ipl-logo

Odysseus In The Odyssey

700 Words3 Pages

Odysseus is the main protagonist in The Odyssey by Homer. He was the King of Ithaca and was great leader. In The Odyssey, Odysseus goes through many perilous adventures ranging from defeating a cyclops to escaping Scylla and Charybdis. Throughout them, he has shown many of his heroic traits. Examples include bravery, intelligence, and great leadership. Near the beginning of the story, Odysseus and some of his men are held captive by the cyclops Polyphemus. At this point Odysseus plots a plan on how to defeat and escape the cyclops by stabbing him in the eye and hiding under his sheep to escape (Homer). This well thought-out plan shows us how wise he is when it comes to using his resources. He uses a large branch and heated it up to impale Polyphemus’ eye, and use his sheep to make a stealthy escape. After his predicament with Polyphemus, the next dilemma he and his crew faced were the Sirens. Before they encounter them though, Odysseus visits Circe’s island and she devised a strategy on getting past them. The idea was to put beeswax in his men’s ears so they could not listen to the Sirens’ enchanting song, and Odysseus was to tie himself up on the mast of the ship (Homer). …show more content…

The princess of the island found him, took him in, and told his whole story to the king (Homer). Greek values of respect have been shown in this section of the epic poem. They took in a complete stranger into their kingdom and took care of him. Nearing the end of the story, Odysseus came back home, but his house is fine with suitors. To deal with this problem Odysseus makes a plan to hide all their weapons and kill about one hundred if the suitors (Homer). His determination to kill all of the suitors shows he is a courageous man. Killing the suitors not only have him revenge, but also brought justice towards his family. Odysseus’ long journey finally ends with him back home with his

Show More
Related
511 Words | 3 Pages

Homer was an ancient Greek writer best known for his book of epic poems The Odyssey. In The Odyssey, Odysseus is the protagonist who is meant to be the hero throughout the story; however, he does not display heroic qualities through his impulsive decisions, he is full of hubris, and displays terrible leadership. Throughout the whole journey, Odysseus makes impulsive decisions by never sticking to one plan. In the beginning, Odysseus and his men are stuck in a cyclops cave.

Read More
384 Words | 2 Pages

The first full paragraph of the Odyssey is an explanation about how Odysseus works out the logistics about bypassing the Sirens and avoiding any unnecessary deaths from his crew. Due to the reputation these beautiful taunting singing creatures

Read More
848 Words | 4 Pages

Summary: Sirens; Scylla and Charybdis: In the story, Odysseus quotes Circe, remembering her warning to him of the sirens, the six-headed, twelve-legged dog Scylla, and the massive whirlpool of Charybdis. She tells Odysseus to put wax over his men’s ears so that they do not hear the sirens, and gives Odysseus the option of doing the same or having his men tie him to the mast of the ship. She also advised him to steer clear of Charybdis and row past Scylla, where he would ultimately lose a few men. On their journey, they rode past the sirens with minimal troubles and no losses, and Odysseus elected to be tied to the mast.

Read More
1276 Words | 6 Pages

Odysseus was warned by Circe that the sirens were a deadly force to sailors. She explained to him that their song is so beautiful that men lose their minds. When hearing this, instead of avoiding the sirens and keeping himself and his men from harm, Odysseus decided that he had to hear their song for himself. Circe explained to him the way that he could keep his crew from hearing the sirens. She said that he can place thick beeswax in the men’s ears and have them tie Odysseus up tight.

Read More
313 Words | 2 Pages

The ending of the epic poem The Odyssey is when Odysseus come back from his journey and he comes home and finds out the wooers who has taken over his home. After he killed them anyone involved with the wooers plot was severely punished. I think that Odysseus has justified his actions against all the suitors. As Odysseus finds out that all the lazy suitors are sitting around feasting on livestock. Odysseus comeback to a bunch of suitors in his house.

Read More
606 Words | 3 Pages

As Odysseus begins his journey home, he has a large crew of men which he influences to help him do tasks. As they travel they end up needing to go through the Sirens. When they do Odysseus tells his men, “you are to tie me up, tight as a splint,/ erect along the mast, lashed to the mast,/ and if I shout to be untied,/ take more turns of the rope to muffle me” (Homer 1005,

Read More
1548 Words | 7 Pages

In The Odyssey, by Homer, the main character Odysseus depicts many heroistic qualities. After the Trojan War, Odysseus is fighting to get his crew and himself to their home of Ithaca against all odds. While on their way home by sea, they are blown off course and land on an island that has many sheep and wild game on it. Odysseus and a contingent of his men go to explore this island, as they are low on food and water. They stumble upon a cave full of food and begin to feast.

Read More
713 Words | 3 Pages

Odysseus’s main goal throughout the first half of the epic is to complete his journey home to Telemachus and Penelope. However, when Athena informs him of the suitors, he exclaims, “Come, weave us a scheme so I can pay them back! Stand beside me, Athena, fire me with daring” (Homer 299). Odysseus’s dependance on Athena for his success rather than fighting alone for the sake of glory against the suitors reveals a more humble side of his character. Divine Intervention is displayed when Athena disguises him as a beggar so he can carry out their planned revenge.

Read More
500 Words | 2 Pages

In the epic story the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is returning from the Trojan war, and on his way home he finds many obstacles ahead of him. Odysseus is the ruler of Ithaca and he is trying to return home to his land. Many creatures try and stop him from achieving his goal of returning home, but he and his crew have to push through and get home. Odysseus portrays bravery and courage leading his crew through these tough challenges. Odysseus heroically leads his crew and himself through dangerous obstacles, but also foolishly endangers them during the journey home.

Read More
258 Words | 2 Pages

In the epic poem, “The Odyssey,” part two lines 1-200, written by the famous Greek author Homer, continues the story of Odysseus’ journey to his home Ithaca. Following the previous events from part one Odysseus and his men are on the island of the goddess Circe. Odysseus is then warned by Circe of the events that will soon take place that will greatly affect his journey to his home Ithaca. After hearing these things Odysseus and his men then leave the island and Odysseus decides to share what Circe had told him. The first thing that Circe told Odysseus was that he and his men would encounter Sirens that sing beautifully and capture men she also told him he would need to listen.

Read More
624 Words | 3 Pages

Odysseus is a famous figure in greek folklore and an epic hero. he is the hero of homers epic lyric the odyssey, which tells the account of his ten-year-old journey home after the trojan War. odysseus is known for welcome intelligence deviousness and bravery. he faces many challenges on welcome journey including battles with horrors and gods, but he always survives to overcome them through his humor and strength. odysseus integrates the qualities of an epic brave person he is larger than life seizes superhuman skills and has a noble character.

Read More
1082 Words | 5 Pages

Then, Odysseus and his men sneak out by tying themselves to the bottom of Polythemus's sheep. Another obstacle that Odysseus overcomes is the Sirens. The Sirens are creatures which draw people in and kill them with their singing. In order to overcome this obstacle, Odysseus plugs all of his men’s ears with beeswax until they reached out of hearing range. He also addresses his crew saying, “Seirenes weaving a haunting song over the sea we are to shun, she said, and their green shore all sweet with clover: yet she urged that I alone should listen to their song.

Read More
581 Words | 3 Pages

The Odyssey is an epic poem written by Homer. The Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus, a Greek hero, who was traveling home after the Trojan War. Throughout his journey he faces many challenges, including battling monsters and dealing with the gods' fury. Despite these obstacles, Odysseus never gives up his quest to make it home and see his family. In Homer’s

Read More
756 Words | 4 Pages

The Odyssey written by Homer is a hero’s story based on the character Odysseus. Odysseus fought among the other Greek heroes at Troy and struggled to return to his kingdom in Ithaca. The story is his ten-year journey home and all of the obstacles he has to overcome. The major themes of the book include perseverance, determination, hospitality, pride, and suffering. The narrator speaks in the third person as if he already knows the story.

Read More
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.

Read More

More about Odysseus In The Odyssey

Related Topics

Open Document