In the Odyssey, Odysseus's goal was to reach home. Even though he wanted to get back to his home and family, he learned many lessons along the way. Odysseus gained most knowledge from his journey, not his goal to get home. Odysseus learned a lot on his journey and his journey made him become a better person. Odysseus learned on his journey to resist the temptations of evil, he learned that being greedy would just set them back, and respect for the gods.
Odysseus learned to resist temptation. The first temptation Odysseus was tempted with was the lotus plant, from the lotus eaters. Eating the plant would not have harmed them in anyway, it would have just made them want to stay there, but him and his crew made the decision to resist eating it. If they had eaten the plant, they would have never gotten home. Another temptation they had to encounter was the Sirens. The Sirens would tempt them with their music. The Sirens were half bird half humans and they were very dangerous. The biggest temptation that Odysseus had to deal with was Calypso. She was a goddess that was madly in love with Odysseus. She wanted to have Odysseus as her husband, but Odysseus just wanted to get back home to his family. If he had not resisted temptation, he would have been on the island of the Lotus Eaters, dead, or without his true wife.
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After they visited Aeolus he received a bag of wind from the king of the winds. His crew thought Aeolus gave Odysseus gold so they became very jealous because they did not get anything and they thought Odysseus was being greedy and trying to have it al to himself. They snuck into Odysseus' room when he was sleeping and opened the bag. When they opened it, the wind came out and blew them back to Aeolus' island. Odysseus and his crew learned that being greedy would not help them through this journey at
First, they betrayed Odysseus by trying to take advantages of his goods. The men opened a bag of winds which Aelous gave to Odysseus. They believed that the bag was filled with precious gold and silver, so they opened it because of their greed. When they opened the bag, a gush of wind threw the ships off track.
Odysseus had to maintain his ship and his ship mates as he continued to try and travel back to his reality while all of his men starved, but he couldn't help them, all he could do was keep try to get home which is what he did. They both strived to make the lives of others better than their own.
In the “Odyssey”, Odysseus goes through obstacles throughout the book that a normal man couldn’t subside. One example is in book 9, his main obstacle that he is trying to face is to escape from being held hostage in a cave by a Cyclops better known as Polyphemus. Odysseus is a archetypal hero, he is also a role model, with an ambition to get to his homeland Ithaca. He goes through resisting temptation and using his intellect and physical strength to get him there, no matter the obstacle nor the negative flaws that he faces. Odysseus put himself and his men in that situation by being curious and wanting to know what kind of land his ship and the winds led him to. This was selfish of him because it cost him some of his men, but a leader and hero has to play that role and some lives will be dealt with on the way. Odysseus says, “The rest of you will stay here while I go with my ship and crew on reconnaissance. I want to find out what those men are like, Wild savages with no sense of right or wrong Or hospitable folk who fear the gods” (Homer 429). Saying this quote alone makes Odysseus a humble man due to the fact that not even a piece of land is going to slow him down on his journey back home.
Here he was willing to walk straight into danger and willing to sacrifice himself for his crew. Yes he had to give in to her desires and bed Circe, but this was all within the grand scheme of things, to show her that she could not do to him what she had done to his men, again with some help from the gods. Also, in exchange for him agreeing to sleep with her, she had to agree to undo the spell from his men. Mission accomplished, and they journeyed on, with the help of Circe even. However, For all of his great heroic feats, his accomplishments on the battlefield and his cunning ways, and his willingness to put himself in arms way to save his men, time and time again Odysseus showed us how earthly and human he was by the many temptation to which he succumbed. In book 12, prior to his departure from the island of Circe, Odysseus was warned of the Sirens and was told that he nor his men should allow themselves to listen to the song of the Sirens. However, Circe gave him an alternative so that he could listen to the song without succumbing to its effects. "but if you yourself have a mind to listen, have them bind you hand and foot upright in the mast-step and tie the end of the rope to the mast. then you can enjoy the song of the Sirens" (468). Upon hearing this Odysseus could not help himself, he had to exercise the option and heed to the temptation of hearing the songs of the Sirens.
Spider-Man is your average modern day hero, he is a citizen who was bitten by an unusual and peculiar spider which gave him powers and abilities such as being able to shoot webs out of his hands and climb walls without the need of any equipment. And Odysseus is a Greek hero who was strong, heavily favored by the gods, and could take down any and all challenges he´d ever have to face. And if you ever compared the two you would see that both characters are extremely different. Why you would see this is because we know that Spider-Man is a modern day hero, but can we consider Odysseus as one. My answer to this would be NO. Society today would not consider Odysseus as a modern day hero because of many reasons. One would be that he doesn´t show
Another time when Odysseus fails to stay strong against temptation is when he continues to reside on Circeʻs Island. After Odysseus has slept with Circe, he and his men decide to stay for a year to rest and feast. Throughout his journey he stays strong and tries to do whatever it takes to get home. In this moment, however, Odysseus is weak and chooses to be selfish and feast with his mistress instead of continuing his journey home to Penelope. In this example Odysseus is weak to temptation and is unable to do the right thing. He only
In addition, Odysseus was not the only person who made bad decisions. Odysseus’s men, having led to believe Odysseus was hiding treasure, made another one of the worst decisions in this epic. Odysseus’s men thought that the bag of winds he had received from Aeolus was really a bag of treasures that he was saving for himself. Stricken with greed, the men opened the bag of winds which sent them back to Aeolus’s island. If the men would have had trust in Odysseus and believed him, they would never have even thought about opening the bag, and they would have gotten home right then, instead of taking another five years.
The Odyssey is an epic poem that is taken place after the Trojan War. Odysseus and his men were sailing from Troy to Ithica. The trip lasted 10 years and they had some positives and negatives. So even though they had their ups and downs, throughout the adventure they learned many lessons throughout their journey to Ithica. As Odysseus home from Troy, he changes physically and mentally as he learns the following lessons: cunning overpowers physical strength giving into temptations has negative effects, and loyalty and perseverance are heroic and admirable.
In Greek literature of mythology, we have examined Odysseus. Students and scholars alike have held debates about Odysseus. The discussion is whether Odysseus was a true hero, as read in The Odyssey. There is abundant supportive evidence to verify all sides of the debate and opinions held about Odysseus. Odysseus had encompassed many qualities that I believe make him a hero. The qualities he embodied were mental strength, physical strength, and spiritual strength. I would like to advocate for why Odysseus was a hero.
Similarly, as Odysseus continues his journey at sea, he encounters difficulties after being gifted bags of winds from Aeolus, once again falling prey to his disassociation with consequences. After being a welcome guest in the Iron Island, Odysseus is granted bags of winds to aid him in his journey home. Homer details to us how Odysseus’
As a wayfarer in life, The Odyssey focuses on life’s greater purpose through the fulfillment of destiny, perseverance, and loyalty. These three themes recur continuously throughout Odysseus’ journey, molding life’s greater vision. Odysseus comes to understand his purpose in life by remaining true to these major themes as he faces and conquers each obstacle in his journey.
Odysseus and his crew were in sight of the homeland they had waited so long to see, when a hand of rebel crewmen opened the bag because they thought it contained treasures, creating a great gale that blew them back to Aeolus. When Aeolus saw this he believed that Odysseus was cursed and banished him from the island. this is not the only time Odysseus was betrayed by his men and suffered a great price.
Odysseus is not the only one with a hunger for knowledge in this story. His crew also has the same hunger. They have taken after Odysseus in many ways but this one above all has shown itself. There are several examples showing where there hunger has gotten them into trouble or placed into the face of danger. One time above all where this has affected them was when the crew opened the bag of winds that Odysseus would not let them open. This caused the ship to come into view of Ithaca but then be pushed far out to sea away from their home and ultimately to their own
After suffering from the Cyclopes, Odysseus’ ship came to a stop at the land of Aeolia (king of the winds). Aeolia let him and his men stay on his island for a month so they could recover. Before they left, Aeolia gave Odysseus all the east
People learn lessons every day. They can either learn them the easy way, or they can learn them the hard way. Homer documented Odysseus’ journey back to Ithaca in The Odyssey. In this journey, Odysseus learns several life lessons that applied to our lives.