Odysseus Character Analysis

Despite his youth and inexperience, Telemachus portrays himself with poise and dignity in the presence of these legendary figures. He engages in thoughtful discourse with Menelaus and Helen, eagerly inquiring about his father and attentively listening to their tales. This serves as a testament to Telemachus's maturity and adeptness in navigating unfamiliar social settings with elegance and composure. In Book 5, we see Odysseus becoming stranded on the island of Ogygia and meeting the nymph Calypso, who holds him captive for seven

Around the 1200 B.C., Odysseus was sailing the Mediterranean Sea for the purpose of reaching home. In his long narrative poem, The Odyssey, Homer conveys how Odysseus desperately wishes to go home to Ithaca. However, he faces brutal treatment and obstacles from several different antagonists, and more obstacles appear when he reaches home. Odysseus came across many external conflicts, which he dealt with intelligence, determination, and loyalty.

Odysseus, when retelling his story, tries to make himself seem that he was held like a prisoner. But Hermes shows “long ago the nymph had ceased to please” Odysseus (5.161). Which confirms that Odysseus was not always held under his will to stay with Calypso. After many years on Calypso’s island, Hermes was sent by Zeus to tell Calypso to let Odysseus continue his adventure home. Although Odysseus wanted to leave to sail home, Calypso tries to convince him to stay by telling him “if you could see all…the adversity you face at sea/ you would stay here, and guard this house, and be immortal” (5.215-18). Calypso also compares herself to Penelope by saying, “Can I be less desirable than she is?/ Less interesting? Less beautiful? Can mortals/ compare with goddesses in grace and form?” (5.220-23). But this does not stop Odysseus’ urge to return to his family. Calypso was able to seduced and keep Odysseus on her island for seven years before he set sail

Odysseus arrives on Calypso’s island alone, after the loss of his men and ship. Calypso rescues him and loves and cares for him 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 day-long activity for him. Calypso is holding him with her by force; she has no companions to help him back to Ithaka, nor has she a ship to send him in. Athena pleads with Zeus to give Odysseus good fortune, saying that "he lies away on an island suffering strong pains in the palace of the nymph Kalypso, and she detains him by constraint, and he cannot make his way to his country, for he has not any ships by him, nor any companions who can convey him back

Odysseus is a great person, but even a great leader. During the Trojan War, he showed great leadership and guile when invading the Greeks and killing them. He shows great leadership when calming his men down and guile when he puts his men into the large horse sculpture, in which the Greeks thought were a gift. However, most of Odysseus’s epic hero character traits can be seen in the epic The Odyssey. In this epic, Odysseus is on a mission to go back to his home, Ithaca. He goes through many difficult obstacles and has to make hard decisions. By the end of the story, he returns home only, to find out that he has to win his wife, Penelope, back from the corrupt suitors. Throughout Odysseus’s life, there are many characteristics which shows that

Calypso being the temptress that she is kept Odysseus on her island, Ogygia, for seven years. Eventually, after Zeus talked to Athena, Zeus told Calypso that she must set Odysseus free. Even with Zeus’ orders she did not want to let Odysseus go so Odysseus had to escape her dreadful island and return home on his own. Then after he left the island of Calypso, he ran in to Circe. Circe started to mess with all of Odysseus’ men and made it harder to get home. Both Calypso and Circe, made Odysseus’ journey home so much harder than it needed to be. Since Calypso trapped him on the island for seven years, his family and everybody at home was starting to believe he was dead. They had no hope that they would ever see him again. So they started to push themselves on Penelope. Also if Circe would have just left him alone and did not mess with any of his men and stayed out of the way, he could have made it home faster. Since both of the Goddess wanted him for their selves they both interfered with his journey in many different ways. Some ways was the same like giving him the gift of immortality and persuading with other stuff. Some ways was different like trapping him in a cage for seven years and turning his men into pigs so he could not leave as

Telemachus was the son of Odysseus, mighty king of Ithaca and hero of Athena. Telemachus was a mere infant when Odysseus set sail for Troy where he helped to conquer the Trojans and retrieve Menelaus’ wife Helen. Despite emerging victorious from the Trojan war, Odysseus hadn't succeeded in returning home to Ithaca, and so twenty-one years after his departure for Troy, his family and kingdom believed him to be dead. Telemachus had lived his entire life without his father and as the Odyssey begins, although twenty-one years of age, Telemachus seems to be a child and not a powerful young man. Telemachus was first portrayed as a somber young lad who's heart was stricken with grief for the loss of his father. He was daydreaming and keeping to himself

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.

As he gets the Cyclops drunk he then says his name is nobody. He then pierces the spear through the sleeping Cyclops’s eye, blinding the giant beast. The Cyclops then tells everyone that nobody blinded his eye. Nobody is actually Odysseus who is king of Ithaca who can be very smart and cunning in the story. The author of this story is a man named Homer. Homer cannot be proven the author of this book because there is no proof he ever existed. Odysseus king of Ithaca set sail with his crew to fight at Troy, but Odysseus and his crew run into some problems returning to Ithaca. Odysseus’s character in the story shows he is very cunning, he is very cocky, and he is very brave.

Circe has been seen throughout mythology as a Minor Goddess, the Goddess of Magic, a nymph, witch, sorceress or an enchantress; in the Odyssey she is seen as a witch goddess. Though there is no set side Circe agrees with, her actions both harm and help Odysseus on his journey. Being a goddess of magic Circe possesses a wand, can brew potions, and has the skill set to turn people into animals. She uses her vast knowledge of herbs to create a potion that would turn humans into pigs. When Odysseus and his men reach her island Circe invites them all to a great feast, all but Odysseus accept her invitation. At the feast all but one of the companions end up drugged and turned into pigs. The companion that has yet to be transformed runs off to tell Odysseus. With Hermes’ help Odysseus protects himself from the poison and befriends Circe, resulting in her freeing his people.

Polyphemus, a low-life, gullible cyclopes, who plays an important part in the journey Odysseus takes across a great ocean. (CM) The rocky, grassy island lies in the unknown waters of this ocean. (CD) Foreshadowing that Odysseus and his men will be trapped on the island in some way.(CM) Odysseus tricked Polyphemus, a huge, one-eyed beast, into believing that his name was “Nobody.” (CD) Thus showing Polyphemus will believe anything told to him.(CM) In the cave Polyphemus consumed one of Odysseus’ men after the food storage had been nearly wiped out.(CD) Showing that Polyphemus is a vile beast that is not afraid to kill.(CM) The Cyclops is a innocent beast that is easily provoked into madness.(CM)

In this scene, Odysseus encounters the one-eyed, giant Cyclops, one of the most memorable characters of this story. Firstly, with an empty, growling stomach in his search for food, Odysseus displays exceptional qualities of a true hero with his cleverness and quick-thinking strategy. Furthermore, this is when Odysseus shows how cunning he is and as sly as a fox as he conceives as a plan to trick the Cyclops.

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.

After our encounter with the wretched Cyclops beast by the name of Polyphemus, in the land of the Cyclops, my crew and I were able to escape his wrath of being pleted by boulders larger than any mere mortal could ever imagine. I, overwhelmed with pride, felt that he and his people did deserve a declaration of my glories and the knowledge that who has defeated them was no mere man but Odysseus, conqueror of Troy, son of Laertes, legendary warrior of Ithaca.

Odysseus was definitely full of leadership. When his men went out to explore an island that was knew to them, they got addicted to the Lotus plant. The Lotus Plant was a plant that when people ate it they lost all care for what they were previously doing. Odysseus didn’t hear back from them in more than three days, so he went out with some of his men to go look for the missing scouts. Odysseus found them not with a care in the world eating the flowers instead of returning. Odysseus knew that this was awful for his men to just sit around and eat flowers all day, so Odysseus had them dragged back to their boats, tied down to their rowing benches and then sailed away, so they would never see the plant again. (Homer 658) Our own lives have challenges and rewards like Odysseus had in his life. We need to take in the great moments in life and when times get tough fight through and persevere. Self-identity can be based on your social status, income level, gender, family, and other important factors. These factors make people think that they’re better than others even though they might not be. Homer’s The Odyssey and Christine Spark’s The Elephant Man show that character traits can have positive and negative impacts on one’s journey and self-identity.