...THE ODYSSEY Is a good leader classified as one who personally gains a lot or one who benefits his or her community at large? After fighting in the brutal Trojan War, Odysseus travels the sea in hopes of returning to Ithaca, his homeland, and his wife and son, Penelope and Telemachus. Homer’s The Odyssey reveals the struggles and obstacles Odysseus and his men face traveling home. As prophesized, twenty years later, Odysseus returns to a devastated Ithaca, alone, penniless and unrecognizable. Odysseus has hubris, a flaw that costs him, as well his men, excessive troubles. Odysseus does not learn from his and others’ past mistakes, again leading him into traps that could have easily been avoided. Odysseus constantly puts his men in harm’s way for selfish purposes. For these reasons, Odysseus is an incompetent leader, and therefore should be criticized. Odysseus has hubris. This excessive pride and arrogance leads Odysseus and his men into difficult situations that would not have otherwise arisen. Towards the beginning of Homer’s epic, Odysseus narrowly escapes from a Cyclops’ cave. In triumphant victory, Odysseus taunts the Cyclops, Polyphemus. His men advise him against further agitating Polyphemus after the Cyclops starts throwing massive boulders at their ship; however, Odysseus displays hubris and does not listen. ‘Godsake, Captain! Why bait the beast again? Let him alone!’ ‘Aye He’ll smash our timbers and our heads together!’ / I would not heed them...
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...some people would argue it is King Arthur others believe it to be Odysseus. Odysseus is the king of Ithaca in Homer's Odyssey. Both of these kings prove to be great but only Odysseus proves to be an epic hero. In Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus proves to be an epic hero due to his cunningness, resilience, and determination. In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus proves to be an epic hero due to his cunningness. Odysseus shows he is cunning in how he constantly overcomes the challenges the Gods face him with. The narrator says “I crouched with my drawn sword to keep the surging phantoms from the bloody pit” (Beers and Odell 776). This proves Odysseus is cunning by showing he is knowledgeable in how sought...
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...Loyalty in The Odyssey Many human cultures assign values as well as worthiness to the existence of loyalty. As a Classical culture known for its emphasis of loyalty at home as well as abroad, the faithfulness of ancient Greeks in their relationships is exemplified in many Classical texts, such as Homer’s The Odyssey. In both ancient Greece as well as in The Odyssey, loyalty was the social norm because of the egalitarian nature of the city-state as well as because of the typical ancient Greek family structure. Not only because of social expectations as well as traditions was loyalty expected, but there was also an added pressure by one’s religious conviction such that it was believed that if the guests were in any way or manner mistreated, then the ancient Greek deities would punish the offender(s). There are several passages in Homer’s Classical text The Odyssey which illustrate these aspects of ancient Greek loyalty. In illustration of the faithfulness between Odysseus as well as his crew, there is a passage that notes loyalty in the crew-leader relationship: He saw the town as well as learned the minds of many distant men, as well as weathered many bitter nights as well as days his deep heart at sea, while he fought only to save his life, to bring his shipmates home. But not by will or valor could he save them, for their own recklessness destroyed them all- children as well as fools they killed as well as feasted on the cattle of Lord Helios, the Sun… (651). It would initially...
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...Throughout Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey and Frazier’s novel Cold Mountain, many similarities are displayed. A few similarities exemplified are the character traits shared between the protagonists, the destination of the journeys, and the motivations for the character’s adventures. Similar character traits are shared between Odysseus and Inman. Odysseus, the protagonist of The Odyssey, is the leader of the Greeks in the Trojan war. Inman, the protagonist of Cold Mountain, is a Confederate soldier during the Civil War. Both Odysseus and Inman share the quality of partaking in a war of some time period. When traveling through their journeys, both of the characters are required to think intelligently when encountering conflicts of supernatural...
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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 Odyssey Some people believe in faith. When the strings of faith are tested, one can either stay strong or give in. Those who give in because it was the easier choice, are punished later on in life. Those who chose the more difficult path are rewarded in the end of his long and treturous journey. This same idea can be found in Robert Fitzgerald's translation of Homer's The Odyssey. This piece can be interpteted in two different ways. One from the time period of when it was written, and one in our current time period. Although Odysseus was offered to live with the beautiful and immortal goddess Calypso, he chooses to take the more challenging path. The more challenging path reveals itself as the rewarding path home to his wife Penelope, thus representing the idea that love can withstand many obstacles and hardships. After embarking on an unexpected 10 year journey, Odysseus meets a beautiful goddess named Calypso. Odysseus ends up staying on her island for 7 years because on her island, time moves slower. Odysseus realizes how long he has actually been on her island and informs her that he must leave, and return to his wife Penelope. Calypso offers for him to stay with her on her paradise island, and become immortal. Odysseus declines her invitation, but in a civilized matter. “My lady goddess, here is no cause for anger./ My quiet Penelope- how well I know-/ would seem a shade before your majesty,/ death and old age being unknown to you,/ while she must die./ Yet, it...
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...Throughout Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus meets many women along the path he takes to make it back home. The women in the Odyssey are all unique and serve a different purpose in Odysseus’ life. Their individual personalities introduce new experiences to better equip Odysseus for what is to come, but their main purpose is to serve as ‘landmarks’ or ‘checkpoints’ for Odysseus. For example, take Penelope, Circe, and Athena. Penelope represents the end, for she is what Odysseus is trying to come back to. Circe would represent the middle, in which most of Odysseus’ battles were fought. And Athena represents the falling actions, the actions that happen after the conclusion. Circe, the powerful witch that caused Odysseus and his great men to falter, is representative of the middle of a book, where the rising actions would occur. On Circe’s island, the men get lured into Circe’s home for they are tricked by Circe’s...
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...direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination”, in reference to completing journeys. These words are relevant to Homer’s epic The Odyssey, and Kira Salak’s travel memoir The Cruelest Journey, where they both adapted to grueling situations during strenuous journeys. In Homer's piece, the protagonist Odysseus, embarked on a 10 year journey to his home and family in Ithaca, upon arrival he faces challenges to reclaim his family and kingdom. Likewise, In Salak’s memoir The Cruelest Journey, she reveals her arduous trip along the Niger River. Proving abilities to themselves, fulfilling a goal, and proving others wrong helped drive Odysseus and Salak...
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...surmount. Heroes are everywhere. Odysseus is the hero of the “Odyssey” by a blind poet, Homer. Odysseus fights in Trojan War for 10 years and it took him another decade for him to get home. He had to pass many hardships to get to his homeland Ithaca. The three main stages in Campbell’s “The Hero’s Journey” that exemplified in Homer’s The Odyssey are the crossing of the first threshold,the road of trials, and freedom to live. For example, Joseph Campbell describes that the crossing of the first threshold is the hero which is Odysseus who is accompanied by the guide which is Athena, the goddess of wisdom goes beyond the boundaries of his or his everyday, enter the wilderness, and has the first encounter with...
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...come from us, but it is they, rather, who by their own recklessness win sorrow beyond what is given.”(Odyssey 1. 32-34) These words are spoken by Zeus at the beginning of Homer’s The Odyssey as he explains that it is not the gods who are responsible for the suffering of mankind, but that these hardships come from one’s own choices and character flaws. Homer begins The Odyssey with this dialog to inform the reader that the fate of Odysseus, his ten year long journey home, is the result of his own choices and flaws rather than portraying him as a victim of the gods. Although Odysseus is certainly a great hero, Homer makes it clear from the beginning, through that quote from Zeus, that...
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...Patriarchy plays a major role in The Odyssey and victimizes several characters. The ancient Greek epic poem, by Homer, is about the journey of the Greek hero Odysseus to his homeland of Ithaca. During his 20-year struggle to return back home, he encounters many obstacles, including Poseidon who creates a deadly sea storm to punish Odysseus, women who hold him captive for a chance to win his love, and man-eating giants who kill many of his men. Despite all of these unfortunate events, he manages to make it back home to reunite with Penelope and the rest of his...
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...The Odyssey, written in the eighth century BCE, is one of the two main epic poems of Homer. Homer’s writing talent inspires others to create adaptations of the Odyssey. Two examples are: Zachary Mason’s novel, The Lost Books of the Odyssey, and the Cohen Brothers’ film “O Brother, Where Art Thou?.” The scene about the Sirens is a very famous section of both the novel and the film. The novel describes the storyline with vivid details, and the film does the same, but with a different storyline. The scene of the Sirens in the film starts off when the three main characters, Everett, Pete, and Delmar drives along a road with their stolen vehicle, which they have stolen from the previous scene. Pete starts to make such a horrendous noise and yells...
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...Odysseus’ Journey: A Path to Redemption In Homer's The Odyssey, the protagonist Odysseus sets off on a 10 year journey to reclaim his throne as king of Ithaca after the Trojan War. Throughout his journey, Odysseus constantly struggles with temptation. Odysseus faces the challenge of overcoming his weaknesses to obtain redemption from the gods. Odysseus' chances of returning home are compromised by his flaws and those of his crew; however, Odysseus possesses the necessary virtues and qualities needed to reclaim his throne. One flaw that dooms Odysseus is hubris. When Odysseus and his crew become trapped in the Cyclops’s cave, Odysseus uses his intelligence and cleverness to escape. After the escape, Odysseus brags and reveals his real name to Polyphemus, yelling from his ship “…if any man…should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so—say Odysseus…he gouged out your eye” (Homer 9.558). Polyphemus is enraged and curses Odysseus' name to Poseidon, praying that his father will delay Odysseus’ return. Poseidon curses Odysseus and his men by causing storms and winds to prevent him and his crew from returning home. If Odysseus didn’t let his pride influence him in this instance, he may have returned to Ithaca earlier and saved the lives of many of his men. Another example of Odysseus’ pride compromising the success of the journey was when the crew was facing the Sirens. The Sirens are dangerous sea enchantresses that lead sailors to their deaths through song. Instead of putting...
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...can influence all aspects of his life. In Homer’s The Odyssey, the way characters are treated and viewed by others depends on their reputation. Those with bad reputations are threatened or abused by the gods, while those with good reputations are loved and rewarded by the gods. A character’s reputation determined how one is treated, and if one was favored by the gods. In the epic, Odysseus earns kleos and therefore he is treated like a god when he travels to other places. During his journey, Odysseus encountered many people who welcomed him into their homes. In Book 10, Aeolus “hosted [Odysseus] for one entire month” (10. 17) and “he denied me [Odysseus] nothing” (10. 21) after “he pressed me [Odysseus] for news of Troy and...
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...In the words of Christopher Reeve, “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” A hero doesn’t have to save the world from a world wide mass destruction like superman. They also don’t have to be male. In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, the main character Odysseus and real life modern day hero Razia Jan model what a good hero really is. Odysseus and Razia Jan reveal how a good hero is someone who can overcome obstacles because it exhibits determination, inner courage, and selflessness. A good hero has the determination to keep moving even when there are hardships along the way. Through his entire journey Odysseus is being thrown into danger and terrifying situations nonstop....
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