Overcoming Obstacles In Homer's Odyssey

When Odysseus encounters the sirens, he comes up with a plan to help them escape them. In “Book Twelve, line 142,” Odysseus says, “Friends, have we never been in danger before this? More fearsome, is it now, than when the Cyclops penned us in his cave?... Did I not keep my nerve, and use my wits to find a way out for us?” Even in danger Odysseus is able to keep himself together and lead his men. Homer, in this, shows us that a leader needs to be brave in all times, always ready to take control and calm his men. Before Odysseus returns home, his wisdom is shown once again when his men don’t listen to him, because of this, all his men die and Odysseus returns

One quality that makes Odysseus a hero is being tricky. When he faced a difficult challenge, he knows how to get out of it using strategy. “But put aside two broadswords and two spears for our own use, two oxhide shields nearby when we go into action.” (Lines 1150-1153). Odysseus' plan to attack the suitors was for Telemachus to hide the weapons so that they were accessible with ease. This shows he was tricky because he was crafty with his plans.

Homer’s The Odyssey is very much an epic tale of a man’s heroic quest. The protagonist, Odysseus, is a cunning, brave, strong, and tenacious character who is given the title of a hero. This “hero”, however, does not always show characteristics of a hero, which leads many to believe that Odysseus, is not a true hero after all. In fact, Odysseus cheats on his wife multiple times, is willing to sacrifice his men in order to get home, and slaughters all his maids even though he did not have to. In The Odyssey, Homer attempts to create a complex portrait of a hero, but fails at his attempt when making Odysseus unforgiving, self absorbed, and a philanderer.

In the two novels the Homers Odyssey and Apeleius’ The Golden Ass, entailed these two main characters that undergoes these over the top adventures and experiences to acquire their goal. Both Odysseus and Lucius struggle along their long journey home and endured multiple obstacles along the way. Although both storylines were problematic and held many challenges, when compared to one another, I feel as though in The Golden Ass, Lucius underwent more hardships to finally reach his goal. Lucius not only was put through more physical pain then Odysseus but he was stripped of his manhood in every way possible and had to live his life as a donkey. Unlike Odysseus he also had to continue living in solitude. No one was to know he was a man in a donkey’s body, for that could cause an uproar, which would then lead to his early death. In contrast Odysseus didn’t live in such seclusion because various Gods helped him and most of them as well as others always praised as being “godlike”. As Lucius continued his journey on the other hand, in the form of a donkey he wasn’t praised like Odysseus was. Neither similar animals to Lucius nor humans praised him as much as Odysseus was praised.

The Characteristics of a Hero: The Odyssey, an epic poem of immense proportions retold and passed down from hundreds of years. In the Odyssey, some important themes and lessons can be learned from the epic journey of Odysseus. The Odyssey shows numerous examples of strengths like leadership and creativity impacting a journey; however, there are also weaknesses like arrogance impacting it as well. Odysseus is a man who has exemplified many characteristics of brilliance; however, even a man like him can fall into the deep dark pit that is arrogance. After Odysseus and his crew’s daring escape from the Cyclops, they begin to sail away to safety.

In the stories The Odyssey, Divergent, and Moana, each character must face an obstacle that concerns them of making a decision which affects their own family, in order to reach their goal. In The Odyssey, Odysseus left his wife, Penelope for twenty years. Through those twenty years, Odysseus was playing pattycake with some of the goddesses that he was encountered with. While Penelope was at home, waiting for him and staying loyal to their marriage. She was even surrounded by a bunch of suitors who wanted to marry her since they all thought Odysseus was never coming back.

An example of Odysseus’s cleverness in The Odyssey occurs when the crew and Odysseus are trapped in the cave with Polyphemus. Polyphemus asks Odysseus what his name is and Odysseus tells him, “Nobody-that's my name” (12.410). This is clever of Odysseus because when he stabs him in the eye, Polyphemus screams that nobody is killing him and the other cyclops don’t come to help. Odysseus also puts his cleverness on display when he tells the crew only he was to hear the sirens. He tells the crew, “I alone was to hear the voices” (12.174) even though Circe never singled him out. By deceiving the crew, Odysseus avoids potential uproars from the members of his crew about wanting to hear the sirens as well. The cleverness is Odysseus’s personality is again shown in Ithaca when he is disguised as an old man to find out who is loyal to him. Odysseus’s body was covered, “top to toe with the wrinkled hide of an old man” (P. 300, L. 494-495). By doing this Odysseus can tell which members of his staff are loyal or disloyal to him without much effort. The traits that make Odysseus a hero can also be found in many of the people we believe are heroes

(p. 390). Odysseus uses strategy and tells Telemachus to hide the suitors’ weapons as they sleep, proving that he not only possesses strategic foresight but also uses deception as a tool to achieve his

The Odyssey was written by Homer. It is the story of Odysseus voyaging to get back to his homeland Ithaca. He and his crew members are sailing day and night across the sea in order to do so. Along the way they visit numerous islands and have an abundance of obstacles to surpass before Odysseus can make it back home. Different gods and goddesses help Odysseus but he is also cursed by them as well.

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.

A hero accepts who he is as an individual, but strives to change himself for the better. In the epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, the main character Odysseus is a valiant king who embarks on a life-changing voyage. While traveling from Troy back to his home in Ithaka, King Odysseus overcomes daunting obstacles, and in doing so discovers his place in the world. Odysseus is truly a heroic figure because he demonstrates courage, improves his character, and wins the support of the gods.

A hero isn’t shaped by his strengths but by the values he possesses. Homer’s epic, The Odyssey, reveals the moral and ethical constitution of the ancient Greeks. Over time, certain cultures have grown to value a number of human characteristics. Those who acquire such values become respected heroes. After the fall of Troy, the protagonist of the epic, Odysseus, set sail for his home, Ithaca, where his faithful wife and son were waiting for him. Over the course of his journey, Odysseus faced some of the most ferocious opponents known to the Greeks. Even through this formidable journey, Odysseus and his family have stayed true to the diverse aspects of the ancient Greeks. The Odyssey exemplifies the human ideals of hospitality, loyalty and

Another way Odysseus is also a hero is he always finds a way to survive whether he is in conflict or out on the sea. One of the many situations Odysseus survives is his encounter with Skylla. Six of his crew members do perish but through his hard work and dedication he survives. He makes another smart decision in choosing to go through Skylla instead of Kharybdis because only six of his crew members die instead of the whole crew. Another decision Odysseus makes to survive is not eating the cattle of Helios while on Thrinikia, his crew members choice in eating the hallowed cows results in their death, but Odysseus knew the consequences and did not touch a cow. Another way Odysseus' quick-decision skills helps him is when he chooses to leave the island of the Lotous-eaters, because he realized his whole crew would have fell under the curse if he had stayed there. Odysseus is also a master tactician whose complex plans save his crew and help him regain his crown. One of these plans was his ingenious idea to trick Polyphemos, which shows he is a hero by saving countless lives. Another plan he implemented was to kill the suitors which is also a success because Odysseus and Telemakos themselves kill over a hundred men without an injury to themselves .Odysseus is a quick-thinker whose resourceful ideas save many lives.

When people think of a hero, they think of a tall, handsome, loyal, brave, and a type of man that could do no wrong. The “hero” that is portrayed in the Odyssey is a man named Odysseus. This “hero” may be tall and handsome, but he is often arrogant, disrespectful, conceited, and rude. Odysseus consists of positive and negative characteristics that is shown in the text by Homer. These characteristics impact the characters day to day, or in the book’s case, the quests. In the Odyssey, Homer values the characteristics hospitality and cunning, but he objects bad leadership.

Written about two thousand and seven hundred years earlier, the Odyssey is still influencing modern storytelling today. Odysseus, the legendary Greek king of Ithaca and protagonist of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey was recognized as a great hero of his time. He was known for his defining qualities of superior strength and athleticism, sharp intellect, sensual ness, and a thirst for glory. These character traits are still being used to attribute modern day fictional heroes such as Neo, Captain Jack Sparrow, James Bond, and Spiderman. Accordingly, the heroic qualities of Odysseus can be still be seen in today's modern day fictional heroes.