Examples Of Pride In The Odyssey

Reckless Pride: The Story of Ody.

Odysseus is traditionally known as a classic hero; a great leader. This, however, is a flawed understanding of who Odysseus truly was. He was an arrogant, selfish, and reckless leader, who routinely endangered his crew. Present throughout the story is Odysseus’ disregard for the gods. This hubris drives every conflict in the story. After the successful raid on Troy, the Greeks presented gifts, built shrines, and prayed for good winds from Poseidon. However, Odysseus did not feel the god deserved a shrine due to the side Posedion chose during the war. This shows Odysseus was a selfish hero who arrogantly opposed the gods. This then led to the loss of his crew as he and his men were blown off course. After losing

Instead of rejoicing in their escape from Polyphemus, Odysseus boasted; “Cyclops! If any mortal asks you how your eye was mutilated and made blind, say that Odysseus, the city sacker, Laertes son, who lives in Ithaca, destroyed your sight.”(Butler 500, Book IX) Boasting to the Cyclops shows his arrogance as he and his crew are far from safe. Odysseus' failure to trust his men with simple knowledge displays reckless leadership. This occurs when Odysseus and his men arrive at olus castle; he is gifted a sack of winds to help him along his journey. Odysseus is very secretive about the contents of the sack, as he says, “On this, the men fell to talking among themselves, and said I was bringing back gold and silver in the sack that olus had given me. Thus they talked and evil counsels prevailed. They loosed the sack, whereupon the winds flew howling forth.” (Butler 28-56, Book X) If Odysseus had only told his crew that it was a sack of winds, they all would’ve made it home. This shows a lack of trust in his men. Odysseus' disregard for his loyal

Steer your ship past it, great Odysseus. There lives Scylla, howling and barking horribly; her voice is puppylike, but she is dangerous; even a god would be afraid of her.” Odysseus is selfish and decides he can lose men as long as it gets him closer to his goal. This shows Odysseus is willing to use his men as a means to an end. He sees his men get killed and begs for him to save them. This draws no reaction from the ‘great leader’ as he tells his men to continue paddling through the water. Another sign of Odysseus’ arrogance comes with his passing of the siren. Odysseus arrogantly believes he, and he alone, can withstand the persuasion of the siren's song. Odysseus feels his men are too weak to weather the calls, thus, he instructs them to plug their ears. For the first time in the story, the king begins to fall to his desires. He begs his men to untie him and allow him to see the sirens. His crew, bravely, denies his pleas and are subsequently threatened. This shows both Odysseus' arrogance and lack of leadership. Odysseus’ encounter with Calypso, specifically his reluctance to leave her cave, shows his inability to lead his people. Instead of returning to the duties of being king, Odysseus falls to his