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Self-Control And Restraint In Homer's Odyssey

271 Words2 Pages
In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus exemplifies sophrosyne through his self-control and restraint. After the Trojan War, Odysseus is on his journey home, when he and his crewmates make their way to the land of the Cyclopes. Once on land the luxurious resources in the cavern lure them, and they enter without consent. In shock, as two of his men are in the hands of the one-eyed Cyclops, Odysseus stands speechless at the sight of the “ruthless brute”, Polyphemus. His first thought is to bring the Cyclops harm, however “a fresh thought held [him] back” how could this crew lift such an immense boulder the Cyclops had left in front of the entrance (Fagles 9. 336-339)? “The man of twists and turns” uses self-control to help gear him towards the right decisions
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Odysseus, in The Odyssey by Homer, and I both demonstrate self-restraint. One time Odysseus shows self-discipline is when he’s in the cyclops’ cave and stabbed his eye. The cyclops “squatted in the breach with arms thrown wide for any silly man or beast that bolted” (907). Odysseus restrains himself from running the first time he sees a way out. Instead he stays back and plans for a better way out.

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In the beginning of the book Odysseus is impulsive and arrogant. After Odysseus blinds and defeats the Cyclops, he cannot contain himself. Out of pure impulsiveness and the inability to be humble, Odysseus yells out to the Cyclops, “If any man on the face of the earth should ask you/ who blinded you, shamed you do so–say Odysseus,/raider of cities, he gouged out your eye,/Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca!” (Homer 9.556-562). Odysseus is so impulsive he has to scream out his name to the gods and the Cyclops.

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In The Odyssey, temptation is a theme repeatedly explored by Homer. The issue of temptation is constantly providing the protagonist, Odysseus, with conflicts. From the very beginning of the epic tale, with Paris’s lust for Helen, temptation causes mayhem in the lives of the characters. It repeatedly prevents Odysseus from achieving his main goal of returning home to Ithaca.

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Odyssey Paragraph Odysseus, in the book The Odyssey by Homer, and I both showed self restraint in multiple different ways. One way Odysseus demonstrates self control is after he stabs the cyclops eye and the book quotes “Arms thrown wide for any silly man who bolted” (907). This showed moderation by him not rushing by the cyclopes and instead waiting for a better time. Another way Odysseus showed Caution was when he and his men went on the island with the lotus and Odysseus said “clear the beach no one taste the lotus” (898).

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In this compelling story, “the Odyssey,” I believe that it is an excellent choice for young ninth graders to read. Not only because of the choice of the school requirement but because it really has that impact of showing people how they prefer to see someone they’d admire but don’t really know them as they say. This story can also be vague but little by little it's understandable. Some of my reasons to this would be like our class for example, they would tell us to read certain parts and then we would discuss it and “graffiti” our packets of the reading and get to clarify the passage a bit more if some people were stuck and didn't understand it. We would also get in small groups to do small projects on what passage we’ve read and others would have different ones and we'd explain to them so we could all get the same meaning of the passage.

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Have you ever felt tempted to cheat on your homework or on a test? Have you been prideful of what your status or accomplishments? In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, the brave hero Odysseus encountered these obstacles of temptations and pride that people today still face. Therefore, temptation and pride were Odysseus’ greatest enemy throughout his journey back to Ithaca, as they distracted him on his voyage, prevented him from getting home, and displeased the gods.

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Determining the difference between right and wrong can be difficult, but life lessons help us figure it out. During The Odyssey, by Homer, Odysseus learns a few lessons, and one of them is that you should be aware of your surroundings and ready to use them. Another moral that he learned was to heed all warnings, regardless what your instincts say. These messages can be used in life today to help guide people during their lives.

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