The son of Laertes, King of Ithaca, father of Telemachus, husband of Penelope and in many eyes a hero. During the Trojan War, Odysseus was credited with the idea of constructing a massive hollow wooden horse to be seen as a peace offering to the Trojans. Little did the Trojans know that this horse housed Odysseus and others who during the late night opened the gates of Troy to let their comrades inside. After an all out slaughter of the town the war was over. It took twenty years for Odysseus to return home and along the way encountered many challenges where he demonstonstated wisdom, loyalty, and skill which revealed his true character.
One stop on the voyage back home was at the Land of the Cyclopes. Odysseus and his crew docked near the island, but he only took his best fighters with him on the island, “As for myself I took my twelve best fighters and went ahead” (Homer 565). He knew that if they were to encounter any Cyclops on the island, he would need his best men to fight. By only taking his best men and leaving the others behind on the ship indirectly shows Odysseus’s wisdom. On the island they hide in a cave, but get trapped inside by a Cyclops, which causes Odysseus to formulate a plan to escape, “I hewed again to make a stake with pointed end. I held this in the fire’s heart and turned it, toughening it” (Homer 568). While the Cyclops is sleeping Odysseus and four of his remaining men stab the monster in the eye and later escape due to him being blind. The plot