Examples Of Cruelty In The Odyssey

“It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward”– Rocky Balboa. Pain and suffering are often thought of as things to avoid, but maybe we should think about it differently. Is suffering bad for you, or is it an opportunity to develop an extraordinary life? Every hero, real and fictional, went through adversity to get there. We want to see someone who struggles like us or has their cause forced upon them. Someone who is down, but manages to stand up and keep fighting. Even Superman, struggled with love and emotion. He struggled with being an outsider despite being physically perfect. That's what gives Superman depth as a character. And if Batman, was just a crime fighting

By the time Odysseus and him men arrive at Aeolia, Odysseus has learned a few manners and is respectful to Aeolus. As Odysseus prepares to leave, Aeolus gives a bag of winds to Odysseus to aid him on his journey. Odysseus becomes greedy and does not want to tell his men what is in the bag. As a result Odysseus' men believe they are being cheated out of what they deserve: " `Just see what booty, splendid spoils, he carries back from Troy, while we, who toiled beside him, must return with empty hands' " (192). Out of jealousy, the men open the bag of winds, causing the ship to go back to Aeolia, thus lengthening their journey. Odysseus realizes he must treat his men more equally.

In the section, “Lotus Eaters”, the Lotus Eaters are a peaceful group of people; however, the threat lies within their intent to keep Odysseus and his men from wanting to return home after feeding them hallucinogenic lotus flowers.

Odysseus’ support to his crew through every situation and hardship, throughout The Odyssey, is one main sign that the Ancient Greeks valued loyalty. In the Lotus Eaters, Odysseus, “...drove them, all three wailing, to the ships, / tied them down under their rowing benches / and called the rest…”(9.48-50). Through this difficult situation, Odysseus is shown supporting his crew as their leader and keeping them on the right path by taking control of those who were possessed by the magic of Lotus plants. When his crew members struggled to stay on course, Odysseus was able to take responsibility by supporting and guiding them. Another event that showed this is Odysseus and his crew’s encounter with the sirens. According to the text, "Going forward / I carried wax along the line, and laid it / thick on their ears." (12.115-17). Here, Odysseus shows his support to his crew by contributing to protecting them from being hypnotized by the tempting sounds of the sirens by preparing wax to plug their ears with. Again, Odysseus and his crew know they will face the challenge of staying on course, and Odysseus takes these actions to support them and secure their safety. Odysseus’ support in both situations that put him and his crew in danger, reveal the Greeks’ value of

In the epic the odyssey written by homer the theme of reciprocity clearly affects the characters of the odyssey.reciprocity clearly affect the characters odysseus, his men and antinous

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

In the Odyssey by Homer, the author changes cruelty and kindness in order to reveal his message to not use more brute force than needed to his Ancient Greek audience. Cruelty and kindness develops from the cyclops episode where Odysseus and his crew stab the cyclops in the eye after he was a awful host, also in the land of the dead episode Teiresias gives Odysseus advice for him finding himself, in the meeting of father and son episode Odysseus dresses as a beggar to visit his kingdom he finally appears himself to be Odysseus to his son Telemachus they hug and cry even though emotions are not shown continually throughout the story.

When Odysseus is introduced to the malicious Cyclops, Odysseus quickly learns Cyclops negative outlook toward strangers. While Odysseus pleads for the Cyclops acceptance by stating "we're at your knees in hopes of a warm welcome, even a guest-gift, the sort that hosts give strangers", The Cyclops ruthlessly responded after Odysseus claimed his identity as a nobody, "Nobody? I'll eat Nobody last of all his friends- I'll eat the others first! That's my gift to you!" (Homer 219-220, 223). The Cyclops appears to have no difficulty in expressing negative hospitality while he states, "we Cyclops never blink at Zeus and Zeus's shield of storm and thunder, or any other blessed God- we've got more force by far" (Homer 220). Although, Odysseus experienced unpleasant hospitality within his journey, he was also lucky to find townspeople and their kings that accepted strangers with a positive outlook.

Another example of The Odyssey showing the value of hospitality is in chapter 2 after Odysseus’ men stab the Cyclops's eye and the Cyclops states, “It is Nobody!... Nobody is trying to kill me!” This response shows that because the Cyclops wasn’t a good host, he got blinded and could not tell the others what happened. Since Odysseus told the Cyclops his name was nobody, none of the other Cyclopses understood him. Both of the examples show how these values were very prominent back then.

The eight Greek Evil thoughts were a set of guidlines for the ancient greeks to follow. These guidelines helped the ancient greeks a better life. In The Odyssey, Odyssesus and his crew come to an island of cyclops an they stole food. Polythemus a gaint they met got mad then, ate two of his crew members and then, Odyssesus got him drunk and poked his eye. Odyssesus demonstrates some of the Greek evil thoughts. Philargryia is when someone is greedy or doing whatever it takes to get something, greed leads restlesses because when someone is greedy it’s caused by. Odysseus describes, “We lit a fire, burnt an offering, and took some cheese to eat; then sat in silence around the embers, waiting,” (The Cyclops. [219). This reveals Philargyria which is greed.

The Odyssey gives a great outlook on how a person can develop through time as well as how one’s actions can cause the trouble later and lead to unfortunate circumstances. In the book, there are several cases when Hubris, an excessive pride and arrogance as characteristic of a particular, is shown by different figures. Consequently, this is often followed by Nemesis, as justice has to be determined by the gods for the actions taken to maintain a heroic status, most of the time in form of a punishment. In “The Odyssey” by Homer, Hubris is exhibited by the main character and hero, Odysseus, in the Ancient Greek world, who proves it by his self-confidence in his adventures. Homer uses inter alia alliterations, similes, concrete details, and vivid imagery throughout the

The Cyclops says to the Cyclopes: “Nohbdy’s tricked me, Nohbdy’s ruined me.” The Cyclopes reply: “Ah well, if nobody has played you foul there in your lonely bed, we are no use in pain given by the great Zeus.” Odysseus’ cleverness helped him evade the fate that would have befallen him if the other Cyclopes caught him. One more leadership quality possessed by Odysseus is wisdom. Odysseus’ wisdom is displayed when Odysseus conquers the town of Ismarus. Odysseus says: “I told them ‘Back, and quickly!

The Odyssey is an epic poem about a man named Odysseus who is trying to get home from battling in the Trojan War 10 years ago. On his way home, he battles mythical creatures and faces the wrath of the gods. Meanwhile, in Ithaca, his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus try and outsmart suitors who want Penelope's hand in marriage. Eventually, Odysseus gets home and fights off the suitors and his family lives happily ever after. Throughout the journey, Odysseus experiences a lot of different kinds of hospitality. Odysseus experiences good hospitality with Nausicaa, but he had some bad hospitality with the Cyclopes. Odysseus showed hospitality as well when he brought food and wine to the Cyclopes.

The general question was, what does ancient Greek culture value? A way of interpreting this is, what is the most valued trait in Greek culture based upon the reading. Respect sees to be the most general of all traits. All of these events have shown respect toward the gods. When Odysseus had to fight the Cyclops and the suitors is all out of consideration for the gods and their values towards the people. Since Odysseus is thankful and is being respectful the gods give him help in return, a little role change. Odysseus also helps the gods by telling a person or people the rules of being a good host for new

Shortly after escaping the Cicones, the men are presented with another temptation, but their folly blinds them to the consequences of trying to escape from their present worries. Odysseus’ shipmates, unable to resist the temptation, ate the lotus and as a result forget about their journey home where their loved ones and community are waiting for them. They are tempted by the idea that they could stay there forever and never return home. Much like drug users, the Lotus-eaters and anyone who shared in their activity forgot their troubles and earthly concerns for the time being. As the men “grazed on lotus” their “memory of the journey home dissolved forever” (Od.9.109-10). The real temptation was the ability to detach from the world and forget their worries. Ultimately, if they had stayed, not only would life become a