He believed that there wasn’t anyone who was better than him. Odysseus did not acknowledge the gods on his journey back to Ithaca. He thought he could get there all by himself. Odysseus was also unloyal. He slept with other women besides his wife.
Odysseus is a man of pride and commitment, even though that commitment he has sometimes gets him in trouble. When Ceres the Greek Goddess who wants Odysseus to sleep with her, he then refused which led to her changing his men into animals. Odysseus has to break his commitment to Penelope and sleep with her. Odysseus meets many gods which help him find his way home.
As Odysseus arrives to the island-home of Calypso, the beautiful nymph, he is quickly held prisoner. Although it may seem that Odysseus felt that he was truly a prisoner, he, at one point in his stay, enjoyed Calypso’s presence and was willingly seduced by her. It is clear that over the seven-year stay, Calypso had fallen in love with Odysseus and he had let his vulnerability to women become his harshest weakness. Her female dominance was even shown at times of manipulation through her ability to hold a man prisoner and prevent him from carrying on with his travels home. Although, when it came upon Athena that Odysseus was eager to arrive home to Ithaca, Zeus sent Hermes to have Calypso free Odysseus.
The responsibility for this suffering is caused by a mixture of both human actions, along with the intervention of the gods. The plotline depends heavily upon the idea of suffering, due to the separation between characters. The suffering through separation throughout the story plays a critical role in the development of the characters, and for the advancement of the storyline. Between Odysseus and Penelope and Calypso and Odysseus, the pressure of each character’s situation tests their mental strength, while highlighting their intense sorrow felt while being separated from one another. After Odysseus had defeated Troy, he ended up on an island with the beautiful goddess Calypso.
Calypso and Odysseus in the beginning do not like each other, Odysseus’ men went onto her island and she turned them into pigs. Odysseus made a wonderful choice to stay behind in case something happened, so after his men were turned into pigs he persuaded her to turn them back and help them. Odysseus’ background is not told to the reader. To figure out why he went to Troy the reader would have had to read previous mythology stories.
Athena is a major character throughout the book of The Odyssey and is known as the goddess of wisdom and battle. Throughout the course of the book, it is evident that Athena has a weak spot for the main character, Odysseus. Odysseus is trying to return home after the Trojan War, as the other Greek hero’s have already done, however he faces multiple challenges a long the way. Fortunately, for Odysseus, Athena was there to guide him through a few of these troubling situations.
During this period when Odysseus manages his crew, he channels his courage, perseverance, and intelligence to succeed. Calypso is a goddess who welcomes Odysseus on her island. This is a kind act, but Calypso doesn’t let him leave for eight years. Over this period of time, Odysseus becomes homesick and wants to return home to his wife, Penelope. Calypso is a powerful woman, which is something ancient Greeks feared.
The story of Odysseus would not exist if not for the strong female characters that all become a part of his journey. One of the women is the nymph, Calypso, who is forever banished to the island of Ogygia for her father’s wrongdoings. Odysseus ends up stranded on the island with her for seven years after being shipwrecked and lost at sea by Poseidon. Calypso ultimately acts a temptress to Odysseus, and serves as a constant reminder of everything he longs for back at home. Calypso means “to cloak”, which is basically what she is doing by hiding Odysseus away from the rest of world.
That is until Athena pleaded with her powerful father, Zeus, to help liberate him. Justifying my idea, Homer wrote “Though he fought shy of her and her desire, he lay with her each night, for she compelled him” (Homer, 914). If it were not for the hypnotic nymph’s compulsion, the righteous Odysseus would have been reunited with his love and queen years before. In addition to Calypso falling in love with Odysseus, so did the enchantress Circe, who also kept him on her island and away from his home. Homer states “Odysseus and his men beg Circe to help them return home” (Homer, 935).
The Odyssey is an age old classic read around the world. In the Odyssey, Homer tells the story of the wayward Odysseus. The story follows the protagonist as he makes his way back home, dealing with man-eating Cyclopes, a vengeful god, and a possessive nymph. During the story, the reader sees many sides of Odysseus as he dealt with his tribulations, such the cunning and witful side, but also the pompous and indulgent side. To begin with, Odysseus is trapped on an island with the nymph, Calypso.
Athena first plays the role of the puppeteer when she persuades Zeus to send Hermes to Calypso’s island to persuade Calypso to release Odysseus. Athena has always been a fan of Odysseus and his family, due to his tactical mind, so when she saw Odysseus in need, she wanted to help. Athena shows her persuasive nature when she says to her father, Zeus, “But my heart breaks for Odysseus, … far from his loved ones still, he suffers torments off on a wave-washed island rising at the center of the
John Ruskin once said, “The first test of truly great man is his humility”. In The Odyssey, an epic poem by Homer, the central character Odysseus learns humility through his failures and growth in obedience making him a hero. Odysseus reaches a heroic status through the lessons learned on his journey, which ultimately taught him the value of obedience and the dangers of arrogance. Initially, Odysseus appears to lack the heroic quality of humility, through his narcissistic nature.
We are proud of the love we give and receive, for our children and the habits, emotional responses, obligations and values that we teach them. In The Odyssey, Odysseus is no different and the importance of his family is demonstrated as he weeps tears of sadness in their absence and rejects Calypso’s offer of immortality in exchange for his companionship. “‘My lady goddess, here is no cause for anger. My quiet Penelope—how well I know—would seem a shade before your majesty, death
It was through Athena’s persuasion that convinced Zeus to have Calypso to let Odysseus leave her island. In response to Athena, Zeus said, “You conceived it yourself: Odysseus shall return and pay the traitors back” (Homer, Odyssey, V.26-27). The only reason Odysseus was free and performed the actions that he did after leaving Calypso’s island was all attributed to Athena. Whenever Odysseus appeared to be in a perilous situation, it was Athena who always aided him. “But Zeus’s daughter Athena countered him at once.
”(5.91-96). which Calypso is the cause of. This quote supports the reason because it shows that Odysseus does not like being trapped on Ogygia, especially with a woman he did not like. If he truly liked Calypso, he would have decided to stay with her forever, and forget his wife. But, he did not which proves his true loyalty to his wife Penelope.
