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The Tragic Flaws Of Odysseus In Homer's Odyssey

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Through books IX and XII of The Odyssey, Homer has highlighted one of Odysseus’ most eminent tragic flaws: hubris, better known as having a copious amount of pride. One such instance where Odysseus’ self-confidence shone was in book IX, where Odysseus defeated the Kyklops, Polyphemus, and escaped from his cave. As he sails off the island, Odysseus continues to taunt the beast from his ship, and the shipmates- in exasperation- beg Odysseus to stop. However, Odysseus “would not heed them in [his] glorying spirit/ [he] let his anger flare and yelled/ ‘Kyklops,/ if ever a mortal man inquire/ how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him/ Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye’” (Homer 9. 540-550). Throughout this passage, Homer uses many powerful words and phrases that exhibit Odysseus’ pride. …show more content…
The phrase “glorying spirit” displays Odysseus’ perspective of himself, that he had himself in such a high status, that he did not need to to listen even to his shipmates. Instead of doing so, he “let [his] anger flare”, meaning he used their pleading to add fuel to his fire of fury. Additionally, the fact that Odysseus referred to himself as the ‘“raider of cities’” showed that he could not bear to be known to anyone as a ‘nobody’, his ego got in the way of protecting his identity. Most other humans would not reveal their name in fear of revenge from the Kyklops or possibly even the gods, however, Odysseus’ hubris caused him to risk his

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