How Is Odysseus Clever

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.

In the Odyssey, Odysseus's main character trait is being clever. Throughout the story he shows many intelligent feats that show how clever he is. He is almost overly clever which can lead to arrogance. Like at the bottom of page 1147 Homer writes how Odysseus

He and his comrades need a way to escape but the large boulder only a cyclopes can move is blocking the only entrance to the cave. He once again creates a plan to trick the cyclops by telling him his name is "Nohbdy" so once he stabs him in the eye and the cyclopes call out for help but when they ask for who, he tells them nobody. The other cyclops open the way believing that the cyclops has fallen mad giving them a chance to escape (Homer Book 9 lines 27-30). This is such a brilliant way to trick the cyclops while also keeping some of his men alive and being able to

After weeks of sieges and losing morale, him being the smartest strategist of the troops has a way to win the city. He does this by tricking the trojans into believing they had given up and left them a gift. The gift was a giant wooden horse but little do they know inside the horse were the greatest fighters the army had. When night fell they got out of the horse and killed the trojans and let in the army as they slept, winning the war. This was the very first act of intelligence and cleverness from Odysseus. Without his trickery the siege on the city would have lasted for weeks, maybe months longer. Odysseus is one of if not the cleverest person in the story The Odyssey.

The second character trait that Odysseus mainly shows in Homer's book The Odyssey is brave. For example in book 9 line 110 Homer wrote when Odysseus waits in the cave for the owner to return. This shows bravery because waiting for the owner is putting him and his crew at danger if the owner isn't friendly but he looks past that to get a gift which is