitate to stand with his adult child to defend his home and his honor. Loyalty has no limits. Not only is there devotion amidst the family unit of Odysseus, it is also evident in the relationship between the gods and Odysseus. Although he has gone trough many trials and tribulations in the last twenty years, Odysseus is still faithful to pray and seek counsel and blessings. After Zeus relents and demands the gods to allow our hero to return home, Odysseus is given the information and guidance and favor to complete his

Another trait that Odysseus demonstrates repeatedly throughout the story is his loyalty. In various situations he never gives up on his crew, even when he has reason to. During an episode in the epic, Odysseus travels to the underworld to receive a prophecy. He meets his great friend Elpenor, who has died earlier in Circe’s hall. Because he is unburied and unmourned he asks Odysseus to build a cairn in his honor. Odysseus replies, “Unhappy spirit, / I promise you the barrow and the burial.” (Homer, lines 609-610). Although Odysseus is preoccupied with finding Tiresias, he shows loyalty to his crew mate by spending time with his spirit, and carrying out the spirit’s request. It could have been easy for Odysseus to ignore the spirit of Elpenor, but Odysseus shows a real emotional reply to this meeting. Not only does he show loyalty to his crew but his homeland as well. Although he could have given up during the ten year span Odysseus wandered from home, he persisted even though giving up would have been easier. At one point Odysseus is detained by the enchantress, Circe, but remains determined to reach home:

Loyalty: Loyalty is most apparent in Penelope's resisting of the suitors, but it is a trait essential to all the characters in Odysseus' family. For twenty years Odysseus never stops wanting to return home. Telemakhos will not send his mother back to her father and force her to choose another husband. Instead, he sets out to find news of his father. The servants Eurykleia and Eumaios are also important exemplars of loyalty. Athena's devotion to Odysseus is another.

     Odysseus shows loyalty like Telemakhos and Penelope to the gods and his family. Odysseus is a man that can be described as tenacious. He is always focused on one objective and that is to get home. He is persistent and overcomes any temptation that gets in his way. An example of this is when he is with the beautiful nymph Kalypso. She offers him immortality to stay with her and leave his thoughts for home but he gave it all up for his family and home. He never gave up hope and continued to trudge his way back home. He also shows loyalty to the god by not cursing them for all the harmful events that occur during his journey home.

The Odyssey of Homer is filled with various adventures, sought-after revenge, and harmful temptations. The war hero, Odysseus, traveled for three years, always trying to achieve his homecoming. In Odysseus’ fourth year, Zeus destroyed his ship, as well as his companions, while they were out at sea. After these losses, Odysseus alone was washed up onto the island of a nymph, Kalypso. She took him into her palace and came to love him. After time, she desired to make Odysseus her husband, offering to make him immortal as well. Yet, Odysseus declines her offer of immortality. After years of fighting in battle, then years of suffering following the war, his noble rejection seems remarkable. Homer’s readers are forced to wonder, why does

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.

Loyalty to family, society and the gods is an important aspect in ancient Greek culture. This quality is often seen between characters throughout The Odysseyas specially loyalty between husband and wife. Loyalty could be defined based on The Odyssey to be devoted to someone, hoping their homecoming and victory. Again and again loyalty is seen in the complete fidelity in the time of uncertainty. Penelope waits tem long years for her husband to return from war and on the other hand Odysseus showing loyalty to Penelope refuses immortality to Kalypso and also refuses to marry Circe. When Suitors forces Penelope to marry, Penelope being clever executes a plan telling suitors, ’’Young man, my suitors now that the great Odysseus has perished, wait, though you are eager to marry me, until I finish this web, so that my weaving will not be useless and wasted. This is a shroud for the hero Laertes for when the destructive doom of death which lays men low shall take him, lest any Achaian woman in this neighborhood hold it against me(Book II 96-103)’’, like this Penelope would weave the web daytime and undo it at night. She continued to do this for three years so that she could avoid suitors proposal of marriage. Likewise when Odysseus was trapped on Kalypso’s island for seven years and he didn’t accept

Odysseus showed that he was loyal to his men just not by leaving them behind, but he revealed his true colors to notify his men that they cannot not ever give up even when things get difficult. He was known for his leadership skills; leaving home for so many years, to return back to his family. During Odysseus early life, he had the ability to solve problems as well as outwit his opponents. He promotes his own code of conduct through his exploits. Odysseus is more intense than Achilles, more pensive, but still is able to create explosive violence. Odysseus is all about being victorious; even when it was time for him to return back to his home.” A man who has been through bitter experiences and travelled far enjoys even his sufferings after a time” (Odyssey). This quote represents all of the misery that he came upon his excursion. He played a special role in Homer’s lliad; demonstrating his abilities to advise his followers so they can be independent.

Over the course of his journey, Odysseus encounters monsters, giants, a seductive enchantress, sojourn on a floating island and the underworld. During his twenty year absence from his wife, Penelope, she was sought after my many suitors, however she remained faithful and gained her own arête (Sayre, 118-119). This employs loyalty, one of the Odyssey’s major themes. Other themes of the Odyssey include fate and free will, pride, justice and pity.

Odysseus in the epic poetry The Odyssey, written by Homer, is trying to make his way home after the long and treacherous Trojan War, which he fought in. Odysseus throughout the book has gotten himself into many tricky situations, however Athena, the goddess of wisdom and military victory, has been beside him and aiding him through his journey home. Loyalty is an aspect of life, which Athena portrays throughout the entire epic poetry. Athena throughout the epic poem, The Odyssey, has shown her loyalty to Odysseus and his family in his journey to return home.