Examples Of Perseverance In The Odyssey

Surely, Odysseus rule his fair portion of negative qualities. He has been full of pride and minuscule/short bold and obnoxious. The question is whether Odysseus has shown vigor and perseverance on his peregrination? Odysseus has been on a ten year journey endeavoring to return to his hometown Ithaca, and to his faithful and allegiant wife Penelope, and only son Telemachus. In order to make it home Odysseus will have to endure nature, monsters, perfidious terrain, and the gods.

To illustrate, it seems like Odysseus never gets tired and is always working hard to return home, which is the whole goal of the journey. The other sailors get exhausted and tell him, “Are you flesh and blood, Odysseus, to endure more than a man can? Do you ever tire? God, look at you, iron is what you’re made of.” (12. 162-164). This shows that Odysseus will not stop trying until he makes it back home. This proves his strength and will to work and fulfill his journey. He works double the amount the sailors do. This also shows that Odysseus has high hopes of making it back to Ithaca. He wants to keep trying and keep going to reunite with his son, wife, and home, he believes strongly he will make it back. In addition, Odysseus has strong faith in the gods and prays to them often for guidance and help. In book 12, it states, “so one day I withdrew to the interior to pray the gods in solitude, for the hope that one might show me some way of salvation” (230-232). This shows that Odysseus keeps his strong hopes and faith in the gods. He is asking for guidance and salvation proving that he needs the gods’ help and guidance to fulfill and complete his journey. This also shows that Odysseus knows that the only way to complete the journey is to have hope and faith in the gods. This furthermore proves that Odysseus is a hard worker when it comes to making it back to Ithaca because he knows he has the gods support. Odysseus’s hard work, high hopes, strong faith,

Despite all the obstacles that Odysseus went through he never gave up on trying to get home to his wife and son. In the poem Odysseus rides away from the Cyclopes under the belly of a sheep. “...then slung a man under each middle

When Odysseus returns home, he perseveres and stays focused on his goal of gaining back his

Odysseus’ bravery and determination is shown clearly in book 12 of The Odyssey when he and his crew of sailors are forced to sail through monsters such as sirens, where he orders his crew to continue sailing with him tied to the mast of his ship so he would not be tempted by the siren's singing. Later in this chapter, he and his crew came across the six headed monster scylla, where he had to make the decision to tell his crew about the prophecy he was told, or not tell them. If he had not told them, he would have lost 6 of his sailors so that he and the rest of them could get home to their families and so that Odysseus could save Telemachus and Penelope from the suitors. Odysseus truly showed what it meant to be a hero. He was willing to risk life and death to make sure he and his crew could make it home.

Throughout the many traits Odysseus has, his bravery is the most outstanding. Odysseus shows his bravery in the quote, “We lit a fire, burnt an offering, and took some cheese to eat, then sat in silence around the embers, waiting.” (Homer page 760 lines: 219-221) Odysseus was waiting for the cyclops. His bravery was shown when he broke into the cyclops home, took the cyclops food, and sat there and waited for him. Usually when you break into someone's home you do not give them an offering and take their stuff for them to find. In the next quote Odysseus shows even more bravery to go home and not fear the consequences if someone recognizes him. “... Odysseus, in his beggar disguise, finds his way to the heat of Eumclaus, his old and trusty swineherd.” (Homer page

This specific statement highlights his strength and refusal to submit to anything less than victory. In addition to his spirit, he was significantly clever especially in his notable confrontation with the monster, Cyclops. He escaped from Cyclops’ stronghold by using available resources and a creative idea to intoxicate and subdue him. Subsequently, he was forced to travel along “rough, deadly winds on the fish-infested sea” and “land of the Lotus-eaters” (Homer, 173). Odysseus was truly “never at a loss” or backed in a corner for a prolonged time (Homer, 157). It was his responses to consecutive strenuous experiences that enabled his comrades to respect, admire, and trust him. Odysseus was the ultimate standard due to optimistic disposition during harsh times.

Odysseus was warned of the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis. When he approaches the Sirens, he has his men tie him to the mass so he will not be lured to their tempting singing. When he reaches the location of the deadly whirlpool, Charybdis, and the concealed deadly trap across from Charybdis, Scylla: a six headed monster that catches men in her mouth and eats them; Odysseus sacrifices a few of his men for the majority of the other men. He sacrifices for the better good. Hiding his knowledge of these obstacles and sacrificing his men, takes a full amount of determination for his objective to get home; it shows his vast amount of unconditional willingness and sacrifice. Perseverance takes time and sacrifice. His time and knowledge lead him through another dangerous obstacle.

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.

Another trait that Odysseus demonstrates repeatedly throughout the story is his loyalty. In various situations he never gives up on his crew, even when he has reason to. During an episode in the epic, Odysseus travels to the underworld to receive a prophecy. He meets his great friend Elpenor, who has died earlier in Circe’s hall. Because he is unburied and unmourned he asks Odysseus to build a cairn in his honor. Odysseus replies, “Unhappy spirit, / I promise you the barrow and the burial.” (Homer, lines 609-610). Although Odysseus is preoccupied with finding Tiresias, he shows loyalty to his crew mate by spending time with his spirit, and carrying out the spirit’s request. It could have been easy for Odysseus to ignore the spirit of Elpenor, but Odysseus shows a real emotional reply to this meeting. Not only does he show loyalty to his crew but his homeland as well. Although he could have given up during the ten year span Odysseus wandered from home, he persisted even though giving up would have been easier. At one point Odysseus is detained by the enchantress, Circe, but remains determined to reach home:

He did everything important and risky to continue his journey and to fulfil his crew. For example, he got the information about the voyage he and his crew had to take, “Listen with care to this, now, the Seirenes will sing his mind away, ahead are beetling rocks…”(Book 11, line 46), and tried his best to make his crew survive. In addition, In Helios’s Island, Odysseus warned his crews not to eat the cattle, because if they eat these cattle, which belongs to Helios, he will get mad and try to kill his crew. For evidence, “No sooner had I caught sight of our black hull, grief took hold of me… O cruel drowsing, in the evil hour!” (Book 11, line 471)

Odysseus was known for his many of his mental traits, but his most useful ones were his bravery cleverness, and wisdom. Without these helpful traits he probably would have died from the very beginning. Fortunately, he was granted with these traits so that he could come back to his kingdom of Ithaca to see his wife and son for the first time in twenty years and to also kill the suitors that tried to kill his son and take his wife, land, and possessions from him.

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.

In The Odyssey, Odysseus portrays an important trait to the story, perseverance. His perseverance really stands out as something that he has and always will have. On his long journey home, he never gives up and just stays where he is, no matter how tempting. He always manages to push through and keep getting closer to his goal of returning home. An example of when he does this is when he is faced with the challenge of getting past Skylla and Kharybdis. He knows that either path will kill at least some of his men and possibly him, but he knows he has to keep going. "And all this time,/ in travail,

Odysseus heroic qualities are strength, courage, dignity, a thirst for glory, and self-confidence. He also shrewd and ingenious, all of which make him the ideal hero in both the physical form and the spiritual aspect. Odysseus being faithful and loyal to his wife shows his dignity. Even though he has been away from his home and family for twenty years his only thoughts are with them. He overcomes all the extreme dangers he encounters showing his strength and courage. His shrewdness and intelligence shows when he, the King of Ithaca, is disguised as a beggar before Telemakhos.