Use of Disguise in Homer’s Odyssey Essay

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 Homer's epic The Odyssey, Odysseus returns to the island of Ithaka disguised as a beggar. He reveals his real identity to his son, Telemakhos, as well as a few others who he would need to help kill the suitors. However, Odysseus does not reveal himself to his wife, Penelope. She recognizes the beggar as her long lost husband and chooses not to unveil his true identity. Penelope does this because she realized that her husband would be in danger, in his current surroundings, if she was to reveal who he really was. Therefore she acts as if she does not know the beggar is Odysseus. However, it is portrayed subtly in the book that she does indeed know that the beggar is her husband.

Deception is defined as a crafty procedure or practice meant to deceive or defraud. People tend to view this as a sinister action. No matter how sinister it can be, it can also be utilized to gain information and knowledge. How a person uses deception varies among different people. Generally, the more clever people tend to utilize deception very efficiently. Odysseus masters deception in the Odyssey by disguising himself. Odysseus isn't alone for Athena also uses disguises. With that being said, disguises allow Odysseus to succeed in killing the suitors.

Whether Odysseus is exaggerating a certain scene or characteristic of himself as to come off more strong and hero-like, or Odysseus is leaving out information that adds to the understanding of the story, the story that is told and how it is perceived by the audience depends on and is directly correlated to the situation Odysseus or another character is currently in, who his audience is, and what is it that he wants from the audience. For instance, when telling his story to the Phaecians, Craig Russell claims that “Odysseus’s concern would have been not what “really happened” in the past, but rather what is most beneficial in his present”. Odysseus was focusing on evoking certain emotions and impactful pathos upon his audience in this situation, so that the Phaecian’s might have sympathy for him, feel in awe of him and trust him. Therefore, Odysseus uses storytelling based on the situation

Storytelling has been used to teach moral lessons to adults and even young children and the storytelling done by Odysseus is no different. In Odysseus’ first obstacle, versus the Cyclops, Odysseus shows

5. 168-169). Odysseus is depressed because he wants to return to his home in Ithaca and see his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, after fighting in the Trojan War. He feels as if his life is transitioning from sweet to bitter. Homer uses imagery to show how Odysseus is crying for his homeland, Ithaca. It creates a depressing mood for the reader because all Odysseus wants is to see his family and return home after a tiresome war, but has failed. The metaphor of Achilles’ sweet life flowing away demonstrates how his lamentations are characterizing him as homesick and how he might not make it through his journey. Achilles struggles with not having a prize while Agamemnon struggles with not sleeping in his own bed for an extensive time. The difference between the internal conflicts is that Achilles cannot fight in war because Briseis is not with him while Odysseus cannot return home and reunite with his family after fighting in the war. Although they both have concerns for their loved ones, Achilles and Odysseus must set them aside and fight their enemies first.

My name is Nohbdy'"("The Cyclops" lines 312-315). Odysseus' astuteness is apparent in this situation because he refused to reveal his identity to Polyphemus while he was vulnerable. His decision prevented the other Cyclops from coming to aid of Polyphemus. By precluding this beforehand, he demonstrated his heroic quality of wiliness. The ingenuity established by these actions personifies Odysseus as a hero.

Homer presents this clearly in the following instances: Helen's description of Odysseus disguising himself to enter into the city of Troy and in doing so gaining information that would allow him to destroy his mortal enemies, a trademark ploy that he also uses when returning to his homeland of Ithaca to infiltrate the rank of suitors; additionally in the sequence with the Cyclops in which Odysseus eludes danger by taking on the guise of "Noman" or one without a "name".

     The characters' use of disguises in Homer's Odyssey is a crucial element that helps to catalyze the victory of good over evil.  Each disguise is unique, created for a specific purpose.  Before she talks to Telemachos, Athena disguises herself as a wise old man in order to ensure that her words carry weight and are taken seriously.  She knows that she must assist and encourage Telemachos into searching for his long lost father without revealing her divine nature, so she assumes the guise of Mentor because men were generally given more credibility in those days.  In a similar vein, Odysseus disguises himself as a homeless man in order to exude anonymity so that he can safely return to Ithaka where he

Homer, the author of Odysseus, took several aspects of Greek heroes and human personalities to create Odysseus. He gives Odysseus particular characteristics, like a scar, to characteristics we associate with individuals, like laughing and crying. Homer does to make it seem like Odysseus is a real person, but is a

Book 19 of the epic poem The Odyssey is written by the great poet Homer. Homer’s specific use of language and epic conventions help develop the plot, specifically Odysseus’ disguise and whether or not it will work on the people in the house. It also helps to establish Eurycleia, the nurse, and the suitors as well as Penelope. In the passage, Odysseus has entered his home for the first time since his return when he left almost twenty years ago. Disguised as a beggar, Odysseus tells his own story through the beggar’s words to his wife, Penelope, but never reveals his true identity. After Penelope is deeply moved by the knowledge that her husband is still alive, she offers the stranger a place to sleep and new clothing. Odysseus kindly declines

Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey follows Odysseus on his long journey home. The Epic also includes the stories of Odysseus’ family left behind: the travels of his son, Telemachus, and how plenty, of what we would now call “home wreckers”, suitors pressured his wife, Penelope, into marrying one of them. The characters are beautifully crafted and the story is truly epic. All the elements presented can bring in any reader from any century, the Cyclops, the Gods, the trickery of Penelope, and the disguises of Odysseus, are all legendary literary hooks . There are many things to learn—about writing, about the world around us, the world ahead of us, and the past behind us—from The Odyssey. (26) It is undeniably evident that this ancient text has

Many people believe that we live in a parallel with someone else, a person that we will inevitably never meet. But of course, there’s no so such thing as ‘never’, so there’s a chance the stories will meet. They might intertwine themselves together, such as in The Odyssey. This whole concept is so perfectly stated by Bruce Catton, “And there is a headlight, shining far down the track, glinting off the steel rails that, like all parallel lines, will meet in infinity, which is after all where this train is going”. This quote is powerful, the lines will never meet, until they do. The two lines can be on the same track, going the same speed, to the same place and not know about the other until they meet. The story of Odysseus and Agamemnon has striking similarities, not meeting until one point, where the stories barely brush up against each other. But that small window of meeting shows an entire other story which has already been told, with a different set of names, places and problems. Homer created these character parallels as a way to explain things, to say things twice, to really help us understand.

One last lesson Odysseus and I have both learned is how tricks can sometimes be successful, yet sometimes they can fail. When sly, cunning Odysseus built the wooden horse to send to Troy as a “surrendering” gift, the Greek who said it was an offering to Troy was convincing enough to bribe the soldiers into bringing the horse inside the walls of Troy. Then, Odysseus and his men snuck out of the horse in the night, defeated the Trojan army, and were finally

As he gets the Cyclops drunk he then says his name is nobody. He then pierces the spear through the sleeping Cyclops’s eye, blinding the giant beast. The Cyclops then tells everyone that nobody blinded his eye. Nobody is actually Odysseus who is king of Ithaca who can be very smart and cunning in the story. The author of this story is a man named Homer. Homer cannot be proven the author of this book because there is no proof he ever existed. Odysseus king of Ithaca set sail with his crew to fight at Troy, but Odysseus and his crew run into some problems returning to Ithaca. Odysseus’s character in the story shows he is very cunning, he is very cocky, and he is very brave.