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Intelligence And Strength In Odysseus In Homer's Odyssey

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In many stories, the hero uses either his wit or strength to solve problems. However, in the epic poem, The Odyssey, written by Homer, Odysseus, the main character, uses both intelligence and strength in order to overcome the problems he faces. Both are used many times in the epic, but Odysseus relies more on his intelligence. This is shown many times, such as when he kills the suitors that stay in his home, encounters the Cyclops, Polyphemus, and when he decides to immediately leave the island of the Lotus Eaters. During the time when Odysseus killed the suitors, intelligence was more important than strength. This is shown by how he hides his identity and only reveals it to a few that he knows will aid him. As the text states “Would you be men enough to stand by Odysseus if he came back?” (Homer 215-217). This line shows Odysseus testing two servants of his if they are still loyal to him. Since he is disguised, he is able to test the two men to see if they are truly trustworthy. In the same story, Odysseus displays great strength that allows him to kill the suitors. For example, in the text …show more content…

This line reveals Odysseus’s great and powerful strength, as he is able to accurately shoot a bow that many men could not string.

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He doesn't tell his men this and he sacrifices 6 of his men just so he wouldn't die. The Charybdis is a giant whirlpool that swallows ships. Later in the poem he comes home to his wife but only she didn't know it was him. Odysseus was dresses as a beggar. He tests his wife to see if she had been faithful to

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723 Words | 3 Pages

The main point of this quote is that odysseus is a loyal man to his men, and would do anything for them. He would put himself first in any situation for them, he is a hero because of this. Heroes fight for the things they love, and odysseus proves that by fighting for his

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On Island #3 in Homer’s The Odyssey, the epic hero trait that Odysseus displays is being clever. Odysseus and 12 of his men go into a cave on Kyklopes Island. The cave is owned by Polyphemus, the kyklopes. Odysseus and his men are trapped in the cave and Odysseus comes up with a very clever idea.

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“With that he trained a stabbing arrow on Antinous … just lifting a gorgeous golden loving-cup in his hands, just tilting the two-handled goblet back to his lips, about to drain the wine—and slaughter the last thing on the suitor’s mind” (Homer 22.8). Not to mention the fact that murder is a terrible thing for any character to do, but Homer exaggerates the brutality of the murder. In doing so, Homer opens the reader’s eyes to a whole new perspective of Odysseus and his character. In summary, Homer greatly focuses on the many qualities of Odysseus, allowing the reader to form an honest

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In part one of Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus uses his epic hero qualities to help him out on his quest to get back home to Ithaca. He’s shows superb intelligence when fighting the cyclopes in “Book 9.” That’s a quality of superhuman intelligence that Odysseus possessed all throughout his entire journey. Another epic hero quality that helped Odysseus was help from Greek gods and goddesses. In part two of Homer’s Odyssey, Athena helped out Odysseus when he got back to his home land.

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642 Words | 3 Pages

One characteristic of Odysseus’ that makes him unheroic is his excessive lying. There are many events where he lies for either is well-being or to gain extra information from others. One example is when Odysseus and his crew had been captured by Kyklops and in order to escape Odysseus came up with a plan that involved injuring and lying to him. To trick him, Odysseus says, “‘Kyklops, try some wine. Here’s liquor to wash down your scraps of men.

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364 Words | 2 Pages

In 'The Odyssey' an epic poem written by Homer, a Greek poet, tells the tale of how the King of Ithaca, Odysseus, goes on an eventful adventure that costs him 20 years and all of his men. In this epic poem, Odysseus demonstrates many strengths and weaknesses. Odysseus' strengths are put to use and show how smart he can be. However, his weaknesses put him through many hardships and show what he needs to work on. Odysseus has many strengths.

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In this case, Odysseus distinguishes himself as the widely celebrated Trojan War hero, instead of the old beggar he appears to be, by virtue of his great strength and skill, showing the importance of that trait to the storyline and the Greek people of that time. Odysseus' physical strength assists him in defeating many enemies, human and mythical, and is fundamental to his role and an epic

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296 Words | 2 Pages

The epic hero Odysseus, in the epic The Odyssey, shows a lot different traits, but the most evident and important is the intellect. One of the situations in which Odysseus exhibits intellect occurs when he meets the Cyclopes Polyphemus. Polyphemus imprisons Odysseus and his men, but Odysseus tells him that his name is “Nobody” so when he contrives how to blind him and the Cyclopes yells to his brothers that the “Nobody” blinds him, his brothers don’t come to help him.

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1281 Words | 6 Pages

Odysseus uses his strength to get revenge on the suitors. Odysseus knows that he was no match for the suitors so, he comes up with a plan. He decides to disguise as a beggar and this shows strength because he was going up against the suitors. When Athena nods at Odysseus, Odysseus will signal Telemachus to round up all the deadly weapons kept in the hall, and stow them away upstairs in a storeroom. Telemachus should just leave a pair of swords for the two of them.

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463 Words | 2 Pages

Upon Odysseus arrival to Ithaca, Athena hides his identity to help him defeat the suitors. She turns him into a very old beggar to conceal his identity from everyone, most importantly the suitors. Odysseus reveals himself to his son Telemachus, cowherd and the swine herd. The nurse Eurycleia recognizes him because of a scar he got years ago by a boar’s white tusk. Penelope doesn’t recognize Odysseus at first sight because of the disguise.

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755 Words | 4 Pages

But, after angering Poseidon by blinding his one eyed cyclops son, Odysseus must go through brutal situations to get home thanks to the fuming god. The theme, the search for justice, is very prevalent in this text because of the fight between Odysseus and the suitors, the reunion of Odysseus and his wife Penelope and when Odysseus visits his father Laertes and Athena must restore peace because of the fight that breaks out there. To begin, the theme searching for justice is shown clearly when Odysseus returns home and kills the suitors. The text states, “Odysseus took aim and hit him with an arrow in the throat.

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574 Words | 3 Pages

Odysseus was a man of great stature and strength; however, Odysseus was not only physically strong, but mentally strong as well (Olson). We can see Odysseus’ mental strength, or cunning, and bravery when he is in the den of Polyphemus and devises the plan to save him and his crew by calling himself nobody and stabbing out the cyclops’ eye. He also recognizes that he

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541 Words | 3 Pages

The Odyssey by Homer is a book that involves the Journey of Odysseus and his men and the Obstacles they come across. The Odyssey portrays many themes including vengeance, hospitality, courage, bravery and more. Odysseus experiences some good and bad during his journey. He comes across people who help him, but also comes across creatures who hold him back. Odysseus is an Epic hero because of his quick thinking skills, bravery, and confidence for himself and his men.

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680 Words | 3 Pages

Odysseus came home to find suitors who were trying to marry his wife when he was away at war for 20 years. They have ruined his home and made it into a place of their own, all they wanted was the fame and power that Odysseus had and did not care to respect Penelope and Telemachus. When Odysseus finally revealed himself in the epic, he was able to get his revenge against the suitors. It has been long awaited but was able to kill them all including the fact that justice was served after all those years of their disrespect. Odysseus was able to put his revenge on the suitors when he found the opportunity after finding a way to disguise himself that way to gain trust from his people in his home.

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