Odysseus Strengths And Weaknesses

Strengths and Weaknesses Odysseus was a fierce fighter and had many, many strengths, but also some weaknesses. In The Odyssey, Greek culture is evident as Odysseus shows cleverness, arrogance, and courage on his journey. Through the poem, Odysseus expresses these attributes. One of Odysseus’s best known strengths is his cleverness and smarts. He over and over uses his cleverness to outsmart obstacles and monsters. For example, in the Cyclops episode, “‘Cyclops, you ask me my honorable name? Remember the gift you promised me, and I shall tell you. My name is Nohbody: mother, father, and friends, everyone calls me Nobhody’” (Homer 313-316). In this episode of the poem he tells the cyclops that his name is Nohbody. The following night Odysseus and his men blind Polyphemus. When he gets up and calls for help he says “Nohbody blinded me” so no other cyclopes come to his aid. His cleverness, in turn, allowed him and his men to escape with minimal losses to his crew.

He becomes over confident and his actions almost always lead to consequences. “‘Cyclops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes’ son, whose homes on Ithaca!’” (Homer 457-460). Odysseus’s ego shines through in this instance. He decides that he needs to have the last word and that everyone should know who blinded the great Polyphemus, so he reveals his name to the cyclops. After his rash decision, Polyphemus prays to Zeus to curse Odysseus. This would lead to even more difficulties in his