Was Odysseus Not Justified Essay

When people think of a hero, they think of a tall, handsome, loyal, brave, and a type of man that could do no wrong. The “hero” that is portrayed in the Odyssey is a man named Odysseus. This “hero” may be tall and handsome, but he is often arrogant, disrespectful, conceited, and rude. Odysseus consists of positive and negative characteristics that is shown in the text by Homer. These characteristics impact the characters day to day, or in the book’s case, the quests. In the Odyssey, Homer values the characteristics hospitality and cunning, but he objects bad leadership.

The suitors that swarm Odysseys ' house in the hopes that they may acquire her hand in marriage. They are a rowdy, arrogant, and decidedly unpleasant bunch, made only worse by their complete lack of concern for Odysseus and his household. But their incessant pursuit of their prize, though what ultimately condemns them, is, by the context already noted, justified. Though they are the primary antagonists in the story, and they certainly suffer the harshest fate (perhaps except for the sailors), amongst their ranks were some perfect decent, well-natured men. It is simply a natural response (in the context of this culture) for a man, Odysseus in this case, to take revenge upon men, whether they be justified in their actions or not or whether they are well-natured or not, who threaten the stability of his household. This is despite the fact that he himself has been the aggressor at many times. Had he been killed in that pursuit, it would have only been considered natural, and so it is natural that the suitors were killed in theirs. The suitors thought, through a successful marriage to a beautiful woman from a wealthy family, they would be able to further their household in terms of success. A notion that, in the world Homer portrays, is not entirely fanciful.

In homer's Odyssey the main character Odysseus is a person who only tries to help himself. Although he earns the trust of his men while in Troy, he loses it on his perilous journey home. Many times in the epic he manipulates others, commits foolish acts and is full of hubris. He tries to take shortcuts and as a result of this is men are killed and his boats destroyed. He plays with the lives of his men and he is punished for it. Odysseus is not a hero because, he is foolish, lacks faithfulness and is consumed by his Hubris and selfishness.

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.

The narration of this chapter is full of powerful words describing him as the master of craft and battle, which is very similar to the way his legacy would describe him. At one point he calls upon the God Apollo to give him glory. This is very interesting because he is the God of archery, and his arrows are a metaphor for death and misery. Odysseus is brimming with pride, and vengeance, and seems to have forgotten his lessons, because these are the vices that brought him and his men misery during their time at sea. The targets that he speaks of, is of course the suitors he aims to kill, but as well it is the reclaiming of his power, his kingdom, his wife, or in other words his life.

Another case of his pride blinding Odysseus had no leadership or control over his men: “Temptation had its way with my companions, and they untied the bag.” (Book X, lines 52-53). Odysseus could not control his men, and this caused the whole ship to be blown back to Aiolia. Also as a result of his pride, Odysseus loses the entire Ithacan fleet. His hubris blinds his sense of judgment and as a result, kills two generations of Ithacans. His ego and selfishness makes him lose all of his men, and makes him an antihero.

Odysseus had many reason to make revenge on all the wooers who had tried to steal his thrown from him. Not only did they try to steal his throw, but also they disrespected his wife and son on multiple occasions. Although, that did not make any of his actions justified. In a few instances the punishment was too severe, and they did not deserve it.

When Odysseus and his men behaved in a “reckless” (12. 325) ways, both times they were attacked by those who they had abused and the allies of the abused. The Odyssey, however, doesn’t suggest a theme that says that those who act cruelly to the land and people of the land. When Odysseus raid, rape, and kill the land and the peoples of Thrace, the island of the Cicones, it is portrayed as a positive thing, with no man going without “his fair share of spoils” (9. 49). The Odyssey instead shows a theme that discourages greedy behaviors. It is only when Odysseus and his men stay too long on Thrace and slaughtered too many livestock, and slaughter Helios’s cattle on Thrinacia, instead of just enjoying the rest that the land offered, that Odysseus and his shipmates are sought after and slain. Odysseus knows, too, about the negative repercussions of taking too much and resting too long. He knows the truth that raiding and killing is not bad, but that doing too much of either is shameful and deserves

In the Odyssey, Odysseus’s crew believed and trusted him with their lives, but Odysseus did not tell them of the last prophecy. “The Ithacans set of. Odysseus does not tell his men of Circe’s last prophecy-that he will be the only survivor of their long journey.” (Homer 3:1066). Wiesel gives the example of how no man is perfect all the time. This is shown many times in the Odyssey. When Odysseus slays the Cyclops’s eye he boast and teases the Cyclops. Even after his men beg him to stop patronizing the Cyclops, Odysseus continues. “Cyclops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes’ son, whose home’s on Ithaca” (Homer 3:1057). In my third paragraph, Jason Shen talks about how our heroes are just like us. Our heroes make mistakes and experience emotions. Odysseus gave in to humanly emotion when he decided to stay with the beautiful goddess Calypso. Odysseus didn’t fight back because he was discouraged. “The old soldier is in despair: He has spent ten years (seven of them as Calypso’s not entirely unwilling captive) trying to get home” (Homer 3:1038). Jason believes our heroes are just normal people who happen to find themselves leading influential lives. “Salt tears rose from the wells of longing in both men, and cries burst from both…” (Homer 3:1083). At this moment, Odysseus has just been reunited

I think that Odysseus' actions were justified because of the actions of the wooers. Without any conformation of him being dead, they first tried to woo his wife. That is very disrespectful and angered Odysseus greatly. Also, the suitors show no respect for his house and belongings. They overtake his house without even thinking about the man of the house, which is disrespectful.

There are many times in The Odyssey where Odysseus’ actions are questionable whether they were justified or unjustified. When Odysseus’ saw the way the suitors were treating the women, how they were stealing Odysseus’ things, and eating all of his food which made him mad. Odysseus’ proceeds to get the cowherder and swineherder to help him and Telemachus to take the suitors down. After Odysseus’ returns his actions towards those in his palace were justified when, especially when he killed Antinous and Melanthius.

Odysseus believed he was in the right when killing the suitors “You dogs! You never imagined I'd return from Troy- so cocksure that you bled my house to death, ravished my serving-women- wooed my wife behind my back while I was still alive!” (Homer 22: 37-40). Odysseus was dead set on killing the suitors since the beginning. He even told them “. . . all your necks are in the noose-your doom is sealed” (22: 43), illustrating how he would kill them as to avenge his wife and his honor. In doing so he was perceived as a hero by the most prevalent male figures in Ithaca, displaying an excellent example of Kleos, “fame through having great honor and virtue. Earned pride.”

In the book the "Odyssey" the main character "Odysseus" finally is able to return home from his long journey. Everything was back to normal in his life for a split second, until he saw his house and land up close for himself. He discovers that everything he ever owned or loved has been trashed and cruelly abused by the "wooers". Yes, "Odysseus" had the right to murder each one of the "wooers".

During his journey Odysseus used what he has learned from is mistakes to return home and kill the suitors of his wife. On the island of Cicones,and with his encounter with Polyphemus, Odysseus learned that bragging can bring great misfortune. On Ithaca Odysseus never brags to the suitors and is able to enter his house with the Antinous and the other suitors knowing his real identity. He takes the punishment of Antinous and the other suitors without saying a word and is able to see those who have invaded his house. Odysseus is able to see who is loyal and who is not and take his revenge with the suitors never knowing who

One of the biggest traits Odysseus shows throughout the story is his bravery. The whole story Odysseus shows his courage. Taking every mission knowing there could be death; Odysseus still did not give up. Odysseus did whatever it took to make back to Ithaca for his wife and son. Odysseus showed courage by outsmarting the Cyclops. Odysseus went to the land of the dead just to bury a dead shipmate with no fear. But Odysseus showed his every bit of bravery when planning and fighting against the suitors. Odysseus set up plans to kill all the suitors with only 3 people with him. Odysseus refused to back down from the suitors so when the time came he was prepared. When all the suitors were killed Odysseus and his family had finally reunited. After 20 years of Odysseus bravery had all paid off. That’s why I think Odysseus shows he has lots of bravery throughout the story.