Achilles Vs Odysseus Essay

In Homer's works, The Odyssey and The Iliad, we are introduced to two men, Odysseus and Achilles. As you read these classics you learn about their personalities that display certain characteristics such as courage, concern for others, faithfulness, and wisdom. In the battlefield, Achilles fights with great valor and strength. However, on further inspection Odysseus proves throughout his trials to posses the qualities of the better man. Upon further reading, we learn the determination of Odysseus to return home to his beloved wife and son. He proves his faithfulness to her in his thought and actions. For example, although Odysseus allowed Calypso to manipulate him, Odysseus would lament night and day for his son and wife during the time he was there. She offered him immortality

Odysseus used this gift to deceive Polyphemus, the Cyclops, to escape his cave. Odysseus tells the Phaeacians of how he almost wove his own doom saying, “I thought at first to steal upon him, draw the sharp sword at my hip and stab his chest where the midriff packs the liver- I groped for the fatal spot, but a fresh thought held me back.”9 Odysseus was overwhelmed with anger because Polyphemus ate his men. However, Odysseus used his wise intellect to devise a plan that would save his surviving crew and himself. Odysseus again uses his gift to deceive his wife, son, the suitors, and maids by disguising himself as an old man. He used this plan to destroy the suitors and to bring them to their doom while saving his wife. On the other hand, while Achilles was cunning and brave on the battlefield, he foolishly let his emotions rule his actions. He killed Hector out of revenge, he abandoned Agamemnon and all the other kings out of careless fury, and he prayed to Zeus for the Achaeans destruction out of loathing anger. By controlling his emotions and thinking through his predicaments, Odysseus proves to have greater intuition and