Thesis Statement Of Odysseus

Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus has the tendency to be a narcissistic, selfish and inconsiderate leader towards his men. When Odysseus and his men finally escaped certain death from the giant cyclops, Polyphemus, the not-so-heroic king of Ithaca shouted a taunt above the pleas of his aghast crew, towards the blinded cyclops. He yelled to the enraged cyclops,”If any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shame you so--say Odysseus(Homer IV. 558-560).” With this reproachful act of arrogance, Polyphemus, son of the wrathful Poseidon, cried out to his father, praying that Odysseus' travels be cursed and that he would return home a “broken man” and with “all shipmates lost(IV. 593).” This event shows how he is too unworthy

     Is Odysseus, the main character of Homer’s The Odyssey, really an epic hero? An epic hero embodies several heroic traits such as; having superior or super-human strength; being intellectual and courageous; and being a strong and responsible leader. An epic hero struggles and is overwhelmed with difficulties. An epic hero is on a quest of self discovery, war or some sort of goal. In the Odyssey, Odysseus is on a quest to return home to Ithaca after ten years of war in Troy. Odysseus, during his quest, is forced to venture through a merciless Cyclops, angered Gods, deeply obstinate Goddesses, the underworld, and determined suitors that are after his wife Penelope. Odysseus surmounts

Many think being a hero is having super powers, but on the contrary it's more than that. A hero is one who is distinguished for their courage and bravery, and looked upon for their great deeds. A hero like this is not just found in modern society today, but in mythology as well. In the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus earns the title of a true hero by conveying many qualities such as: determination, courage and leadership.

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.

Odysseus being one of the most flawed characters in the book struggled vigorously with his imperfections. Odysseus presented many flawed actions throughout the book conveying him as an arrogant and conceited individual. He demonstrated on many occasions his arrogant thoughts and actions and he did not seem to have any sort of remorse to his actions making his doings almost inhumane. One example of Odysseus arrogance is observed when he and his crew are escaping the firm and fatal grasp of Cyclops, the son of Poseidon, God of the Sea. They come up with a plan to get Cyclops intoxicated with the wine they had brought for their voyage before getting captured, after succeeding with the first half of their plan they set out to complete the second part; gouging out his eyes.

He was often displayed with heroic qualities, facing each obstacle head on with little fear. However Odysseus was flawed, with emotional constraints of a human he often took risks just to please his pride, this lead to disasters that could have been avoided. An example of this occurred after blinding Polyphemus, Odysseus and his crew paddled off to sea but Odysseus could not leave without taunting his victory. He yelled out to the Cyclops, which made it even angrier. Polyphemus took a mountaintop and hurled it at Odysseus and his crew, nearly beaching them. In response to this Odysseus yelled, “Cyclops, if a mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider if cities, took your eye: Laertes’ son, whose home’s on Ithaca!” (Page 13). Polyphemus then prayed to his father Poseidon dooming Odysseus to never be able to return home. Occasions like this showed Odysseus’s imperfections. But his bold fearless character was quite prevalent for an immense amount of the story. When talking to Polyphemus clever as he was he told him his name was nohbdy. As a result when the Cyclopes got stabbed in the eye he cried out, “nohbdy, nohbdy’s tricked me, nohbdy’s ruined me!” (Page 13) this did not alarm anyone to come and help him. By doing this Odysseus saved most of his crews lives and helped them return back to their ship safely, which showed a high amount of valor and also his

Like a true hero, Odysseus continuously emerges victorious from the dire situations he faces. In order to emerge victorious, one would need a well rounded plan to get them through their hardships. Odysseus shows that intelligence can be an effective application of strength used to gain an advantage over his opponents. Quick thinking is what saves his crew and permits Odysseus to prevail over challenges he faces, thus, being a hero. As the story continues, the traits of a hero being loyal carry throughout book ten. After the crew sails to Aeaea, home to the goddess Circe, Eurylochus’ group decides to enter Circe’s palace. Goddess Circe throws them a large feast causing the men to lose desire to return to their fatherland. As they continue to feast, the men become heavily drunk by Circe’s magic wine, turning them into pigs. Eurylochus witnesses this and runs to tell Odysseus and his group what happened. Odysseus reacts by rushing to Circe’s palace to save his crew. “Armed with the moly and Herme’s warning, Odysseus arrives at Circe’s palace. Circe gives Odysseus a magic drink, but it does not affect him and he threatens to kill her with his sword” (Homer,

Everyone is capable of being affectionate, positive, kind, and caring. But with those qualities comes pride, envy, greed, and wrath. The Odyssey is a myth formed about the absurd journey of the human, Odysseus. As a hero from the Trojan War, his mission was to bring his men back home after ten years of hardship. Little did he know, only half of his expedition was over. Odysseus faced off against the burly Laestrygonians, the atrocious Scylla, and the desperate Calypso. He had many peaks and valleys throughout his journey, solely caused by his positive and negative qualities as a leader. In the story of the “Odyssey,” the hero Odysseus embodies an ineffective and effective leader. Odysseus is strategic in navigating the obstacles he faces, however, he is selfish in his desires, and his ego prompts failure, which demonstrates to the reader the Greek

Odysseus’ relationship with his crew is close, because of everything that they have been through together. They bond further and further through all the difficult obstacles that stand in their way and which they eventually surmount. On their seemingly impossible

In literature, mankind is often seen as imperfect and flawed. From sacred texts like the Bible to classic books such as The Odyssey we can see the true flaws of humans. Specifically book twelve of The Odyssey shows the flawed nature of mankind and how it leads to mankind's downfall. Circe, the goddess that Odysseus encounters during his initially half hearted journey home, gives advice to Odysseus about the dangers ahead and what he should do in order to get past them. Despite the advice given to him by a goddess, Odysseus "cleared [his] mind of Circe's orders..." because they were "cramping [his] style..."

While he is trapped in the cave with the cyclops, he has to come up with a plan so he and his crew could escape. He tells his company,"/A man under each middle one to ride there safely, shielded left and right"(Homer 9.340). This takes an immense amount of bravery from Odysseus to tell his shipmates because he promised that they will all get out of the cave alive. Taking his huge risk might of have concluded in the death of his crew, but he and companions later on made it out harmless. When someone is audacious they are putting themselves at harm so they could protect others. When Odysseus and his crew are leaving the island, the cyclops is angered and yells. Odysseus loudly says,"/tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes's son whose home's on Ithaca"(9.418-419). Odysseus was extremely daring to say this because he now has given Polyphemus his true identity. Odysseus wants to tell the monster who stabbed him in the eye and that anyone who messes with his crew are going to be put into a bad shape. Odysseus displays the characteristics of an epic hero because he protects his crew while putting himself in harms making him very

However, this caused the Cyclops to have a better idea of their location as they were sailing away. Even after the crew members urged Odysseus to be quiet multiple times, Odysseus reveals his true name, his father’s name, and where he lives to Polyphemus. This information causes Polyphemus to cry out to his father, the god Poseidon, and plead for him to stop Odysseus’ journey home. Due to his lust for glory and honor, Odysseus and his crew may have suffered and died under Poseidon’s wrath. Fortuitously, Odysseus gained the admiration of Athena and she was able to interfere and help guide them safely

However, after this perilous and disgraceful encounter, Odysseus once more feels the need to strengthen his sense of pride by giving away his true name, his father’s name, and his homeland to Polyphemus. This is an incredibly poor decision for Odysseus considering that Polyphemus is the son of Poseidon, Odysseus’ archenemy. By doing this, Odysseus has insensibly endangered his crew, ship, and even family, which proves that he is a self-absorbed, problem-causing leader. After all, isn’t the job of a hero to protect and save his people, not jeopardize their safety? In addition, Odysseus once more shows his unbelieveable amount of pride when he blames the gods for “letting him fall asleep” on the island of Thrinacia. Instead of accepting his own fault, Odysseus puts the blame on the gods’ shoulders, proving not only that he is an irresponsible leader, but also that he views himself as too perfect to have done wrong. Only an egotistic, self-centered individual would do something this low. Finally, Odysseus’ weak sense of heroism is shown through his recurring unloyalty. Odysseus first shows

Odysseus gains the support of Athena, but does not seem to have Lady Luck by his side. Through a series of unfortunate events​, Odysseus demonstrates his cunning wits with simple twists that would avoid future consequences. Odysseus and his men found a cave where “wild goats in hundreds breed there; and no human being comes up the isle to startle them” (9.128­130). Polyphemus did not show hospitality and became hostile, devouring two of Odysseus’ men. When morning came, Odysseus and his crew manage to blind the cyclops, while he was intoxicated by the wine offered, with a wooden staff that was hardened by fire. Odysseus’ states himself as “Nobody,” and left the giant indignantly screaming, “Nohbdy, Nohbdy’s tricked me, Nohbdy’s ruined me” (9.444).

Zeus and Athena send Hermes to Kalypso’s island of Ogygia and tells her it is Zeus command that she free Odysseus by allowing him to build a raft and embark on a his journey home to Ithaka (lines 31-154). She unhappily agrees for fear of Zeus. In lines 168-180, Kalypso tells Odysseus that she will let him go, allow him to build a raft to sail across the great sea, and even provide him bread, water, wine, a seacloak and a wind to propel his raft. At first Odysseus does not believe her, thinking there is some trick, but she tells him “my heart is kind” (lines 181-202). Odysseus spends four days building a raft out of timber and sets off, much to Kalypso’s dismay, in line 272 on the fifth day. Whilst Odysseus is attempting to cross the water, Poseidon returns from his trip in the Sunburned land and is angered that the gods allowed Odysseus to leave the island (lines 292-300). Poseidon sends a great storm after Odysseus. It destroys his ship and nearly drowns him in lines 301-343. However the goddess Ino intervenes and gives him a veil to protect him from the raging storm in lines 350-368. Athena calms the winds in lines 399-401. He floats in the sea for several days before his prayers were answered and a river god allowed him to float through a river and come ashore to a forest in lines 474-519.