The Odyssey is one of the many ancient Greek literal master pieces written by Homer. Not much is known about Homer, but from the looks of it, he was probably an accomplished author. The Odyssey is centered on one man, Odysseus. Odysseus has the defining character traits of any hero/antagonist in any story: strength, courage, authority, confidence, but the most distinguishable of all his character traits was his Wit and quick thinking as we shall see later on. Although the Odyssey doesn’t really have an antagonist, I think Odysseus was his own antagonist. He was the main problem for his delay in returning to his homeland and to his family. It is also worth pointing out that Odysseus is highly favored by the gods and they play a big role in …show more content…
From the way Homer tells the story, it seems like Odysseus wants to get home, but he is in no rush to do so. First when he landed on the island of Aiolia, he spent over a month there telling tales about the Trojan War. Personally I think if he was serious about getting home, he wouldn’t have spent that much time in one place. Plus, who even spends a whole month just telling stories? Another place where he spent a lot of time was on Calypso’s island. Even though she held him captive for seven years, he liked the fact that he made love to her every night. As we have seen on many occasions, Odysseus is a witty guy and if he wanted to get out of the island, he would have, but instead, he spends his whole day crying at the beach. But because the gods favor him, Athena goes to Zeus on his behalf and finally Calypso frees him. Another instance was when he encountered Circe, the sorceress. After she turned his friends into pigs, Odysseus comes to rescue them. Hermes, messenger of the gods, helps Odysseus from falling victim of Circe’s tricks by giving him a magical herb called “Moly.” He uses this herb to prevent Circe from turning him into a pig like she did with all his other companions. When he bypassed Circe’s trick, she offers him her body and invites him to stay at her palace a little longer and also to …show more content…
He was the type of man who thought he always was right and always wanted to do things his own way (which is why I refer to him as stubborn). We saw this in his encounter with the Cyclops when his men advised him to take some of the cheeses and cattle and leave. All in all, I think Odysseus was acting against himself. His greed, pride and stubbornness made him encounter all the problems and the hardships he faced on his journey back
husbands and wives, fathers and their children, mothers and sons) Penelope had been waiting for Odysseus for a long time and he was Circe’s lover for a year o Role of the gods in the lives of mortals Zeus sends a storm Odysseus’ way Hermes tells Odysseus to eat an herb called moly to protect himself from Circe’s drugs. Books 13-24: Odysseus’ Return Arête o Book 15 Telemakhos shows arête when he welcomes Theoclymenus and offers him hospitality once they reach Ithaca. Euamaeus shows arête when he invite Odysseus to stay for longer when Odysseus tests his hospitality.
Throughout the book the odyssey Odysseus the main character makes mistakes and has character flaws that make his journey home a little longer and gruesome. The two character flaws that I think affect him the most are Pride and Unfaithfulness. They are flaws because throughout the book there are different situations and trials Odysseus goes through on his was back to Ithaca. An example of him showing prideness is when they go to island where the giant cyclopes lives. he displays his pride when wanting to claim a guest-gift from the Cyclops. He tells the cyclopes he will tell his name to him if he receives a guest gift. As well as wanting some hospitality from the giant cyclops. Him and his men could have just left or stolen the cheese inside
Odyssesus had the choice to remain a faithful husband but instead choose to commit adultery. Odysseus has been trapped on the island of Ogygia for many years and is just informed he needs to prepare for his trip back home. Calypso, the woman who he has been cheating on Penelope with, is trying to convince Odysseus to stay and not leave her, but it is Odysseus “never-fading ache in [his] heart” (52) to return to Penelope. Odysseus talks about Penelope as if she is the only woman for him, but when faced with temptation Odysseus can not withhold and gives
He has loyalty, bravery, and courage. In The Odyssey, Odysseus is very loyal toward his men and will protect or rescue them if necessary. He’s brave and courageous when it comes to fighting and won’t hesitate to act. He’s also very clever. For example, Odysseus outwitted the Cyclops, Polyphemus, by giving a false name to disguise his identity. Amid all these qualities, there are still kinks in Odysseus’s character. His pride becomes evident after his confrontation with the Cyclops, where, after a narrow escape, he wished to bother Polyphemus again. His men had to plead to him, saying, “Godsake, Captain! Why bait the beast again? Let him alone!” Odysseus also struggles with selfish actions. For example, he feasts with Circe instead of rescuing his men first. The temptations got the better of him and in turn led him down the wrong
The Odyssey by Homer is an Ancient Greek poem in which Odysseus is very clever, outgoing, fearless, while also very manipulative king. Although he's not a very good fighter, he does know how to get around and survive. He also has a lot of willpower. He committed acts of heroism in an effort to be admired by his people.
The Odyssey includes very hard, and thrilling adventures that the author Homer shows, of the character Odysseus has to persevere through, and battle to defeat his opponents. Odysseus travels from Ithaca to different islands to face cyclops, sirens, scary monsters, and sail back home safe to come back to his wife. As the story goes on Odysseus comes across temptations and has to fight to avoid them. Odysseus has good character traits that he shows and also bad character traits. Odysseus is a bad leader because he is boastful, not faithful to his wife, and is selfish
Occasionally, Odysseus gets himself stuck in tough situations, mainly because he is so stubborn. For example, while they all are waiting for the giant to come back to the cave, one of the crew members insisted to “… hurry, drive the lambs and kids from the pens to our swift ship, put out to sea at once!’ But [Odysseus] would not give way—“(Book IX, 255). This demonstrates that as the captain he will not take into consideration the other crew members ideas since he is too headstrong. Another example, is when Circe warns Odysseus to run and not fight, “But now [he] cleared [his] mind of [her] orders” (Book XII,
On the other hand, Odysseus is not the perfect hero he may seem to be. He can be extremely selfish, and has a sense of hubris that causes many problems for him and his crew. To start off, Odysseus' selfishness has been very easy to recognize these last few books. For example, when he informs his crew that they will be staying at Kirke's palace for some time, Eurylokhos objects. Odyseuss describes, "they turned back, as commanded, to this work; / only one lagged, and tried to hold the others" (10.475-76).
Homer’s The Odyssey is very much an epic tale of a man’s heroic quest. The protagonist, Odysseus, is a cunning, brave, strong, and tenacious character who is given the title of a hero. This “hero”, however, does not always show characteristics of a hero, which leads many to believe that Odysseus, is not a true hero after all. In fact, Odysseus cheats on his wife multiple times, is willing to sacrifice his men in order to get home, and slaughters all his maids even though he did not have to. In The Odyssey, Homer attempts to create a complex portrait of a hero, but fails at his attempt when making Odysseus unforgiving, self absorbed, and a philanderer.
Next, they reached a place called Aiaia. Odysseus and his men decided to separate into two groups to explore the island. The group without Odysseus found the hut where Circe, "A terrible goddess" lived (115). All of the men, except Eurylochos, entered the house, "For he expected a trap" (117). Circe gave the men some wine, "But she put dangerous drugs in the mess, to make them wholly forget their native land. When they had swallowed it, she gave them a tap of her wand at once and herded them into pens; for they now had pigs? heads and grunts and bristles" (117). She had turned them into pigs. At this place the goddess, Circe, who lived there turned half of the men into pigs. Eurylochos went and told Odysseus, who vowed to go save the men.
She is the one who turns people into pigs. Circe try to turn Odysseus into pig but eventually he didn’t turn into pig. Circe was impressed by that so she wants him to stay with her. Circe said “The witch-goddess with whom Odysseus and his men stay for 1 year”. The Odysseus didn’t want stay with her but actually he did spend more than a years with her. Odysseus was forced to stay there. When he became normal he said he wants to go home and that time Circe answers to him “you must go to hades first”. He was shocked to hear that thinking that he won’t get to meet his family in his entire
Odysseus’s journey home started when he was getting ready to set sail and leave Troy after the Trojan War. Odysseus shouts how he solved the war all by himself without any help from the gods. He is arrogant about their victory which angers Poseidon. Poseidon, along with other gods, curses his journey home.
Odysseus only cares about himself and his personal benefits, like a villain. “With great power comes great responsibility” this quote is used by many heros and odysseus obviously shows no responsibilities, so his power is simply bad, or evil . When “trapped” on Calypso’s island he shows no attempt to escape and instead finds pleasure in being their. After 7 years on this island he finally decides to go home to has son which he has never seen and his dog who is nearly dead due to old age (not to mention he barely does anything with his dog and the first thing he says to his son is basically to ask him to risk his life for Odysseus's house). “ Don't waste your time on revenge. Those who hurt you will eventually get their own karma”. This quote shows that good people and heros should not seek revenge and should show mercy to their enemies however Odysseus obviously shows no interest in mercy… After killing many people and not letting a single person out which many heroes would have especially if the people did not directly mistreat him and believed he was dead which would be a logical thought he finally revealed himself to his wife. At first his wife did not recognize him which filled him with rage even though he should be happy that his loyal wife wants to make
During Odysseus’ journey in ‘The Odyssey’, Odysseus runs into a couple problems. He leaves home ready to fight in the Trojan War. Although he had plans on coming home, he never made it home. His wife Penelope and his son Telemachus assumed that Odysseus was dead. It was not until Athena came to Telemachus and gave him everything he needed to make it to his dad. What Telemachus did not know was that Odysseus wanted to come home, but he could not because he was being held prisoner on an island named Ogygia. Odysseus wants nothing more to return home and see his lovely wife Penelope.
This time spent on Circe's island was a test of whether he could resist lust from a goddess, and he fails. At first it appears as though the only reason Odysseus sleeps with Circe is to regain his companions, but she easily persuades them to stay. What makes it worse is the fact that Odysseus is not even the first one ready to go. His men are the ones who urge him to leave: "What ails you now? It is time to think about our own country" (Book X, line 472). At a glance, it appears that Odysseus is merely succumbing to Circe's schemes for reasons related to their health and well being, if we read between the lines, we soon begin to realize that Odysseus is weak in the voracious hands of lust. Odysseus arrives on Calypso's island in her cave. At first, it seems like Odysseus doesn't seem much to mind her taking care of him, but over time it is plainly evident that he is unhappy with her. When Hermes arrives on Calypso's island to give her the message from Zeus to release Odysseus, he is bawling on the beach-- a daylong activity for him. Calypso is holding him with her by force; she has no companions to help him back to Ithaca, nor has she a ship to send him in. Athena pleads with Zeus to give Odysseus good fortune,