Odysseus Flaws

Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus demonstrates multitudinal acts of phenomenal leadership and bravery. First, Odysseus defends his men from the beastly Cyclops, defending his men when nobody else will. After, Odysseus visits Kirke’s island and rescues his crew from Kirke’s potion, jeopardizing his life for his mens. Finally, he protects his men from the treacherous underworld and risks his safety for his crewman.

His men and boat would have escaped swiftly without his spiteful words, yet he decides to mock the Cyclops again. I was still furious, and shouted back again, 'Cyclops! If any mortal asks you how your eye was mutilated and made blind, say that Odysseus, the city-sacker, Laertes' son, who lives in Ithaca, destroyed your sight'" (Homer 9.502). Because of his kleos, Odysseus has managed to lose a significant amount of his men, boat, and passage back to Ithaca, all in an attempt to prove his superiority over Polyphemus.

After the defeating the Cicones, Odysseus wants to take the plunder and depart quickly. His men, however, stay, leading to a defeat at the hands of reinforcements. A similar situation happens later, after Aeolus grants the Greeks fair winds to Ithaca. Odysseus falls asleep within sight of Ithaca, enabling his greedy, undisciplined crew to open the bag of ill winds that they think is treasure, and let loose a barrage of winds that blows them off course. Finally, on the island of the Sun god Helios, Odysseus' men disobey his orders and eat sacred cattle of the sun after he goes inland to pray and falls asleep. This action leads to the deaths of all his crew, so he is never with a group of people like that for the rest of the novel. This flaw too is overcome by Odysseus in the last group. He relies on a small group of people to let him into a situation where he can triumph over the suitors, and none of them disobey

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.

Throughout the book, Homer portrays Odysseus as a hero due to his ability to manipulate enemies, bravery to put himself before his crew members, and the sheer loyalty to devote to get back to his wife, Penelope. For example, when Odysseus and his crew members were trapped in the Cyclops cave, Odysseus uses his intelligence to blind Polyphemus. He then tricks the Cyclops into moving the rock and unblocking the exit. Odysseus’ intelligence is portrayed through several examples like this one. Odysseus manipulates the Cyclops by turning his strengths against him. To extend this assertion, this encounter also personifies his bravery as well as his loyalty to come home to his wife, Penelope. Through many situations, the protagonist depicts bravery, intelligence, and the strength it takes to pull himself together and try his hardest to get back to his wife.

Odysseus:Courageous or Cowardly? Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey” features a very larger than life sort of character known as Odysseus he is a general for Ithaca. He is the king and ruler of that land. He fights in the trojan war and then gets lost at sea on the way back home.

Odysseus and his crew win the Trojan War and they land on an island looking for food. The crew followed the sheep they saw to a cyclops cave. The cyclops return and eat some of Odysseus’ men; Odysseus makes a plan and they escape. Odysseus, while escaping from the cyclops, tells his name to the cyclops. Odysseus says “Cyclops, if ever mortal man inquires how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye; Laertes’ son whose home is in Ithaca” (574).

Odysseus’s one desire was to travel back to beloved Ithaca with all of his crew men safely. However, ideas do not always go as planned. In “The Odyssey” by Homer, Odysseus was an extraordinary, God-like man that occasionally made mistakes, but his epic heroism and strength outweighed those flaws.     Odysseus was an extraordinary, God-like man that handled himself and his crew well in multitudinous ways. Both his physical and intellectual strengths helped to keep his men intact throughout the journey.

Along with his greed at the Island of the Cyclops, Odysseus’ ego dug him a deeper grave. Odysseus was just within reach of a steady return, when his ego prevailed. Cyclops– if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so – say Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged out your eye, Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca.” Because Odysseus made this seemingly simple remark, his journey was vastly more challenging, thanks to Poseidon, who now seeks revenge on Odysseus for injuring his son, Polyphemus. As a result of this, Poseidon now pursued Odysseus and his crew relentlessly, as they tried to make their way back to their homeland, Ithaca.

In Homer's The Odyssey, Odysseus is viewed as a brave and admirable character. After a disagreement with the Gods, they passed the outcome down to the mortals, leading to a war, where the wise warrior Odysseus wins. Making his way home and maddening a Cyclops, he curses Odysseus and his men for many years to go home. Which then Odysseus displays many moments of being selfish, self-centered, and all high and mighty. But he also shows moments of heroism, faithfulness, and bravery.

Homer, a poet from ancient Greece, wrote The Odyssey which illustrates the values of the Greeks. As the hero, Odysseus embarks on a journey home from Troy and, through this journey, the reader sees the traits that Odysseus is praised and rebuked for. Odysseus’s incredible strength and courage as well as his confidence both positively and negatively affect the outcomes of his decisions. More often than not, these two characteristics are what keep him alive; although, he relies on these qualities more than he should and it ultimately gets him into trouble. Odysseus is able to use these traits to his advantage from time to time; however, they could be considered his fatal flaw.

Similar in consequence, Odysseus’ boasts and taunts towards the Cyclops ultimately causes the delay of his journey home. Odysseus announces to the Cyclops that “Odysseus, raider of cities… gouged out (the Cyclops’) eye” (9.560-561). After that, the Cyclops goes to his father Poseidon and wishes Odysseus would, “come home late and come a broken man- all shipmates lost” (9.592-593). Odysseus may have never been cursed by Poseidon if he did not boastfully proclaim his name to the Cyclops. Therefore, the decisions Odysseus makes out of pride cause him and others to suffer

As Odysseus, accompanied by his shipmates, set sail, at last from cyclops gruesome hospitality, he yells to the cyclops that if anyone ever asked him who blinded him, he should exclaim, “odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes’ son. ”(Homer 504). To this, the cyclops, in hope, exclaims that Odysseus, “lost all companions, and returned under strange sail. ”(Homer 505). This soon conveys Odysseus' boastfulness, leading to humiliation of his actions.

While he is trapped in the cave with the cyclops, he has to come up with a plan so he and his crew could escape. He tells his company,"/A man under each middle one to ride there safely, shielded left and right"(Homer 9.340). This takes an immense amount of bravery from Odysseus to tell his shipmates because he promised that they will all get out of the cave alive. Taking his huge risk might of have concluded in the death of his crew, but he and companions later on made it out harmless. When someone is audacious they are putting themselves at harm so they could protect others. When Odysseus and his crew are leaving the island, the cyclops is angered and yells. Odysseus loudly says,"/tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes's son whose home's on Ithaca"(9.418-419). Odysseus was extremely daring to say this because he now has given Polyphemus his true identity. Odysseus wants to tell the monster who stabbed him in the eye and that anyone who messes with his crew are going to be put into a bad shape. Odysseus displays the characteristics of an epic hero because he protects his crew while putting himself in harms making him very

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.