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Who Is Odysseus Selfless

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Odysseus Character Analysis
In the classic tale, The Odyssey by Homer, the main character Odysseus makes some questionable decisions. Odysseus and his crew simply wish to return home to their families. Along the way they encounter many challenges that lead to the death of all of Odysseus’ crew members. Although Odysseus is often viewed as an epic hero who is selfless and brave, Odysseus is not an admirable character. Odysseus is not an admirable character because of his arrogance and overwhelming ego. In the story of the Cyclops, Odysseus was able to lead his men from the Cyclops’ cave to their own ship. As Odysseus and his men leave the shore of the Cyclops’ island Odysseus turns around and calls to the Cyclops. Odysseus starts taunting the Cyclops with harsh words and accusations which then causes the Cyclops to hurl a bolder straight at their ship. Odysseus’ arrogance led him to continue prodding the large man with more taunts, thus inspiring the Cyclops to pray to Poseidon to bring a curse upon Odysseus and his men. In anger, the Cyclops prays: …show more content…

Should destiny intend that he shall see his roof again among his family in his father land, far be that day, and dark be the years between. Let him lose all companions, and return under strange sail to bitter days at home.’ (Homer ln

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Homer writes about stubborn characters who are challenging for Odysseus because he is losing their trust everyday that him and his crew were not back home to their families. Although he is known for being a cunning and intelligent character, he is not the most mentally stable person. Odysseus has had his hypocritical moments which have caused plenty to question his leadership skills.

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380-381, 384). By revealing his true identity to the Cyclops, Odysseus unknowingly curses himself and his crew for the rest of their journey. The Cyclops is a son of Poseidon and the god performs countless acts which continuously setback Odysseus and his men on their journey home. This is a perfect example of when Odysseus is overcome with fame and can only think for himself.

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Overall, Odysseus is often portrayed as a “model hero”, but in reality he has many faults such as being untrustworthy, arrogant and

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Odysseus, a man who was known for his adventures, but do we really understand the attributes needed for an epic hero? The King of Ithaca had a very concealed past where it is hardly ever noted that his men were mistreated by their captain and all of Odysseus’ mistakes affected those around him. Odysseus, on several occasions did his men wrong and along his journeys, he became very willful and big headed. In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus has several misfortunes such as losing all of his men and being stranded and not returning home for 20 years, but evidently all of these problems were caused by the mens lack of trust in Odysseus and Odysseus being too stubborn and full of pride. The crew had a very important job in the quests that Odysseus

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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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Odysseus’s Traits Throughout the Odyssey, the main character Odysseus goes on an epic adventure with his focus being to get home to his wife Penelope, and his son Telemachus. He faces many obstacles dealing with characters such as the Cyclopes, Poseidon, Aeolus, Athena, Helios, Calypso, Zeus, Hermes, Scylla, and Circe. Odysseus’s men are some of the most valuable people to him throughout the Odyssey. He always puts himself in front of danger for them to protect them even though they all died from an unexpected turn of events soon before he returns home. When Odysseus comes home he greets his twenty year old son and straightens things out on his homeland, Ithaca.

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In addition, when the cyclops asks Odysseus for his name he responds

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In The Odyssey Homer makes Odysseus’ journey to his beloved Ithaca excruciating. Odysseus encounters many friends and foes throughout his journey and has to be a leader throughout his experiences. As an example, he encounters Polyphemus and Poseidon, both of whom make his journey mentally and physically painful. Odysseus faces countless scenarios in which he has to save multiple people in those situations. He also encounters the suitors, who are a group of men that try to marry Penelope, when he returns to reclaim his home.

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He gets the Cyclop drunk, claims his name is nobody, then stabs his eye and leaves him blind. The next day, when the Cyclop open the door to let his sheep out, Odysseus and his men make a run for it. When the reach the boat Odysseus reveals his true identity and brags to the Cyclop that he got away with what he did to him. Since the Cyclops was son of Poseidon, Poseidon curses Odysseus with a bad trip home because of what he did to his son. Overall, Odysseus is arrogant, making him nt fit to be labeled as a modern

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During Odysseus’s long journey home from the Trojan War, he and his crewmates stop an island inhabited by Polyphemus the Cyclops. Odysseus cleverly executes an escape for himself and his crewmates after blinding the Cyclops with a stake. However, even as their ship sails away, a hubris-filled Odysseus continues to taunt Polyphemus, even recklessly announcing his identity, “Cyclops—if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so—say Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged out your eye, Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca!” This instance of Odysseus striving for glory and boasting of his own cleverness catalyzes the demise of the rest of Odysseus’ journey home since Polyphemus curses Odysseus by name, and Poseidon answers his Cyclops son’s prayers. Odysseus is now stranded on Calypso’s island, having lost all his crewmates to additional acts of hubris.

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782 Words | 4 Pages

Odysseus was overly proud and could not see past himself causing the obstacles leading to his ten-year journey in the first place. He was not faithful to neither his family nor men, leading to his men’s death and caused suitors to court his wife. He, as the captain of his men, should have stood his ground more and make his orders more absolute, as it led to his men causing problems as well. Overall, this explains why Odysseus does not have the traits a

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In the book The Odyssey, the main character, Odysseus, is a man who is loved and respected by many. In the beginning of the book, we learn that Odysseus has left on a journey and, since it has been many years since his departure, many people assume that he has passed. On his journey, he portrays his many traits, not all of them being good ones either. Some of his good traits include his cunning, bravery, and hard work ethic. On the other hand, his negative traits are his excessive pride, immense curiosity, and rather large temper.

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541 Words | 3 Pages

Odysseus is an epic hero because of his bravery and confidence during every obstacle throughout his journey In Part 1 whie Odysseus is about to come across cyclops cave, he says “I brought along and victuals in a bag, for in my bones I knew some towering brute would be upon so soon- all outward power, a wild man, ignorant of civility. “ Odysseus is showing his bravery of not being petrified of what he might come across, like the cyclops. Odysseus has no intention of harming them, but he is not sure what their intention is. This example is important because not only does it show confidence in himself, he also shows confidence in his men. In Part 2 Odysseus also shows his confidence in his men in part 2 where Eurylochus says, “Are you flesh and blood, Odysseus, to endure more than a man can?

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1058 Words | 5 Pages

No matter what is thrown at him he never stops trying to get home, getting past a Cyclopes, the Lady Circe, and sirens. He even gets through the Underworld and lives. Despite this, Odysseus does have faults about him, though not as many as there are qualities. He is a worldwide symbol, an archetype, of both nobility and bravery. Odysseus, the epic hero of the Odyssey, a great leader with many attributes as well as flaws, is no ordinary man.

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Most men die only once, but you twice”(Homer 115). When Odysseus goes to Hades he sees his mother and many other people that he knows who were dead. When he sees his mother she tells him that he is going to get home eventually but it is going to be a challenge. This is a very emotional time for Odysseus because he got to see his mother that has been dead for a long time. Homer adds the challenges that Odysseus faced in the middle of the book to create an emotion in the reader and to help the reader better understand the reasons he was prevented from getting home.

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