Odysseus, sweat dripping down his face, musters up all of his courage and attacks the wild giant Polyphemus with his newly fashioned spear blinding the foe and allowing for a narrow escape. Throughout the book The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus faces mythical enemies and nearly impossible odds. Each encounter requires more courage and mental strength in order to complete his journey home to Ithaca. It requires 10 years for Odysseus to make his journey home and the only reason he is able to persist through each hardship is his courage. It allows him to endure the worst but still be able to power through. The article “Courage vs. Boldness: How to live with Spartan Bravery” by Brett McKay describes the pros and cons of courage and boldness. In considering the events of The Odyssey, as well as the definition of courage laid out in McKay’s article, it is clear that Odysseus is a character who demonstrates more courage than boldness because he has the endurance to continually fight to get home, his cunningness that allows him to defeat his enemies with slim odds, and his inability to accept defeat.
Evidently, Odysseus is more courageous than bold because he has the endurance to battle enemies for 10 years in order to get home. This displays his courage and his will to survive. In “Courage vs. Boldness: How to live with Spartan Bravery” the article describes courage as “Steady and enduring”. There is many examples throughout the book where Odysseus endures the worst pains such as hunger, lust, and grief although still is able to power through with Ithaca close in his mind. One example of this was when Odysseus was stuck on the sun god Helios’s island with no food or water left. Helios does have large amounts of cattle that are available to Odysseus and his men but Odysseus knows that this will infuriate the god so he tells his men to back off. Odysseus says himself “But when the supplies aboard had all run dry… I struck inland, up to the gods to pray”. (12.355) This displays his self control and leadership qualities. Odysseus's men turn on him and escape with the cattle although they are later struck down by Zeus and die. Although Odysseus survives because of his endurance and will to survive.
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Being brave requires massive strength of mind, body, and spirit. It is being prepared to face adversity. It allows people to face their greatest enemies without fear. Out of all of the characteristics that Odysseus portrays, bravery stands out above all. There are many cases in which this shows up in The Odyssey by Homer. Specific examples that represent Odysseus's bravery are the battle of Cicones, the events at the cyclops cave, and the events with the lotus eaters.
Courageous Odysseus No one except Odysseus has had enough courage to take down a giant, row past a monster, and fight their enemies. In Homer‘s epic poem, The Odyssey, Odysseus is a man who goes on a persistent journey home from war. The journey is full of challenges and death, but in the end, he gets home. Through Odysseus outsmarting the Cyclops, fighting against the suitors, and getting past Scylla, The Odyssey shows that courage is necessary to save lives. Odysseus displays much courage when he outsmarts a Cyclops.
In fictional comics, most superheroes shows bravery when completing their jobs and they also use this characteristic to help themselves win against the battle between their super villains. However, in the reading, “The Voyage of Odysseus” by Sally Benson, Odysseus shows bravery when confronting against Polyphemus and coming up with a plan to escape the giant’s cave with his men. In the text, a quote states that “Odysseus called to his four friends and, lifting the staff, the thrust the end of it into the fire until it was red hot. Then they plunged it into the Cyclops’ one eye. The monster roared in pain. Earlier, Odysseus had told his companions to harness the rams of the flock three abreast with willow branches, which they found on the floor of the cave” (Benson 3-4). In the this example, the readers learn that Odysseus and four of his men blinded the giant by stabbing the cyclops’s eye with fire. Afterwards, Odysseus told his men to surround their bodies with sheep flock in order to escape from the cyclops’s cave. It is important to mention this explanation because then people will know how to be brave in a way that can eliminate their dangerous obstacles and saving people from anything or anyone that is treacherous to them. In all, there are many situations that require the characteristics of bravery such as going in war
Odysseus shows bravery when put against evil beings such as Circe and Polyphemus the cyclops. He shows his bravery when Polyphemus eats some of his crew but still finds a way to combat the cyclops. Odysseus explains, “Cyclops, try some wine. Here’s liquor to wash down your scraps of men”(155). This shows that even though the cyclops ate his men, he developed a plan to get the cyclops drunk. His plan works and it helps he and his men attack this cyclops which is a very brave
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
First, Odysseus shows bravery in many ways throughout The Odyssey. He shows bravery when he is with allies and friends, which is much easier to do than when one is by themselves. He shows this bravery when he goes to investigate the Kyklops’s cave, “I wished to see the caveman, what he had to offer,” (IX, 248-249).
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.
Bravery was probably one of the traits Odysseus was known for best. Without his bravery, the story most-likely wouldn't have been as exciting and suspenseful as it was. One of the situations that displayed this trait was when they landed on the
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.
Odysseus shows courage because he helped his crew get away from the blinded cyclops by tying them under the cyclops’ sheep and he warned his men not to eat the Lotus leaves, so they would not lose their memory and not want to return home.
Odysseus’ courage in the cave of the Cyclops Polyphemus banishes his crew’s trepidation and eventually gets them out of there. When Polyphemus returns to the cave after capturing them, Odysseus takes the risk to get the Cyclops’ attention so he can manipulate the one-eyed giant into drinking the potent wine. Odysseus’ bravery is catching and he inspires those with him. Once Polyphemus has passed out, Odysseus and a few other men stab the giant’s eye. This quote of Odysseus inspiring his men in the Cyclops’ cave shows how Odysseus bravery never abandons him even in a situation where it seems he cannot win: “Now, at last, I thrust our stake into a bed of embers to get it red-hot and rallied all my comrades ‘Courage—no panic, no one hang back now!’” (9. 420-422). Odysseus’ boldness ultimately leads to an escape. Without the courage that never seems to
Another quality of being a hero is, having courage; and Odysseus clearly conveyed this during his journey. In order to be courageous, the hero has to be fearless, meaning he has to act confident about his actions. This applies to Odysseus and the deities. If Odysseus were to appear weak, than the gods may think he's too weak for the journey and won't make it out alive. So, as a way of showing his courage, confidence overcomes Odysseus and he talks to the gods as if he were one of them. “After these years...to my harm.” (Book V, Lines 183-190). Odysseus shows no fear when speaking with Kalypso. Also, Odysseus shows more courage when he blinds Polyphemos. He humiliates Polyphemos, without even thinking of the effects. “Kyklops, you ask my honorable
Not only does Odysseus demonstrate a strong sense of courage in his journeys to prove that he is a hero, but he also shows never-ending perseverance through the countless adversities berating him. Although much of Odysseus’ journey is guided and assisted by various gods, especially in tough situations, what he does is ultimately of his doing and free will, as demonstrated by his tenacity when coming across many hardships. An example of this is later on in Odysseus’ story, as he and his men sail away from the Island of Aeaea to complete their journey home to Ithaca, they encounter many obstacles. The sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis terrorize and put Odysseus’ men and journey into peril, as his crew is struck with the terrifying might of the sea monsters.
Being able to conquer Troy, have the god Poseidon against you, and dealing with many life threatening things on your long journey home are all things Odysseus overcame. Odysseus is an epic hero for making the long journey home and defeating monsters along the way. Epic hero's typically have larger than life qualities, are extremely skilled fighters, and are natural leaders. They can be smarter than everyone else and stand alone. In this essay, the three traits that will be focused on for Odysseus are having larger than life qualities, being smarter than everyone else, and being a skilled fighter.
Odysseus is a courageous leader because he saves his crew in combat many times. One way Odysseus shows he is a courageous leader is by proving his worth in combat. Odysseus is obviously a good fighter because he survived the Trojan War, if he had not have been a