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Essay On The Character Of Odysseus In Homer's Odyssey

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Odysseus is simultaneously one of the smartest and dumbest Greek heros. Taking place after the infamous Trojan war, Homer’s The Odyssey, chronicles the journey of Odysseus back to his home, Ithaka. However his ingenious mind seems worn out from the war as along the way he constantly makes mistakes that set him farther and farther away from home. Even with the gray-eyed goddess Athena helping as much as she can, simple judgement errors pop up everywhere. Ultimately, Odysseus is undoubtedly clever in the moment, his inability to plan ahead or see the hypothetical consequences of his actions often creates the need for his quick-thinking.

Even before meeting the Kyklops, Odysseus doesn’t use the critical thinking we know he has. While rowing to the Kyklops mainland, they saw that “A prodigious man slept in this cave alone, and took his flocks to graze afield- remote from all companions, knowing none but savage …show more content…

Other times there is just a disconnect between the obvious and the outcomes of the actions. This air-headish behavior is one of the main causes it takes him twenty years to get home. At every turn there is a problem, and yes he usually escapes them, but most of the times he is the reason he is in them. Either tiredness or something else is keeping Odysseus from using that part of his brain for everything. We know it couldn’t be a spur of the moment dumbness because he figured out the Kyklops killing was a bad idea in a “sudden fear”. Athena praises Odysseus for his smarts but seems to ignore his obvious faults. In the time he is being swept all over the Mediterranean sea, more and more problems that stem from poor planning happen. At some point Athena should catch on to this. Or, she already has and for some reason ignores his transgressions. Overall though, once Odysseus arrives home, he will have to deal with the angry suitors in such a way that it doesn’t backfire on him and lead to more strife.

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This text shows that Odysseus can be humble and accept that he needs to listen to survive and he alone can not keep his whole crew alive. Odysseus tends to use his own wit and skills to survive not needing others help, but sometimes he does need to take others advice to

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Odysseus’s Greatest Flaw It is very clear what Odysseus’s problem is. Throughout the entirety of the Odyssey, we can see the countless mistakes made by Odysseus. As a viewer, you focus on the main character’s actions and decisions. Seeing as that is what we look for, we can quickly observe that Odysseus is not the smartest of men. As you read through this essay, the answer to this question becomes clear.

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Without these peculiar, but precious traits, Odysseus would never had made it home. Odysseus’s quality of craftiness and quick thinking contributes to his intelligence. When he fought the cyclopes in “Book 9,” he had to think quick on his feet to help save him and the

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(Book 10, page 159, PDF). Odysseus had left almost always meant to die with only saving a few which may have caused a sense of controversy and confusion. Also Odysseus hadn’t thought of a way to save all of his men, which eventually impacted his journey and his entire crew. Though Odysseus did have several acts of heroic deeds, the amount of failure in a majority of those other acts overpowered them

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At various times throughout the story, mainly through the trials, Odysseus made many decisions and forced his crew to go through many potentially lethal situations without preparing his own crew, or situations that were just a waste of time. This then leads to not only all of his crew being killed but the creation of many bad relationships. The first example of Odysseus mistreating his crew is when he and his crew went through the trails, “No more. Come, / let me tell you about the voyage fraught with hardship / Zeus inflicted on me, homeward bound from Troy...” 9.42-44.

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The main character Odysseus in the Odyssey written by Homer is generally thought to be a great hero; however, he shows more traits of a quite flawed character on closer inspection. Around the beginning of Odysseus’ journey home after the war, Odysseus decides to take a detour to the home of a cyclops deciding to not listen to his men’s suggestions to leave while they still could; consequently, it does not end well: “Ah, how sound that was, Yet I refused. I wished to see the caveman, what he had to offer no pretty sight it turned out, for my friend” (9.130-132). This thought by Odysseus shows that he realized his decision to go to the mysterious island wasn’t the most rational one and that his men’s pleas to leave were the better option, but he decides to be stubborn and place his curiosity before his men’s safety resulting in a non-heroic

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This also shows that he is inconsiderate because if someone is a good leader, they usually listen to other inputs and act according to that, but Odysseus was headstrong and wanted to continue the taunting. The next time that Odysseus shows that he is inconsiderate is their stay at Circe’s land. The crew members have families at home which they want to see once again, but Odysseus is reluctant to

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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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