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Odysseus Tribulations In Homer's The Odyssey

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The Odyssey is an age old classic read around the world. In the Odyssey, Homer tells the story of the wayward Odysseus. The story follows the protagonist as he makes his way back home, dealing with man-eating Cyclopes, a vengeful god, and a possessive nymph. During the story, the reader sees many sides of Odysseus as he dealt with his tribulations, such the cunning and witful side, but also the pompous and indulgent side. To begin with, Odysseus is trapped on an island with the nymph, Calypso. In the story, Mercury travels to Calypso’s island to tell her that Odysseus must be released. However, during this meeting, Odysseus was on the beach with tears in his eyes. Moreover, he spent his days on the shore weeping for his dear wife, longing …show more content…

Once again, readers how witful he is. Moreover, Ulysses devises the plan to make the Cyclops drunk. He does this by making the giant think he is begging for mercy by giving him wine. However, when the Cyclops finally falls into a drunken sleep, Ulysses and his men blind it. This proves the protagonists wit because, in the story, the Cyclops barred Ulysses and his men in a cave with a giant boulder, therefore, had the men killed him, they would have never left the cave. Eventually, the men escaped the cave by tying themselves to the underside of the Cyclops's sheep. Despite his immense intellect, Ulysses falls short on occasion. After escaping the cave, the men made their way back to the ship. Feeling emboldened by his wonderful scheme, Ulysses began to taunt the giant. Despite his men’s pleas, Ulysses would not yield. His arrogance nearly cost his men their lives, for the Cyclops heard the taunts and threw a colossal boulder towards the ship, falling a little short.
In conclusion, Ulysses is like every other well-written character: realistic. Ulysses is like any normal human being, he has his virtues and his vices. In terms of virtue, Ulysses cares very much for his family, and fellow soldiers. Not to mention he has an above average intellect that helps him out of sticky situations. However, he does have his issues. After the situation with the Cyclops, Ulysses easily became proud, and it nearly killed him. All in all, Ulysses is a pompous yet intelligent character that will be remembered for years to

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