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The Free Will Of Odysseus In Homer's Odyssey

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The Odyssey, an epic poem written by Homer, follows the journey of Odysseus as he faces nonstop trials that risk his life on his way home to Ithaca. Homer characterizes Odysseus’s extreme loyalty to portray the specific trait of a Greek epic hero. One day, Calypso is told by Zeus that she has to release Odysseus from her island, which she had been keeping him captive on. So, Calypso, mad at the gods' hypocrisy, tries one last attempt to get him to stay: “After all these years with me, you still desire your old home? Even so, I wish you well. If you could see it all, before you go–all the adversity you face at sea–you would stay here, and guard this house forever, that bride of whom you pine each day. Can I be less desirable than she is? Less …show more content…

When the gods force Calypso into releasing Odysseus, she tries to manipulate and scare him about the challenges he will face, into staying with her on the island, but her tactics don't work on the ever loyal Odysseus and only increase his determination to reach home. Odysseus loves his home and his family to such a great extent that he will face life-threatening trials to reach them. Despite Calypso's beauty and her attempt to manipulate him with the things she says that would make a lesser person second guess their relationship with the knowledge of the power they could gain, Calypso’s attempt to make Odysseus second guess his relationship with Penelope remained futile, and because of this he remained loyal to his wife giving up powers and a chance to live forever with a beautiful goddess who was completely in love with him. Much to Calypso's disdain, Odysseus showed a strong resistance to her advances because Odysseus and Penelope have years of loyalty to each other and created a strong healthy relationship built on love and trust which will not break. So, undeterred by Calypso's advances, he never gave his heart to …show more content…

When the three men he sent to land never return, Odysseus learns that: “those who ate this honeyed plant, the lotus, never cared to report nor to return: they longed to stay forever browsing on the native bloom, forgetful of their homeland. I drove them, all three wailing to the ships, tied them down under their rowing benches” (Homer 148). Odysseus goes to find his men when they don't report back, because of this Odysseus goes to the land not knowing how dangerous it is and finds out his men had eaten a plant that made them forget everything and had a peculiar strong desire to stay on the land of the Lotus Eaters forever. Odysseus grabs them, even with all their cries, and ties them to the boat. Odysseus's loyalty to others is to where he risks his life many times for them. Odysseus could have easily left his men there to die, keeping himself from the unknown danger, and left on the boat with the rest of his men to continue his course in

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639 Words | 3 Pages

They no longer cared to continue their journey back home. “I drove them, all three wailing, to the ships, tied them down under their rowing benches, and called the rest” (Homer 101-103). Odysseus drags his men back and ties them down because it was the only way to get them off the island. He

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(Book 10, page 159, PDF). Odysseus had left almost always meant to die with only saving a few which may have caused a sense of controversy and confusion. Also Odysseus hadn’t thought of a way to save all of his men, which eventually impacted his journey and his entire crew. Though Odysseus did have several acts of heroic deeds, the amount of failure in a majority of those other acts overpowered them

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Odysseus goes to the land of the dead and during the time he is there he will encounter many new fates and things he must do as well. First, when Odysseus is in the Land of the Dead he is to sacrifice a lamb” I swore to sacrifice a black lamb, handsomest of all our flock”(11.1071-72). In this Odysseus is saying how he had made a promise to Teiresias and now he was to slaughter this lamb that he said he would do. Next, Odysseus encounters the spirit of his deceased mother “I see my mother’s ghost among the dead sitting in silence near blood. Not once has she glanced this way toward her son, nor spoken” (11.1145-47).

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“Hero may not be braver than anyone else they’re just braver 5 minutes longer” (Ronald Reagan). This is true in literature in The Odyssey by Homer, the reader can see Odysseus being brave and not backing down on Greek hero Zeus is always brave Odysseus is like God, Zeus because his super human bravery Odysseus is like Zeus because brave and role model. Odysseus and Zeus are similar because there role models. First, Odysseus goes to investigate the Cyclopes cave. As stated, “My oars… slowed, men followed filling breeches by the role lock” (homer, 9 79).

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Upon the coastline of lotus eaters Odysseus sends out 2 men and a runner to see what is on the land. He later notices that the lotus flowers his men have been eating make them not want to leave the island. Odysseus first shows his men loyalty when he goes to get his men no matter how much of a fight they put up and he then ties them to the ship so they can’t escape. Odysseus says to his men, “I drove them, all three wailing, to the ships, / tied them down under their rowing benches, / and called the rest” (Homer 9. 48-50). While on Calypso’s Island, Calypso falls in love with Odysseus and wants him to stay even offering him immortality.

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In Homer’s translation of The Odyssey, the epic sung many years ago, there is a struggle of warriors to return to their home land after the battle of Troy. They face many challenges and obstacles and generally rely on one person to lead them home, Odysseus. He is seen flawless by men and the smartest of them all. A leader must always carry qualities that make him such a person to be followed by many dozen men who enjoy his control. Although Odysseus was seen as a strong leader with no flaws, there were in fact many that have cost him many lives.

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In one of the most heartfelt moments of The Odyssey, Odysseus meets his mother in Hades on his journey back to Ithaca and discovers of her passing. So she spoke, and my heart yearned To embrace the ghost of my dead mother.

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On the other hand, in light of the fact that the three men were not in their right personalities, Odysseus needed to go and recover them. Odysseus ' constancy to his men is additionally appeared through this quote, "She ate them as they screeched there, in her lair, in the critical hook, coming to still for me and spooky compassion ran me through at that sight far the most noticeably awful I ever

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He has been away from home for over twenty years, and his wife for nearly seven, living by himself on a small island. Odysseus’s wife, Penelope, has had men trying to get her hand in marriage ever since Odysseus left to go on his own epic adventure. Penelope, however, refuses, and loyally continues to wait for her husband. They often miss each other, and “Every day for the last seven years he's (Odysseus) has sat on the same rock gazing out to sea, weeping for home and Penelope. Athena speaks to

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1862 Words | 8 Pages

He could have just left them, I mean, it’s only a couple of men right? He has so many more in his command. But no, Odysseus helps his crew to make sure that all of them can have the chance to get home, implying his benevolence once

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656 Words | 3 Pages

The cave is dark and musty. The beast is gruesome: nasty, brutish and gross. He gobbles down men and sheep for breakfast, lunch and dinner. With only one eye, decaying, rotted teeth, and the stench of his rancid breath filling the confined cave, the journey Odysseus had embarked on, did not look like it had a bright future. But, this was part of the journey that he had agreed to.

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557 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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756 Words | 4 Pages

When it was time to go, the crew was not ready to leave, so Odysseus had to be ruthless about it. “But I brought them back, back to the hollow ships, and streaming tears- I forced them” (214). Later in the book when Odysseus and his men arrive at the island of Circe, they are forced to search the island firsthand, but not Odysseus. “And so, numbering off my band of men-at-arms into two platoons. Weeping, leaving us behind in tears as well” (236-237).

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909 Words | 4 Pages

In the episode Odysseus and him men barley make it out alive from the

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1181 Words | 5 Pages

”(5.91-96). which Calypso is the cause of. This quote supports the reason because it shows that Odysseus does not like being trapped on Ogygia, especially with a woman he did not like. If he truly liked Calypso, he would have decided to stay with her forever, and forget his wife. But, he did not which proves his true loyalty to his wife Penelope.

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