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Examples Of Quick-Wit In The Odyssey

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The Odyssey is an Epic Poem by Homer about what happens to Odysseus and his men on their journey. The story starts with Odysseus telling a story to a king. Throughout the story we can observe the actions of Odysseus and form a personality. Three key traits shown by this character include foresight, resilience, and quick-wit.
Foresight is revealed early in the story when Odysseus and his crew are trapped in a cave with a cyclops after a misunderstanding, “If I killed him we perished there as well, for we could never move his ponderous doorway slab aside” pg. 761. The reader may notice another scene that displays foresight, “Therefore you are to tie me up, tight as a splint, erect along the mast, lashed to the mast, and if I shout and beg to be united, take more turns of the rope to muffle me.“ pg. 783. Both of these quotes act as support to the claim. To further elaborate, Odysseus doesn’t think on impulse, instead he plans for the future. This trait is vital as a leader, as he should be certain to not make a mistake otherwise his entire crew may suffer. …show more content…

“My name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends, everyone calls me Nohbdy.“ pg. 768. His fast thinking creates a much easier way for him and his men to get out of dangerous situations. He came up with the name Nohbdy within seconds and without hesitation, but even better, the use of this exact name stopped the other cyclops’ from knowing about them. “... and I grew sick with fear. But I gave command to my officers.“ pg. 777. This quote further explains the point as to show his prompt and keen mindset. The way that he commanded his officers as if they had nothing to fear kept the group together, helping them to feel more secure in their

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In Homer’s The Odyssey the main character Odysseus is both a trickster and a hero in the story. All throughout the story Odysseus uses feats of intelligence and cleverness to defeat his foes. Odysseus proves himself as a trickster when he says “My name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends, everyone calls me Nohbdy” (Odyssey 9.274-275). When trapped in the Cyclops cave, Odysseus tells him that his name is “Nohbdy”.

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1043 Words | 5 Pages

This is just a theory based on what we already know about him, but there are choices Odysseus made in the story that could have easily been able to figure out but choose not to. The example is when Odysseus chose to sail past Scylla instead of Charybdis, he was thinking of doing what Circe said to do “But now I cleared my mind of Circe’s orders— cramping my style, urging me not to arm at all.” The first problem that proves Odysseus was not thinking correctly was choosing to sail past Scylla instead of Charybdis. By sailing past Scylla, Odysseus is guaranteed to lose six of his men, one for each of the 6 heads, instead of Charybdis, a monster that create whirlpools three times a day and can destroy the entire crew if they were to get trapped in the whirlpools. The first choice already have six casualties and requires luck to get past with only six deaths while the second choice can result everyone dead or alive, but requires a

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444 Words | 2 Pages

While Odysseus demonstrates that he’s strategic throughout the story, he also displays that he’s arrogant; however, these traits make Odysseus survive his journey. One of Odysseus’s positive traits is being strategic, As Odysseus is in the cyclops’s house, he pours the cyclops three bowls of wine to get him drunk & the cyclops drinks the wine. Homer, Author of The Odyssey, demonstrates that Odysseus is strategic by clarifying “Three bowls I brought him & he poured them down”(569). Odysseus & his crew being trapped brought the strategic trait out of Odysseus by Odysseus needing to do something to get out of the cyclops’s house or else he and his crew would have died. In addition to Odysseus being strategic he’s also very loyal, Homer, Author of The Odyssey, demonstrates that Odysseus is loyal by portraying “Put heart in me to eat & drink, you may by freeing my companions, I must see them”(1.92.93).

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310 Words | 2 Pages

This allowed Odysseus and his crew to avoid detection from the other Cyclops and escape. It also directly outlines how Odysseus is using “fraud and not force,” or deceptiveness and cleverness instead of brute strength. Odysseus’ use of cleverness and intellect led to him and his crew surviving.

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This example shows how without Odysseus quick thinking, him and his crew would have all died proving that brains are more powerful than

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The Odyssey is a book by Homer about a character Odysseus who was stuck at sea for many years trying to return home. Odysseus is a warrior who conquered Troy with a wooden trojan horse and prevailed from the wrath of the gods. Odysseus shows many character traits in this stunning story, but the ones that describe him the most are brave, clever and determined. He is brave enough to lead an army into war, clever enough to trick a cyclopes, and determined enough to keep trying to return home.

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This is called “The trick of Nobody”. Odysseus, tell the cyclops,“Nobody is my name. My father and mother call me Nobody as do all others who are my companions”(146). Odysseus then intoxicates and blind the cyclops. Polyphemus cries out “Nobody is killing me by force or treachery”(147).

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They poured sweet sleep upon my eyes” (311. 320-338). Odysseus is showing authority by telling his ‘friends’ of the triggers on the island. If they are to interact incorrectly with it then they will be met with a consequence. Odysseus is showing strategic planning because he is predicting the future and taking the measures he thinks of to avoid harm. By doing this, he is taking into mind the well being of his men and himself so they can stay safe.

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The Odyssey by Homer is an exemplary story that teaches life lessons to those going on a journey for themselves. It illustrates how the challenges and obstacles one may face can help someone become a better leader. The Odyssey highlights one man, Odysseus, a man filled with excessive pride, experiencing the wrath of the god Poseidon. He expects to arrive at his home, Ithaca, safely to reunite with his wife, Penelope, but unfortunately faces many temptations and setbacks. Due to the challenges he faces, it prevents him from arriving home as early as he thought he would.

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The character Odysseus in The Odyssey by Homer is portrayed as having wisdom, intelligence, and perseverance. While hurting the Cyclops Odysseus used his insight cautiously into this situation, when he misleads the Cyclops about his identity he demonstrated his sharpness, ultimately pushing through the grief of his men of Scylla. Wisdom is a character trait that can describe Odysseus. Without the wisdom of Odysseus' throughout the entire journey, he would not have been able to return home.

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Odysseus also demonstrates effective strategic planning by heading the warnings he has received from Tiresias and Circe. Thus showing a level of care for his men that he has at times been

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Odysseus is most definitely very clever in the way he can think through a circumstance and execute a plan or mission. An example showing Odysseus’s cleverness is when he ran into an incident with the Cyclops. In order to save his men safely from the Cyclops, Odysseus gave the Cyclops wine in order to move past it. It was key that Odysseus did this at the right time or else the plan would not have worked properly. The wine made the Cyclops drunk allowing the men to poke out the Cyclops’ eyes.

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407 Words | 2 Pages

There were many approaches taken by Odysseus in order to show his perception on intelligence and how he used it. For instance, when Odysseus and his men were trapped in the Cyclops’ cave he thinks to himself, “I drew on all my wits, and ran through tactics, reasoning as a man will for dear life, until a trick came--and it pleases me well” (767). What makes Odysseus so intelligent is how diligent of a thinker he was; he thought of solutions almost instantaneously, and they always worked out to some degree. To be fair being a leader comes with making difficult decisions; consequently, his plans don't always fully succeed. Furthermore, while the crew is sailing into scylla he strategizes for what’s ahead, “But as I sent them on toward Scylla, I told them nothing, as they could do

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774 Words | 4 Pages

One way that Odysseus shows cleverness is when he is able to get his men out of dangerous situations. Two stories in which Odysseus uses his cleverness to get him and his men out of dangerous situations are in “Scylla and Charybdis”, and “The Cyclops”. Another way how Odysseus shows his cleverness is he deceives others to his advantage. In “The Cyclops” he deceives Polyphemus when he tricks him into thinking his name is Nohbody, and this helps him to escape the island and not get caught. Cleverness is a trait in The Odyssey that helped Odysseus to get him and his men out of dangerous situations, and cleverness also helped deceive others to Odysseus’

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797 Words | 4 Pages

Odysseus has clearly learned not to be impulsive in his decision-making from his past errors, for example on the island of the Laestrygonians and that of the Cyclops, his bad decision making cost many of his men their lives. This decision to wait and contemplate where he is and think about his decision is very smart because at his palace, there is a “world of pain” (11.132). If he ran home, he might have been killed by the suitors. This question shows that after suffering so much, he finally has learned patience. In response to this, and his whole speech, Athena praises him and says he is “so winning” and he is “worldly-wise” (13.377,77).

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