...The Odyssey, an epic written by Homer tells the story of Odysseus, son of Laertes, and his journey back to his homeland of Ithaca and to his wife, Penelope. Throughout the story, Odysseus makes decisions that put himself and his crew in grave danger. Each of these choices delays their return home and ultimately leaves Odysseus to himself after his crew chooses their own path to destruction by eating the sun gods cattle after being warned not to harm them. Odysseus courageously and craftily leads his crew and himself through dangerous obstacles but also foolishly endangers them during their journey back to Ithaca. Odysseus compassionately and brilliantly leads his desperate crew through multiple deathly obstacles. For example, after Odysseus'...
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...In Homer’s The Odyssey, the author tells us of a magnificent story of lust, deceit, greed, and heroism. The Odyssey is a display of a journey of determination, willpower, patience, and virtue. The author tells the tale of Odysseus, on his voyage home to Ithaka. This is happening after the end of the Trojan War. Odysseus, the main character, goes through a series of many unforeseen trials and tribulations in this exemplary journey. This exemplifies his character and displays him as a hero in the eyes of the audience. During these different happenings, Odysseus makes decisions that do not correspond to his character. Odysseus is displayed as not only a hero but also as a good leader to his men. Throughout all their trials such as the Sirens, Polyphemus (the cyclops), and the enchantress Circe, Odysseus is displayed as clever, patient, cunning, and fearless. Odysseus made decisions not only for himself but also for his men as well. For example, he did not leave his men on the island of the Lotus Eaters when they clearly had no desire to go back to Ithaca; he knotted them onto the boat and left the island. He was determined to get home with as many of his men as he possibly could, though they repeatedly disobeyed him. Odysseus is one of history's greatest leaders and this is a vital part of what makes him such an epic hero Another characteristic that stand out and makes Odysseus a hero is his ability to overcome his obstacles in order to reach his goal. Odysseus is faced by many...
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...Both the Odyssey and the Aeneid describe the journeys of the two Greek heroes –Odysseus and Aeneas, as they struggle towards their goal through the crises and deadly situations caused by the wrath of the gods upon them. In the Odyssey, we see that Poseidon (god of the sea/earth shaker) has a grudge against Odysseus while Athena, god of wisdom, aids him throughout his journey. Similarly in the Aeneid, we see that goddess Juno dislikes Aeneas as he is destined to destroy the city of Carthage loved by Juno during his mission to find a new land- Rome, whereas Aeneas’ mother Venus aids him. In these epics, many points of similarity and differences arise such as the characters of the heroes, how their journeys are delayed by women obsessed with love, what they are destined for and how they achieve the final goal in the end of the epic. The very first similarity we see in both the epics is that Virgil starts his poem in the same way Homer does, that is they both refer to Muses to sing about the epic heroes of Greek mythology- Odysseus and Aeneas. Virgil again refers to Muses for the second time in book six of the Aeneid. Another similarity is the assembly of gods in Olympus described by both Virgil and Homer. As seen in the Odyssey, Odysseus’ character is clever and smart one. He is a learner and later becomes self controlling. His ‘never give up’ attitude shows that he can go through any situation to get what he wants. Also, his character is full of twists and turns. While in the Aeneid...
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...virtue”). In Homer’s “The Odyssey”, Odysseus is the king of Ithaca, father of one son, and husband of a noble wife. After leaving Ithaca to fight in the Trojan War, Odysseus faces a short journey home, in which he makes bad decisions that cause him to take much longer to arrive back in Ithaca than he should have. Odysseus’s selfishness, disloyalty, and mercilessness eliminated any chances he had of being a hero. Some may argue that Odysseus was a hero because of his extreme cleverness or cunning ways. Yes, Odysseus was clever and cunning, but in most situations he did not apply those skills correctly. Therefore, Odysseus was most definitely not a hero. To begin with, Odysseus’s selfishness is made obvious during his encounter with Polyphemus. Everything he does is for the good of himself. Every action he takes is only taken to build onto his ego. If Odysseus had not decided to provide the Cyclops with all his information, his journey...
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...differing perspectives. Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’ was written almost 3000 years ago, and is considered to be part of canonical literature....
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...on the important difference of the Iliad and Odyssey against the Aeneid for the citizen readers. Here, we found that the value of empathy is crucial in one’s life because it shapes us to become more rational and mindful citizen. Within our argument, we will justify the significance of both Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad as well as Virgil’s Aeneid for the citizen readers to create a supportive community. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey exemplify the lack of empathy in the protagonists’ attribute which is different to Virgil’s hero that show more mercy in making decision. Many Trojans in Iliad died in Achilles hand with no mercy even being given advice on not to do so by his own mother (9.423-28,21.123-29). Even after killing Hector, he abuses the corpse by fastening it to the back of his chariot, and drags him around Patroklos's burial mound (24.17-20). On top of that, in Odyssey, Odysseus also illustrates the behavior of lack of empathy during the bloodshed happens in the hall where he killed the suitors mercilessly. Odysseus killed Antinous, who is the leader of the suitors by firing up an arrow straight to his throat (22.437). Even though Eurymachus already offered Odysseus to...
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...The Odyssey Haleigh Pavy O’ Brother where art thou is a great representation of the Odyssey. It shows great representation of the characters and mood and also of each other. It turns a fiction epic to a real life story. The Odyssey is a epic about how this king named Odysseus went over seas to the Trojan War. He was there for ten years, on his journey back he got cursed by a cyclops, he got all his men killed and he got stuck on circes island for seven years. Then after twenty years of being gone he finally returns home to suitors, impersonators, and he returns disguised as a beggar. O’ Brother where art thou is about how three escaped prisoners go off to find “treasure”. Everette who represents Odysseus really just wants to get home with...
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...make a good choice is often a cause for debate, but one of the oldest answers, comes from the ancient Greek poet Homer. Homer’s epic the Odyssey relates to the magnitude that choices play in our lives and how he thought choices should be made. The Odyssey revolves around the hero Odysseus and the choices he and his crew make on their decade long journey home at the end of the Trojan War. Sometimes the characters make good choices and sometimes they make bad choices, more often than not these good choices are made by using good judgement and consulting those who are wise....
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...clearly is a modern representation of Homer’s The Odyssey. There are multiple people and scenes in the movie that are similar to those in The Odyssey. Not only are there obvious similarities but also minor ones that not everyone may catch. Throughout this paper, you will believe the fact that this movie resembles the myth in plenty of ways. To point out the obvious, Homer’s ‘Odysseus is represented by Ulysseus. They both let their pride get in front of them. Also, the way their relationship with their crew is close to exact. Both crews question their leader for some decisions they make get them into trouble. Odysseus and Ulysseus outsmart people plenty of times. Specific times were when Odysseus tricked the Cyclopes into thinking his name was “No Name”, and Ulysseus tricks his ‘crew’ into believing they are going to search for a treasure when really he just wants to get his wife back. Like I just stated, Ulysseus went on his journey to stop his wife, Penny, from marrying a suitor. In resemblance, Odysseus has to make it home to his wife, Penelope, to save her from marrying one of the many suitors that are living in his home, waiting for her to wed one of them. When Odysseus returns to his homeland, his son doesn’t recognize him right away, same as Ulysseus’ daughters deny it’s him because they believe he was dead. As you can see, there are plenty of obvious similarities, but there are just as many non-obvious similarities. When Odysseus is on his way home he meets a man names...
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...The Essential Role of Goddess in Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey Just as women were viewed as inferior to men during Homer’s era, a first glance at Homer’s epics The Iliad and The Odyssey portrays goddesses as inferiors to gods. Despite the era’s bias to men, the goddesses are of equal importance to the plot of his stories as the gods. The goddesses play vital roles as either helpers or nightmares to men by often determining the results of an action. Homer did not establish the goddesses in his epics merely as minor structures to blend in the background. Rather, he established dynamic goddesses who were both powerful and intelligent. In fact, in many ways the goddesses controlled the gods by having an influence in their decisions and actions through manipulation, persuasion and guidance. By influencing the gods, the goddesses also played a large role as shepherds for human fate. The goddess’s constant intervention in the mortals’ lives was driven by favoritism, love or sexual desires, and their pity for the weak. Although the goddesses are often restricted from doing as they wish by the gods, they have proven, in many occasions, to overpower the gods through manipulation. Goddesses were often told what to do by the gods. Tasks such as delivering messages from Zeus were often carried out by Athena. Just as Hector told his wife, “Go home, attend to your own handiwork at loom and spindle, and command the maids to busy themselves, too. As for war, that is for men, all we...
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...French Author Albert Camus wisely declares that, “life is the sum of all your choices”(12).Decisions are a constant occurrence in a person’s life, each one having an impact on the next one. Ordinary people make foolish decisions and must face the consequences, just as fictional characters in stories. In Homer’s epic tale The Odyssey, hero odysseus utilizes poor judgement that negatively impacts his journey to Ithaca. After 10 years at war, the victorious Greeks encounter many obstacles, and their leader Odysseus must make many quick, difficult choices. The greeks arrive on Cyclops Island in search of hospitality, and end up getting trapped hostage in Polyphemus the cyclops’ cave. Cunning Odysseus devises a plan of escape that includes telling...
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...The traits that set Odysseus apart from other prototypically Greek heroes is his intelligence, wit, selfishness, and reliance on others. While Odysseus is considered by everyone to be a hero, his intelligence and wit, not his physical power as a warrior are what largely sets him apart from others, like Achilles. His intelligence and wit allow him to survive situations that could have gone badly if he had not fully thought out his “game plan.” For example, the use of the Trojan Horse in The Iliad was Odysseus’ idea. And it was a brilliant one. Had he not thought of it, the outcome of the war most likely would have been quite different. Unlike someone like Achilles, Odysseus really is not a “superhuman.” He does not have super physical strength, and instead relies on his intelligence to win....
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...In The Odyssey, Homer tells a tale about the main character Odysseus as goes through many trials and tribulations on his journey home. Homer’s tales shows many important things about the Greeks and their views about life. One of things he shows through his story are the qualities of leadership. The Odyssey shows many important qualities of leadership, three of the most important qualities of leadership are determination, courage and intelligence. The Odyssey shows that one of the most important qualities of leadership is the ability to be determine and not let the bumps in the road stop you from reaching your goal. In book 5, although Odysseus has been stuck on a beautiful island with a beautiful women he still longs to go home. “Yet it is true, each day I long for home, long for the sight of home,” replied Odysseus to Calypso. Calypso tried her best to try and convince Odysseus to neglect his goal, but Odysseus stayed strong and kept his goal in sight. This is an important quality for a leader to have, because a leader must be able to keep his men strong and help them remember why they are still working. A leader has to be able to stand firm even if his men begin to give up hope. The Odyssey show what a determined leader looks like through the character of Odysseus....
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...Odysseus has everything he needs in order to take on the role of hero throughout his journey. In Odysseus’s personality, he possesses the ability to strategize. The protection and care that Odysseus gives to his men help in portraying him as a hero. Odysseus has a goal-oriented mindset, the work and effort he puts into achieving his goal shows the heroic side of him. The character traits worn by Odysseus’s personality make it easy to see the hero inside of him. Odysseus possesses character traits amongst a wide variety that make him a hero in Homer’s, The Odyssey. Having the ability to strategize in all aspects of life aids in the characterization of Odysseus as a hero; Odysseus clearly displays his abilities through his decisions over the...
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...Odysseus: Hero or Not In Homer’s epic The Odyssey, Odysseus is a true thinking man’s hero. He faces many obstacles in his journey home from the Trojan War, with a curse from the sea god, Poseidon. Odysseus battles monsters, makes tough decisions, and fights with his integrity to get home, but through what some call “bad luck” and the size of his pride Odysseus finds himself in a pretty difficult predicament. However, like any other heroic tale, in the end he’s able to go home to his wife and son. The question is did he come back as a heroic legend or a selfish punk? Believe it or not, Odysseus is the demanding hero in this poem. Through tough decisions, sacrifices, and his humble attitude…at times; Odysseus shows the reader he is still a human...
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