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The Flaw Of Odysseus In Homer's Odyssey

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Odysseus is perceived as the most cunning of men due to the many tales about him in the Trojan wars. This image of cunning continues to show at times during his early challenges; in these challenges Odysseus gradually proceeds to display his shortcomings. Once a trial becomes personal towards him, he neglects his cunning and becomes a spineless revenge seeker. It is clear that while dealing with the Cyclops Odysseus holds his cunning nature intact as well as beginning to shed light on his tragic flaw. While his men were being caged by the Cyclops, Odysseus re-introduces his cunning nature with the strategic plan he devised in order to free his men. His plan on taking a “ beam / and spin[ing] it in the Cyclops’ eye… [once] sleep [has over come] …show more content…

During Odysseus encounter with Circe, the reader can catch him using his cunning nature towards her. When she presented him “food and drink” his first reaction was to set his “companions free” so that he can see his “eager companions” for himself (10.384-5,387). This scenario is an obvious demonstration of how Odysseus gently asked her to free his companions and cunningly portrayed them as dear to his heart. Undoubtedly he convinces Circe to turn the pigs “into [his] men” once again (10.395). Despite the fact that he can act upon his many great traits Odysseus chooses to act out of emotion.When he initially confronts the suitors with his actual identity, it is one of the first moment Homer has presented Odysseus to be angry. Homer describes Odysseus’ menis through his own words. Usually, Odysseus addresses people in general with respect, but here he addresses them as “dogs” (22.35). He goes farther mentioning how they “despoiled [his] household” and took his “serving women” to their bed (22.36-7). On top of that they “sought to win [his] wife” before he had even died (22.38). What made Odysseus more apoplectic is the fact that the suitors performed these misdemeanors before even trying to figure out whether he was still trying to reach his home. Instead of Odysseus using his intellect and cunning, he tells the suitors that they're “terms

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Also, we can see from the text that Odysseus has defied death multiple times with requires a lot of cleverness. Another example of Odysseus’s dishonesty helping him is in the quote,” My name is Nohbdy… Nohbdy, Nohbdy tricked me… ah well, if nobody has played you foul there in your lonely bed, we are no use in pain given by great Zeus… So saying they trailed away,”(Applebee, 906). In the quote Odysseus uses his cleverness to trick the cyclops into telling the other cyclopes that “nobody” is hurting him. This allows him and his men to not be found or hurt by all the other cyclopes.

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But he was only trying to trick, the cyclops into believing that ended in the cave accidently, but the fact is that he did it intentionally. Depict his crew’s advice, they told him to just still some food and hurry back. But he decided to explore and mess around in the cyclops cave. Then when he found out that the cyclops was going to kill him, he waited for the perfect opportunities to trick with the cyclops. When he saw that the cyclops was too tough for him, he made a plan to outsmart him.

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The prosecution tore this aspect to shreds. Firstly, while it was not right of the suitors to treat him that way, they had no way of knowing the beggar was actually the master of the house; Odysseus tricked them. Then, there was the question of why Odysseus had to pretend. The reason for it was because he had already planned to murder all to suitors and didn’t want to tip them off and have time to prepare. Then came the defense’s last-ditch attempt at letting Odysseus walk free.

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If he had been turned to swine by Circe or worse, the men would be lost without someone to direct them, like calves without their mothers. Later in the passage, Homer uses another simile where the men exclaim, “You’re back my king! How thrilled we are―as if we’d reached our country, Ithaca, at last!” (463-464). In this moment, the crew address Odysseus as “king” to express their loyalty to him.

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In myhtology such as Homer’s “The Odyssey” Odysseus’s actions prove him to be a heel throughout his journey, with his actions to frequently causing problems . During the encounter with the POlyphemus, Odysseus’s choice to meet the cylops caused the rest of the voyage to be cursed and for six of his men to be killed just because of his curiosity. When Odysseus decided to stay with the enchantress Circe he delayed returning home for a year because he enjoyed being pampered.

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Fear becomes a major element in restoring his identity as well by forcing the suitors to fear his identity; especially after he kills their leader, Antinuos. To exemplify Odysseus’s glory after he slaughters the suitors, Homer compares Odysseus who

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Their jealousy got in the way of what was truly right. When finally landing in Ithaca, he learns that loyalty is something that shouldn't be broken, especially when some of the suitors are from Ithaca, Odysseus' own homeland. This means that the suitors are disloyal to their King because they are courting his wife, stealing all his food, and slaughtering his animals for their feasts. Most importantly, they are plotting to kill Telemachus and Odysseus if he is ever to return to the island. He learns that the only way he can show that he is a firm leader is to reveal to all of Ithaca who he truly is.

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TS1 (Thesis): In The Odyssey, Homer depicts Odysseus’ real foe as the theme of temptation with displays of hubris and lustrous goddesses, which portrays the importance of being vigilant to not submit to temptation. ST1: Homer depicts that Odysseus is determined to get home, but Odysseus succumbs to temptation when he leads his crew into the cyclops lair, eats the cyclops’ food, and demands for a gift, resulting in a protracted journey home. 1: Homer displays Odysseus as recklessly brave when he requests, “we’re at your knees, in hopes of… a guest-gift”(9.300) from the cyclops. 2: It is apparent that Odysseus has given into the temptation to be arrogant when he declares for the cyclops to give them, “a guest-gift,” after Odysseus and his men have broken into the cyclops lair, showing even further Odysseus’ isn’t vigilant to

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The main character Odysseus in the Odyssey written by Homer is generally thought to be a great hero; however, he shows more traits of a quite flawed character on closer inspection. Around the beginning of Odysseus’ journey home after the war, Odysseus decides to take a detour to the home of a cyclops deciding to not listen to his men’s suggestions to leave while they still could; consequently, it does not end well: “Ah, how sound that was, Yet I refused. I wished to see the caveman, what he had to offer no pretty sight it turned out, for my friend” (9.130-132). This thought by Odysseus shows that he realized his decision to go to the mysterious island wasn’t the most rational one and that his men’s pleas to leave were the better option, but he decides to be stubborn and place his curiosity before his men’s safety resulting in a non-heroic

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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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But, after angering Poseidon by blinding his one eyed cyclops son, Odysseus must go through brutal situations to get home thanks to the fuming god. The theme, the search for justice, is very prevalent in this text because of the fight between Odysseus and the suitors, the reunion of Odysseus and his wife Penelope and when Odysseus visits his father Laertes and Athena must restore peace because of the fight that breaks out there. To begin, the theme searching for justice is shown clearly when Odysseus returns home and kills the suitors. The text states, “Odysseus took aim and hit him with an arrow in the throat.

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Odysseus came home to find suitors who were trying to marry his wife when he was away at war for 20 years. They have ruined his home and made it into a place of their own, all they wanted was the fame and power that Odysseus had and did not care to respect Penelope and Telemachus. When Odysseus finally revealed himself in the epic, he was able to get his revenge against the suitors. It has been long awaited but was able to kill them all including the fact that justice was served after all those years of their disrespect. Odysseus was able to put his revenge on the suitors when he found the opportunity after finding a way to disguise himself that way to gain trust from his people in his home.

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