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Challenges to characters in the odyssey
Challenges to characters in the odyssey
Challenges to characters in the odyssey
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His fate and journey are ultimately changed by the actions of others who are selfish, greedy, and foolish. The suitor’s greed gave him the extra desire to finally return to Ithaca, and his journey changed as he became desperate to return to Penelope. The selfishness crew caused his journey to be delayed, as he was forced to travel for ten extra days. The foolish crew, and their need to die with full stomachs caused Odysseus to be alone and stuck on an island with Kalypso resulting in more time away from
Appetites and Their Consequences in The Odyssey In Homer’s The Odyssey, Circe advises Odysseus that in order to survive, he must control his appetite to have a good reputation. On some occasions Odysseus listens to the advice, but at other times his intense appetite blocks him from achieving strong leadership. Odysseus wants to be well liked and perceived as a hero, but as Circe tries to warn him, sometimes survival must come before the desire to be a hero.
Odysseus is the spitting image of what an ancient Greek hero would be like but in today’s society or just in general, Odysseus is not heroic. He may have super hero qualities such as extreme strength and cleverness but he doesn’t embody them the way one should. In many cases he only saves himself, he is selfish, and he isn’t humble. These reasons alone leaves me, and should leave you, to believe that Odysseus is not heroic.
Odysseus was a hero of the Trojan war, Aeneas a hero of Troy and Rome, Oedipus a king who accidentally married his own mother. They were all to a certain extent ordinary people who went through harsh life changing events throughout their journey to become the heroes society thought them to be. Even though they went through many challenging obstacles created by the gods themselves at times, they all seem to always accomplish what they were set to accomplish. Almost as if it was by bear fate. Nevertheless each and every one of them were set out to do something no matter how long it took or what happened in between.
Odysseus is showing great authority by By deciding on different courses of actions he and his men have to face. Once Odysseuss and his men have enjoyed and eaten a portion of Circe’s food, he takes time to remind them of the dangers that come with the cattle on the island, furthermore deciding on the best approach that he can think of. “My friends, we have supplies on board. Let us not touch the cattle, or we will regret it. Those cows and fat sheep are the property of Helius, the great Sun God, who sees all things, and hears all things…and prayed to all the Gods.
An personal motivate and outside force that drives the action of a leader or hero in the text “The Odyssey” is Odysseus. Odysseus motive in the text to safely return to his kingdom, back to his wife Penelope, his son Telemachus after his twenty year journey home after the trojan war. As an audience we know that his family and kingdom is his motives because when Odysseus was trapped in the Cyclopes island, where Calypso fell for Odysseus and wanted him to make him her immortal husband and also give him eternal youth. But Odysseus refuses this offer of Calypso because he is determined to return back to his kingdom sinces his happiness lies with his wife and son. This is shown when Calypso says that her godly beauty is greater than Penelope's,
When they made to Cyclopes’ land, Odysseus wants to find out if the men on the land believe “…wild savages with no sense of right or wrong or hospitable folk who fear the gods (l70 line).” Odysseus and his men enter one of the Cyclopes cave without his permission. Odysseus and his men ate all the Cyclopes food, drank his wine and took some the Cyclopes stock. Odysseus wanted to leave but he
Personal strengths and weaknesses are magnified during the course of a journey. Some strengths that were magnified during the course of Odysseus’ journey were courage and self-discipline. There were many instances in which he proves to be a courageous man. In the Cyclops story, Odysseus knows that whatever lives on the island he has arrived to is “a towering brute” and a “wild man ignorant of civility” and yet he decides to venture into the cave.
In the Odyssey, Odysseus had to go to The Land of the Dead in order to speak with Tiresias who is a dead sage. He had to ask him about his future and how to get back to his homeland, Ithaca. He gave him useful information that helped him with his life. For example, he said to avoid the cattle of Helios. He is the god of the sun.
In real life we make our own decisions, and some of those decisions lead to bad outcomes, even though we don’t blame ourselves for many of our mistakes, we are to blame. In Greek Mythology, humans make many important decisions in their life, many of them lead to horrible endings. In the journey of Odysseus, he made many choices throughout his journey that eventually led to the death of all his crew members. In other stories from mythology like the stories of Theseus and Icarus, they made decisions that led them and their loved ones to life threatening situations. Even Zeus once stated “My word, how mortals take the gods to task!
Homer shows how Odysseus feels the pain of the journey strongly when his men are being devoured by the deadly man eating whirlpool, Charybdis. “She ate them as they shrieked there, in her den, in the dire grapple, reaching still for me- and deathly pity ran through me at that sight- far the worst I have ever suffered…”(Lines 821-825). As his men were being consumed by Charybdis, Odysseus realized that the journey would be more painful than expected. Odysseus also felt the grieving emotional pain of the journey when he watched his men face their inevitable deaths. “ No sooner had I caught the sight of our black hull, than the savory of burnt fat eddied around me; grief took hold of me and I cried aloud…”(895-898).
However, the monsters are not as interested in the indulgence of juicy steak, wine, or even the enticing and mystical lotus flowers, but rather in human flesh and blood. The Cyclops, Polyphemus, that Odysseus encounters on his journey gruesomely devours many sailors, tempted by the thought of being able to consume human “innards, flesh, and marrow bones.” The Cyclops continues his feast, “filling his belly with manflesh and great gulps of whey” (IX 312-322), as he greedily causes the demise of many sailors. This passage further reminds readers of the negative consequences of succumbing to the temptation of overindulging. It also acts as a clear warning to readers that feasting in excess is animalistic and inhuman.
When Odysseus and his crew were out at sea, he remembered what Athena told him. Athena told him that no matter the circumstances make sure your men don 't eat any living thing from Helios island and don 't tell them why. Odysseus knew he was approaching the island therefore he told
Odysseus and his crew members longed to return home, however this desire was in conflict with the many temptations that they faced. These are similar to the temptations that people today face. For example, on the island of the Lotus Eaters, Odysseus and his men were offered the Lotus
In the book The Odyssey, the main character, Odysseus, is a man who is loved and respected by many. In the beginning of the book, we learn that Odysseus has left on a journey and, since it has been many years since his departure, many people assume that he has passed. On his journey, he portrays his many traits, not all of them being good ones either. Some of his good traits include his cunning, bravery, and hard work ethic. On the other hand, his negative traits are his excessive pride, immense curiosity, and rather large temper.
