Characteristics Of Odysseus

Odysseus was an arrogant yet successful warrior during the Trojan War shipwrecked at sea due to him angering the gods with his arrogance and selfishness

Throughout the epic poem Odysseus displays the quality arrogance through the way he acts when dealing with difficult situations harm his men. For instance,

Odysseus was very arrogant when he and his men arrived at the Cyclops’ island. The Cyclops’ is a one eyed monster, son of Poseidon. Odysseus decided to stay at the Cyclops’ island and sack his cave. “There we built a fire, set our hands on the cheeses, offered some to the gods and ate the bulk ourselves”[The Odyssey:9.260-262] Odysseus was too arrogant at the Cyclops island because he thought he was above everyone, and did not listen to their inputs and suggestions. Instead of stealing a couple of sheep and wine to take with him on the ship, Odysseus raided into the Cyclops cave feasting on his cheese and drinking all of his wine. The Cyclops became mad and he started eating some of Odysseus’s men. After six of Odysseus’s men had died from the

At the beginning of the poem, the goddess Athena encourages Zeus, the king of the gods, to offer Odysseus special treatment. Zeus is more than amenable to reward Odysseus’ cleverness and commitment. After all, Odysseus did design the Trojan horse plan that led to the Greeks’ victory. The triumph was the precursor to all of the happenings of The Odyssey and a clear example of unconventional intelligence. Another illustration of his resourcefulness is his strategy to pierce Polyphemus’ eye while he is sleeping. Upon arousal the one-eyed monster asks who stabbed him and Odysseus replies cunningly that it is he or “Nobody” that did the evil deed. Polyphemus beseeches his friends to help him, “Nobody, friends. Nobody’s killing me now by fraud and not by force.” (BOOK9) This creates much confusion and little resolution for Polyphemus.

In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus' actions and decisions in books IX-XII has shown that even though he is extremely clever and courageous, the great tactician's selfishness and sense if hubris often stand in the way of his success. First of all, Odysseus is exceptionally brave, he has experienced more than any mortal man should and will never cower away from a challenge. For example, Odysseus led his men on a dangerous endeavor in blinding the Cyclops Polyphemus. Odysseus vividly recalls how the monster viciously killed two of his crew, "Then he [Polyphemus] dismembered them and made his meal / gaping and crunching like a mountain lion" (9.316-17). Realizing he would likely be killed, Odysseus rallied his crew and blinded the horrendous beast without fear.

In The Odyssey, Odysseus demonstrates the qualities of a poor leader because his arrogance and pride interferes with his judgement to make wise wisdoms, thus putting his entire crew in danger. When Odysseus and his crew escape the one-eyed cyclops, Polyphemus, Odysseus is overcome with triumph as he and his deceived the cyclops by securing themselves to the stomachs of the monster’s flock of sheep. His escape plan proved successful, and he then proceeded to untie his men from the grazing sheep, and make haste to their ship. Odysseus taunts Polyphemus as he and his crew begin to sail away. “You shameless cannibal (IX.534),” said Odysseus to the cyclops, who became filled with rage. Odysseus’s crew sense the will of Polyphemus to wreck havoc, and thus, ask

The epic, The Odyssey portrays Odysseus as a man of great respect and worth. Along with these great attributes, Odysseus is ill fated with the trait of arrogance, and brings death along with him wherever he goes, which conveys that his arrogance towards his men and his surroundings lead to the death of others. Homer uses Odysseus’s hubris to create a crestfallen mood, conveying that the arrogance of leaders will lead to the demise of others. Homer uses the incidents at the Cyclops Island to portray Odysseus as a man who puts himself above his men. Odysseus’ men were unwilling while they were trekking into the cyclops cave, but Odysseus “wishes to see the caveman.”

Homer uses Odysseus’ arrogance to emphasize that pride can lead to the start of one’s problems. When Odysseus and his crew are leaving the island of the Kyklôpes, Odysseus taunts Polyphemus by yelling, “Kyklops, if ever mortal man inquire/ how you were to shame and blinded, tell him/ Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye out:/ Laërtês’ son, whose home’s on Ithaka!”(9.548-552) The taunting tone in Odysseus' sentence shows how his arrogance led to pride, as he was arrogant in his belief

This is one of the biggest flaws of Odysseus because his self confidence drives him to failure. For example, he almost got his whole crew and ship destroyed in The Cyclops cave. Here’s text from the story about the Cyclops. “ O Cyclops! Would you feast on my companions?

In the epic poem, The Odyssey by Homer, the protagonist, Odysseus is trying to find his way home after winning the battle of troy. Along the way, the gods and nymphs attempt to help Odysseus but he often fails to take the advice of others. He acts arrogant, pompous, and as if he is on top of the world, meanwhile he is just creating more problems for himself like extending his journey to 20 years. Throughout his journey, Odysseus learns to accept help from others after making many mistakes that make his journey longer and more difficult.

Would you feast on my companions?... How do you like the beating we gave you, you damned cannibal?” (The Cyclops. 476). This demonstrates Odysseus being a dreadful leader because he puts his men into the danger of being killed by the Cyclops, and risking their lives by proudly boasting to Polyphemus after himself and the crew have already escaped.

Odysseus the great and powerful warrior, known in the great myth of Odysseus! I will explain how and why his character trait he most uses during his journey back home. But Odysseus’s character trait he best uses and most uses would be (Daring)! In this essay there will be text support that back up my claim and statement of Odysseus’s character trait is Daring!!!!

Hubris,we know in the odyssey that Odysseus has a strong hubris side to him. For example in the cyclops part of the odyssey Lines 430-435 “O Cyclops! Would you feast on my companions? Puny,am I,in a cave man’s hands?

Odysseus’s arrogance is shown throughout the poem, but it is clearly shown during his time with a cyclops named Polyphemus. When Odysseus and his men enter a dangerous cave because of their leader’s foolish curiosity and meets Polyphemus, Odysseus says “It was our luck to come here; here we stand,/ beholden for your help, or any gifts/ you give-as custom is to honor strangers,” (256-268). Here Odysseus is practically demanding that the cyclops treat him and his men with courtesy just because he is a guest. His arrogance and pride makes them stay with the dangerous cyclops even though they had a perfect chance for escaping from cyclops at the very beginning before the conversation even started. If only they quickly left with some cheese or nothing at all, Odysseus wouldn’t have lost so many men. Because of Odysseus’s arrogance, six of his men were eaten by the cyclops. Another example when Odysseus arrogance is shown was just

When Odysseus arrives at the island of the Cyclops, his first mistake occurs when he decides that he and men should stay in the cave and meet Polyphemus, even when his men advised him to take the goods and leave (IX.215-217). At this instance, Odysseus’s decision is influenced by his ego. He sees all the goods in the cave and the reason he stays is because he hopes that the Cyclops would give him a gift of hospitality. This is interesting because Odysseus does not know whether the Cyclops is civilized or a brute; however, Odysseus goes forward with his plan because he believes the Cyclops will listen to him since the gods are on his side. In this instance, Odysseus is calling himself powerful because he has the support of the gods especially Zeus, when he threatens the Cyclops that “Zeus avenges strangers and suppliants” (IX. 262). If his ego was not already high, Odysseus boosts it even more when he believes that he has outsmarted the Cyclops by not falling into the trap of telling the location of his ships (IX.273-277). At this point, Odysseus