Obstacles In The Odyssey

Although Odysseus does not need much help creating stories, he has this truth, this learning experience, and this whole part of his life that he can tell to people to gather pity and respect. Without his time in the Trojan War, Calypso’s island, and his arduous journey to Ithaca, Odysseus would barely have any influence over the epic, or in general; his miseries unlock a better and even stronger version of Odysseus that serves him greatly when it comes to respect and power. Ultimately, despite Odysseus’ obvious struggles he encounters due to his kleos, his inner sense of honor, glory, and pride leads to valuable outcomes for Odysseus that are explored throughout The Odyssey. He does face challenges, like the occurrence of Polyphemus. Still, once his conflicts are overlooked, it can become apparent to the reader that kleos is a strength that Odysseus often employs, subconsciously or not.

Odysseus has the ability to quickly contrive and implement deceitful plans that successfully allow him to achieve his heroic intentions of protecting Ithaca. This theme is a frequent occurrence in the book, and is highlighted with his struggle for power against the Suitors. In “The Suitors” Odysseus approaches his adversaries executing the plan that he and his son, Telemachus constructed. Odysseus, disguised as an old beggar successfully deceives Antinous and the other Suitors, providing an excellent distraction while Telemachus locks away the weapons. Odysseus asks Antinous for some bread, which results in Antinous attacking him. Penelope, intrigued by the rowdiness of The Suitors, decides to interrogate the old beggar. Odysseus’ trickery

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.

Six of Odysseus’ men are eaten because of his foolishness. Again, Odysseus’ arrogance came into play when Odysseus and his men escape from the cyclops, Polyphemus. He taunts the monster, despite the fact that his men tell him stop. He exclaims, “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 is Ithaca” (Fitzgerald 908). If Odysseus did not provoke Polyphemus, the curse laid up on his ship and crew would have never happened. If he did not mock the cyclops, his odyssey would have been non existent. Odysseus always wanted to be remembered as the grandest hero of Greece. This is object when his ship rolls past the Sirens and Odysseus demands that he listens to their song. His overly extensive hubris clouds his mind and wants the fame of being able to survived the Sirens’ song. He never once considers what might have happened if he had

Scylla and Charybdis were extremely difficult for Odysseus to overcome, mainly because he was used to using manpower and wisdom to escape from dangerous situations. Furthermore, Odysseus knew he could not use his strength to conquer Scylla and Charybdis, instead he had to try and choose the lesser of two evils even though he knew he would lose men either way. It was a great pain for Odysseus when he had to leave his men behind. He heard their “voices come down to [him] in anguish, calling [his] name for the last time” and Odysseus had to fight the urge to turn back and try to save his men from their inevitable peril (Homer 838). To summarize, during Odysseus’s travels he met his second most difficult obstacle, Scylla and Charybdis who compelled Odysseus not to use his intelligence and

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

In Book 22 of The Odyssey, Odysseus attempts to reclaim his household from the suitors who have been courting his wife and creating chaos for three years. Earlier in the story, Odysseus exhibits traits of recklessness when he reveals his identity during his encounter with the Cyclops in Book 9, which delays his homecoming by several years. After he returns to Ithaca, Odysseus makes a great effort to avoid being reckless to help him gain a much needed advantage over the suitors, who greatly outnumber him. Odysseus does not return to recklessness in his confrontation with the suitors because he is simply unleashing his anger on the suitors for taking advantage of his household. Odysseus is a strong warrior, but he does not only depend on his strength to get rid of the unfaithful inhabitants invading his household.

One of Odysseus’ traits is bravery. One example of Odysseus’ bravery is when he injures a Cyclops that is 5 times his size, “I drew it from the coals and my four fellows/ gave me a hand, lugging it near the Cyclops/ as more than natural force nerved them, straight forward they sprinted, lifted it, and rammed it/ deep in his crater eye. 329-332” This quote shows how brave Odysseus and his men are to face the Cyclops. Odysseus was intelligent to think about this idea, but

Odysseus, king of Ithaca, was probably on of the greatest warriors in the history of Ancient Greece. It is said that the poet, Homer, wrote the story of the Odyssey. In this story, Odysseus and his crew are trying to make their voyage back home to Ithaca after they have fought with the Trojans. During the long journey, Odysseus will show some of his character traits which include his bravery, cleverness, and wisdom that will assist him with the situations he encounters on his journey home.

Homer’s story, The Odysseus revolves around Odysseus’s journey through many tribulations that he has to overcome. Odysseus, the main character faces many challenges in the battles at Troy and in the attempt to trace his way home to Ithaca. Odysseus is a hero is this story for numerous reasons. One of the major reasons is his escape, triumph over the trials he experiences and the way he maintains composure in the wake of tribulations such as his descent to the land of the dead, captivity, subjection to multiple marriage propositions, defying death, escaping the god’s wrath and the offer of immortality.

Odysseus tends to use strategy over strength to be a hero when it comes to challenges. Instead of beginning with fighting the Cyclops, he takes his time and sets up a plan. Everytime he enters a new island, he does not start telling everyone that he is Odysseus, king of Ithaca. Instead, he charms the people he meets and uses his wise words that cause them to help and pity him. Odysseus represents what being a hero is actually all about. Throughout the novel The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus continuously shows his personality of being an admirable hero to everyone by using strategy instead of strength.

Odysseus’ encounter with the monstrous Scylla showed how all journeys eventually require sacrifice. The hero allows six of his men to be devoured by Scylla for the sake of the others. Could he have avoided this? Certainly not, as his other choice was to go straight through Charybdis, the “dire gorge of the sea,” who would have destroyed him and all his men (682 ll. 804-805) Circe herself says that it is “better to mourn six men than to lose them all….” (679 ll. 705-706) Odysseus had to think of his men as a whole, rather than pity a few, in order to guarantee success, and so he once again followed Circe’s advice, and allowed those six men to perish for the sake of the majority. A similar decision was once made by former prime minister, Winston Churchill,

He is stricken with hunger and longs for nourishment, but he is able to triumph over this temptation by remaining mentally strong: “One day I withdrew to the interior / to pray the gods in solitude, for hope / that one might show me some way of salvation” (XII, 426 – 428). Instead of giving in to temptation, Odysseus heroically prays to the gods. In addition to physical and emotional challenges, Odysseus faces intellectual challenges, and is able to overcome these challenges with quick thinking. Odysseus must utilize his cunning wit when he devises a plan to surprise the suitors in an attack, and hide their weapons: “I / shall signal to you, nodding: at that point / round up all armor, lances, gear of war / left in our hall, and stow the lot away” (XVI, 335 – 338). This challenge tests Odysseus as a tactician, and he is able to succeed with intellectual valor. Odysseus encounters a mental challenge when he is on the Land of the Kyklopes. He quickly tells Polyphemos that his name is “Nohbdy”, and then once the Polyphemos is stabbed, the other Kyklopes think that “Nohbdy” hurt him. Then, Odysseus and his men are able to escape on the underside of sheep. Odysseus bravely risks the lives of his men and himself. Odysseus overcomes all these challenges, using his physical, emotional, and intellectual abilities. The courage he displays in each of these instances makes him more heroic.

Heroes, as shown in literature, often undertake the most difficult tasks and place themselves in mortal danger in order to bring back, for themselves and their societies, both knowledge and treasure. Their stories follow “Hero Journey.” The Odyssey, as the epic story of the hero Odysseus, follows closely the complete cycle of a Hero Journey, both as a physical and as a psychological undertaking. The Hero Journey, used as a framework for both Odysseus’ physical and mental journeys, serves to bind the two together. Each of Odysseus’s physical difficulties can be viewed as a metaphor for a psychological hardship that he must overcome, and by overcoming these hardships, Odysseus matures—achieving a more complete understanding of himself and

In Epic Poem “The Odyssey” Odysseus is the protagonist. Odysseus’ over-the-top ego caused him to lose his men and his son’s childhood, but taught him a valuable lesson about humility. The Odyssey, written by Homer, tells the story of Odysseus and how he faced misfortune in his attempts to return home after the Trojan War. Odysseus is not famous for his great strength or bravery, but for his ability to deceive and trick. To his friends, he was a brilliant strategist. To his enemies, he was a deceiver and a manipulator of the worst kind.