Wisdom In The Odyssey

This simile highlights a stratagem adopted by Odysseus to help him and his men escape the cave. Odysseus selects four men to help him drive a sharp object into Polyphemus' eye; however, this tactic is ineffective because there remain guards at the cave's entrance who are tasked with catching any Greek that attempts to escape. This simile exemplifies Odysseus' wisdom as a war strategist, and his application of intellectual tactics to out-maneuver the enemy. After this plan proved to be a failure, Odysseus hid with the rams and successfully escaped. The consistent strategies Odysseus came up with to defeat the enemy even when they proved to be failures just indicated that he is wise and capable to learn from his mistakes. Arguably, war is a battle

The hero, however, has managed to win the war for his country using this cunningness, and his ideas outwit the opponents. Wisdom can be broadly defined as the application of knowledge. Odysseus effectiveness in war is based on his ability to analyze various scenarios; he also exploits any assumptions or weaknesses by the enemy in his favor. This attribute depicts wisdom because the main character applies the knowledge has of his enemies to ensure victory for his country. Furtherance, Odysseus understands the vulnerabilities of Greek leaders, and thus manipulates them to ensure he retains favor with the army; for example, when he convinces the leaders to vote whether he should be given the god-made armor. The application of knowledge by the hero is of a sly nature, but this does not make it any less wise. Odysseus managed to survive numerous life-threatening events by using his wisdom and this shows he is a cunning individual. Several suitors approach Penelope, Odysseus’ wife, as her husband is presumed dead. The hero returns to Ithaca after 20 years to find his wife being pursued by several men for marriage. Odysseus realized that if he approached his wife as himself that she would fall out of love with him. The hero, therefore, disguises as an elderly man, which makes the visiting suitors not realize that he was home. This strategy helps him win his wife back, as he can convince Penelope that he

During this incident, the hero asks his men to tie him to the ship's mast to protect him from the fatal Siren's song. Odysseus had been away from Ithaca from 20 years, and the presumption that he was dead was because his fellow citizenry could not perceive how a man could survive tribulations in the wild for this long; however, the hero applies several cunning strategies to defy this supposition. The Greek belief system emphasized on different gods for each attribute of life; Athene, the god of wisdom, supports Odysseus, for instance, in disguising as an old man in Ithaca. This collaboration between the main character and the god explicates Odysseus' possession of wisdom. Moreover, Greek mythology believed that a god can confer an attribute or skill on an individual, and hence the interaction between Athene and Odysseus is an example of such transference of wisdom.

Odysseus lives up to the epithet of being wise, which is evident in various actions and decisions made by this character. The author uses this hero to explicate that wisdom is integral in any battle strategy, and that it was a significant attribute of Greek leadership. The inclusion of the god of wisdom, Athene, helps the author further the emphasis on this attribute. Odysseus survives for 20 years outside Ithaca,