Odysseus 'Prevails In Homer's The Odyssey'

Lucas Betz

Ms. Philipp

English I Honors

7 April 2023

The Mentally Strong Prevail People are often allured to stray from the path of what is good by the temptation of glory. Only those of discipline are able to evade these temptations. In Homers’ epic The Odyssey, Odysseus, a hero and warrior who is the king of Ithaca, is the protagonist of the story. He embarks on a treacherous journey full of different temptations such as Calypso, the loveliest of all goddesses, the Lotus Eaters, who make you forget all hope of returning home, and Circe, a beautiful enchantress. Odysseus is able to surpass the appeal of all of these obstacles and return to his homeland Ithaca out of loyalty to his home and family which proves that a strong will and

a beautiful enchantress, and decides to refuse both of the temptations showing his reasoning of returning to Ithaca as loyalty to his family and home. Odysseus becomes stranded on Calypso's island which is described by the messenger god Hermes as a thing of immense beauty. Calypso herself is extremely beautiful and tempts Odysseus to stay with her on the island by making the offer that as long as he resides on her, he is an immortal and will live out his days with her. Odysseus explains to Calypso while talking about his wife “death and old age unknown to you,/ while she must die. Yet, it is true, each day/ I long for home, long for the sight of home” (Homer 326-328). This quote proves Odysseus' is strong willed because of what he is giving up by leaving Calypso and her isle. Odysseus is ridding himself of the chance to live forever in immortality with a beautiful goddess on an enchanting island by returning home to his mortal wife and homeland. When Odysseus says to Calypso “I long for home, long for the sight of home” it shows that he does not care for the temptation of her and his strong will prevails through her trials. Although Odyseus was tempted with Calypso, it was not the only time. He was also tempted by the witch Circe, a beautiful enchantress. When Odyseus and his men were

After Odysseus leaves Cicones, he and his crew arrive at the island of the Lotus Eaters where he sends out three of his men to search the island for food or resources. They meet the Lotus Eaters, natives to the island who seem quite hospitable to the three men at first. They even offer them Lotuses to eat as a gesture of kindness. However the Lotuses have an unexpected side effect causing the men to lose their desire to return home. Odysseus claims, “I drove them, all three wailing, to the ships,/ tied them down under their rowing benches,/ and called the rest: ‘All hands aboard;/ come, clear the beach and no one taste/ the Lotus, or you will lose your hope of home’” (Homer 100-105). This quote exhibits Odysseus’ determination to return home triumphing over his temptation to remain on the island with the Lotus Eaters. Odysseus could easily allow all of his men to consume the lotus upon discovering the effect it had on people and then remain safe on their island for the rest of his days. Instead, he chooses to alert his men and physically drag his three men back onto his ships and tie them to the benches. The fact that he chooses to rescue the men, who he had previously described as closer to a family than a crew, who already ate the lotus also shows his loyalty to his family because he could have just left them behind but instead pulls them onto the ship