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Qualities Of Odysseus In Book 10

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"Which Odysseus do you admire the most - the Odysseus in Book 9 or the Odysseus in Book 10?"

In both books 9 and 10 of the Odyssey, Homer presents Odysseus in a variety of different ways. From being a brave and good leader who stabs the cyclops, to a curious and reckless leader whose selfishness risks the lives of his crewmates, Odysseus’s character changes throughout the books.

The first admirable quality that Odysseus displays in both books is being brave and a good leader. Throughout Odysseus’s journey to Ithaca, he displays great courage throughout, as he rescues his men, and fights monsters and the Gods. The scene in book 9, where he rescues some of his men from the Lotus Eaters and ties them to the ship shows courage and qualities of being a good leader, because he was worried about his crewmates not wanting to go back to Ithaca, and even “used force to bring them back”, showing how he cared for them enough to force them to come with him. By Odysseus tying the men to the ship, it also denotes how he didn’t want to risk them trying to leave and go back to the island, which shows how he is a good and sensible leader. …show more content…

In this scene, Odysseus splits his men into two groups, one led by him and the other by Eurylochus. Eurylochus’s group stumble upon Circe’s house, and everyone apart from him enters, as he suspects that there is a trap. The goddess who owns the house turns out to be Circe, who turns the men into pigs and places them into pigsties. Eurylochus finds Odysseus and tells him to not go back to the house, Odysseus without hesitation, takes his sword and bow to confront Circe, even though Eurylochus has become petrified of the goddesses’ power, and knows the dangers of going. This shows how brave and courageous Odysseus is, as even though he knew that he himself may be turned into a pig, he still took the risk and tried to save his

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