Patience In The Odyssey

Odysseus and I have both shown self-restraint. In The Odyssey, Odysseus ends up being trapped in a cave with a cyclops and his men. His men are afraid of Polyphemus and are determined to kill him so they can´t be eaten. Right when Odysseus is about to kill the cyclops, he shows restraint and realzies, ¨If I killed him we perished there as well, for we could never move his ponderous doorway slab aside¨ (903). If Odysseus had killed the cyclops him and his men would have

Odysseus, through the tremendous physical journey that he has embarked on, goes on many mental journeys that greatly develop him as a character: he starts out hotheaded and single-minded, yet grows to be a lot more rational by the end of the book, which ultimately saves his own life and the lives of many others. For example, because of the inadvertent trip he and his crew take to the island of the Cyclops, and their subsequent escape from the Cyclops Polyphemus (which causes the ire of Poseidon, Polyphemus’ father, to be incited), Odysseus learns to not invite the wrath of the gods. He also learns, after taunting Polyphemus multiple times and consequently, almost getting everyone killed because of it, to not act in such a rash manner and to

Odysseus shows excessive pride when he achieves a goal. For example, Odysseus is proud and shouts his name in celebration at Polyphemus when he escaped. He also never acted in the best interests of his men. For example, he only thought of himself when he goes past Scylla and Charybdis, when he decided to have six of his men killed instead of himself Belarde 2 and his ship. Everett, too, shows excessive pride in himself by trying to look his best with a comb and the hair gel.

His bragging almost results in the death of his entire crew. Odysseus doesn't think highly of his men, and this is apparent throughout the entire story.

All Poseidon along with Polyphemus wishes is revenge. The number one rule is to never anger a god. Thankfully for Odysseus the other gods are on his side. Odysseus is human, so he too was battling pride. This pride Odysseus is battling is when you have the urge to be in people's faces and be superior. Odysseus and his men knew they were going to be in Siren territory. His men put wax in their ear. Odysseus on the other hand was tied up with no wax in his ear so he could hear the sirens. He wanted to be the only person that has heard them and not died. “ The San Andreas is considered “the ‘master’ fault of an intricate fault network,” the Geological Survey said”(Yan and Berlinger 3). Odysseus is seen as an amazing fighter. People have very high expectations. You could call him a master just like the San Andreas which is considered the “master fault”. Although Odysseus is a master of many strengths, his pride gets the best of him. No matter how strong and powerful you are, pride will always be there. You may think this wouldn’t be a problem for him, but it is. Odysseus is still human and has weaknesses as well. Just like us Odysseus struggles with

Instead, he lets his pride take control of him and causes his own despair, as well as the despair of his men. The Odyssey teaches us this virtue, near the end of the book, Odysseus has matured to swallow his pride and become a better person. Another reference to this idea is in Oedipus Rex, when the Chorus says, “And towered up, most powerful of men. No mortal eyes but looked on him with envy, yet in the end ruin swept over him. Let every man in mankind's frailty consider his last day; and let none presume on his good fortune until he find life, at his death, a memory without pain.”

First of all Odysseus is not humble, but quite hubristic. If you think back to when Odysseus was trapped in the Cyclops’s cave, you will see what I mean. Odysseus was clever enough to explain to the Polyphemus that his name was Nohbdy, I must say. I will also admit that Odysseus was clever when he carved the tree truck, thanks to Athena, into a point and stabbed Polyphemus’s eye, but when it comes to Odysseus, something always goes wrong. I recall hearing him say, “Cyclops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye; Laertes’ son, whose home’s on Ithaca (Homer 908)!”

502-505). In bragging about himself and what he has done, Odysseus, falls into the evil thought of boasting and by doing this focuses on himself and not the task at hand. Similarly to boasting, Odysseus is at fault for his pride in himself. After breaking free from Polyphemus’s hold on his group of men, Odysseus flaunts achievement, “‘How do you like the beating that we gave you, you damned

In the Odyssey, Odysseus exemplified strong leadership and outstanding noble qualities. Like Achilles, Odysseus carried some flaws at the beginning of the story. A strong case can be made that his biggest flaw as a character was pride as it caused him unnecessary risks that only delayed his journey and possibly endangered his men. This is evidently shown when Odysseus and his crew wander around in Polyphemos ' cave. After the confrontation with the Polyphemos, Odysseus and his men escaped by stabbing Polyphemos’ in the eye while he was asleep. Once Odysseus and his men were safe on board on their ship, Odysseus took it upon himself to reveal his true identity and proceeded to taunt Polyphemos. At

Odysseus’s escape from the Cyclops is one of great intelligence. A Cyclops is a giant one eyed monster. Homer said, “The booming voice and the very sight of the monster filled us with panic” (IX, 256). From the first moment Odysseus and his men set eyes on the Cyclops they know they are in trouble and will not be able to get out easily. The Cyclops, Polyphemus, eats two of Odysseus’ men from the start. As soon as this happens, Odysseus

Odysseus returns from a great victory of the Trojan War and the enormous amount of pride he gains gets him into a lot of trouble. As he returns home, he lands on the island of the Kyklopes. He insists that they meet with the unknown host, with the prospect of receiving gifts. His pride and craving for more treasure leads him and his men into trouble.

Odysseus’s crew hurried to hush him because they had not escaped yet. But Odysseus continued to gloat. Polyphemus then prays to his father Poseidon to curse Odysseus and never let him go back to see his family again. Then Polyphemus picks off another mountain cliff throwing towards Odysseus’s ships, but this time the peak lands behind them pushing them away from the Cyclops Island. So that is one reason I think Odysseus shows he has a cocky trait.

Shown with him and his crew, Odysseus seemingly has all interests in mind. One specific example of prudent action is his quick and clear reasoning skills that allow him and his men to escape the cave of the Cyclops safely. One example is after the death of his crewmen in Book 9, Odysseus speaks “...draw my sharp sword from beside my thigh and smite him in the breast, where the midriff hold the liver,...(Page 5)” Although he was initially vengeful and bloodthirsty after the murder of his men by the Cyclops, he reasonably put those thoughts aside, shown as he says “...But a second thought checked me, for right there should we, too, have perished in utter ruin. For we should have not been able to thrust back with our hands from the high door the mighty stone which he had set there. So then, with wailing, we waited for the bright Dawn”(Page 5). If Odysseus and his crew were to ever rationally escape the cave, they would have to disregard their thoughts and wait for morning-when the cyclops would remove the large door. Odysseus’s clear thinking and prudent nature on behalf of his shipmates, to wait for morning and to keep the Cyclops alive, enabled him to plan reasonably even in a time of murder and

Odysseus must now face the other suitors in order to win Penelope. He must rely on physical strength to get past this task then to face Penelope and convince her it is really Odysseus. After defeating the other suitors Odysseus was cleaned up and made to

During his journeys Odysseus often makes the mistake of bragging to his enemies but learns that doing this gives his enemies a chance to seek revenge against him. After leaving Troy, Odysseus attacks the