Odysseus Character Analysis

“Now shrugging off his rags the wiliest fighter of the islands leapt and stood on the broad door still, his own bow in his hand” (Homer 557). In epic poem The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is a hero because he makes a clever decisions by gaining a close connection with Circe, he is cautious for he built his bed out of an olive tree, protecting his family from imposters, and he is cunning, for he allows his men to successfully escape Polyphemus’ cave.

Resulting in angering Polyphemus’ father, Poseidon, who has curse Odysseus to never return home with years of bad luck. Indicating that Odysseus cockiness has lead Odysseus to try too hard to be heroic in unnecessary situation. Though, a point could be made that the Polyphemus does do bad things to people on the island, but nobody really ask for help from Odysseus. He kind of just take self liberty to bring justice to the people by defeating the Polyphemus. Not to mention, that the Polyphemus offer him a chance to forget all about the incident and be friend, but instead of accepting that offer, Odysseus provoke him even more by saying, “If I could take your life I would and take your time away, and hurl you down to hell!” (line 480, pg. 997). To put in simpler term, Odysseus indicate that he will never befriend the Cyclops for he is horrible creature that should be annihilated. Showing the reader how rashly Odysseus made his decision, as he could have make friend with Polyphemus, and continue on to his voyage home instead of putting himself in a bad position by insulting the Cyclop. Lastly, another quality that is bad about Odysseus is that he is selfish. For once, when he has come across an island on his way from Troy, he had decided to raid the village and take women as hostages for sexual pleasure. Showing how he is only doing this for his own need and not caring about the people that live in that village. He

Lizeth Marin Honors Introduction to Literature Period 3 18 April 2008 Odysseus: Hero or Villain? Heading home, to Ithaca, Odysseus is faced upon many obstacles that he and his men try to overcome, but in the end substantiate that Odysseus is a villain. “The old soldier in despair: He has spent ten years (seven of them as Calypso’s not entirely unwillingly captive) trying to get home” (652, summary). Evidence proves that Odysseus is a villain, because he tries to convince that he was kept unwillingly by Calypso. However, it is true that Odysseus was kept as Calypso’s captive for a time. Yet he can still be judged as a villain, because he does not just stay as a prisoner, no, he assists Calypso by being with her for the pleasures that

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.

I think the one heroic character trait that fits Odysseus best is “cunning”. There are many stories from “The Wanderings” that shows just how cunning Odysseus is; from tricking monsters like the cyclops, to pretending to be a beggar so he could reclaim his kingdom. Some of these stories may not sound like much but without Odysseus’s cunning trait things would have ended up completely different. If Odysseus didn’t have his cunning trait he wouldn’t have been able to trick the suitors into thinking he was a beggar, but because Odysseus is such a cunning hero he is able to have much more power than others.

Odysseus is an extremely persuasive character in The Odyssey. He quickly convinces Polyphemus that his ship, which was safely docked on the Cyclops’ beach, had been destroyed by saying “Poseidon Lord, who sets the earth a tremble, broke it up on the rocks at your land’s end. A wind from seaward served him, drove us there. We are survivors, these good men and I” (9.185-187). This response to Polyphemus’ questioning provides the idea that he has the ability to think rapidly and form believable lies as well as telling them with enough confidence that people readily take what he claims as fact. Even people who have never met and/or heard of Odysseus are easily swayed into thinking that things he says are the truth, resulting in their obliviousness to this trait to put them at a

Throughout The Odyssey, the audience often feels sympathy for Odysseus and his men: our idealistic minds want to root for the long lost king to make it home to his true love and his kingdom. His return home takes priority in our minds, causing us to root for the fall of anyone and anything that may come in between him and his happy ending. At a closer glance, however, it seems that Homer does not want us to blindly root for the human adventurers. It may be his intention to reveal the humanity and redeeming qualities of the so-called monsters in the epic. In Book 12, lines 251 to 256 of his epic, Homer demonstrates this point with the following simile, describing sea monster, Skylla, capturing six of Odysseus’ men out of their ship:

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.

The epic poem The Odyssey, written by Homer, centers around the main protagonist Odysseus and his long journey back home. Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, returns home after defeating the Trojans in a ten year war. On his way back, he angers Poseidon, god of the sea, by blinding his son, Polyphemus the Cyclops. Due to Odysseus’ actions, Poseidon refuses to let Odysseus reach home, and Odysseus and his crew are forced to go through a series of obstacles throughout the epic. Through this adversity, Odysseus must show his heroic attributions in order to survive. Homer portrays Odysseus as a hero by giving him characteristics such as: craftiness, loyalty, and bravery.

This main character is a hero that has all the elements of an epic hero. He has supernatural abilities, he faces many magical being such as monsters or sorceresses, and he is tested in multiple ways to exhibit his abilities. His name is Odysseus. Odysseus encounters many obstacles on the way home. He gets passed every obstacle he has came across so far.

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.

Odysseus left Calypso’s Island and began his journey back home. His odyssey might be described as one’s own life struggles. There are ups and downs to every situation, and through reading The Odyssey, readers can connect parallels between Odysseus’ experiences and lessons learned in their own life. Human weaknesses can still prevail through even the strongest men you may think of; examples of this are shown in this epic. Even though there is a large gap in space between Odysseus’ travels and the present, human nature and weakness still share the same obstacles.

Nothing but a name alone, plaguing me, souring my breath as if it were rancid milk

            Odysseus is no god.  He is man, and with that comes the mistakes and errors in all of us.  In many situations Odysseus' mortal side is seen.  An example of the power of Odysseus coinciding with his human flaws is his battle with Polyphemous the Cyclops (son of Poseidon).  After escaping the lure of the lotus-eaters and their island, Odysseus and his men find themselves on another island, rich with food and shelter.  After feasting, the men grab a large container of potent wine and go off exploring the new island.  Later in their search they stumble across a large cave filled with food.  Curious where the owner's whereabouts are the men encourage Odysseus to steal the food.  Odysseus (showing his hospitable and genuine character) decides to instead wait for the

The Odyssey by Homer is, an epic poem, set in ancient Greece around the eighth century. In The Odyssey by Homer the main character Odysseus is dragged along adventures and trials: temptation, danger, and influence along with passel of others and unpleasantness Odysseus faces and overcome parallel a regular person’s day, more specifically, myself.