Examples Of Conflict In The Odyssey

The last literary device used is the conflict within the plot. The conflict changes the character, the hero either makes or break. He learns his self-worth and the author uses the conflict to show the hero used the communities values. Such as in Gilgamesh, “Enkidu was alone with sights he saw brought on by pain and fear, as one in deep despair may lie beside his love who sleeps and seems so unafraid, absorbin in himself for the phantoms that she cannot see- phantoms diminished for one when two can see and stay awake to talk of them and search out a solution to despair(Beers 50),” Enkidu is characterized as strong because he suffers through the pain because he didn’t want to slow down his friend. This part of the plot has given to the growth
of friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu. They both value the other’s life over their own. The conflict as shows other characters true self such as in the Iliad, “Life or death- now prove yourself a spearman, a daring man of war! No more escape for you-Athena will kill you with my spear in just a moment. Now you'll pay at a stroke for all my comrades’ grief, all you killed in the fury of your spear (Beers 61)” Achilles is shown as a man not backing down from his threats. He is following through on what he came to do and making him a man of his word. Hector did not back down from the fight either but the conflict Achilles shows that he is not the stronger one in the fight. The conflict allows for younger characters to grow within the story, such as Telemachos in the Odyssey, “Antinoös, I cannot thrust the mother who bore me, who raised me, out of the house against her will. My father, alive or dead, is elsewhere in the world. It will be hard to pay back Ikarios, if willingly I dismiss my mother. I will suffer some evil from her father, and the spirit will give me more yet, for my mother will call down her furies upon me as she goes out of the house, and I shall have the people's resentment(Homer).” Telemachos comes to an end pass where he doesn’t know if he should remove his mother from home or let her stay. Everyone is telling him to get rid of her, for their own personal reasons but nobody is looking at the problem from Telemachos viewpoint. This conflict is causing growth in Telemachos because he must become the man of the house and do what is right for his country. Conflict can also be inner-conflict such as in Gilgamesh, “And stood over humbaba with his ax raised high above his head watching the monster plead in strangled sobs and desperate appeals the way the sea contorts under a violent squall. I’ll serve you as I served the gods, Humbaba said;(Beers 53)” Gilgamesh growth from facing this conflict with Humbaba is one where instead of doing what he wants. He listens to Enkidu and makes the right choice in the end. The friendship between the two, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, is deepened because of the trust the one has in the other. True characteristics come out in the conflict and can be learned from, like in Odysses, “You are a hard man, Odysseus. Your force is greater, your limbs never wear out. You must be made all of iron, when you will not let your companions, worn with hard work and wanting sleep, set foot on this land, where if we did, on the seagirt island we could once more make ready a greedy dinner; but you force us to blunder along just as we are through the running night, driven from the island over the misty face of the water(Homer)." Odysseus is able to keep fighting without being worn out as quickly as the other warriors.
Eurylochus reminds him of this causing Odysseus to look at his actions. Odysseus learns that he is stronger, faster than normal man and that he is god-like. Odysseus uses this knowledge against his opponents, defeating many of them and finding his way back home. The true colors of other characters can come out in the conflict such as in the Iliad, “Struggling for breath, Hector, his helmet flashing, said, “I beg you, beg you by your life, your parents-don’t let the dogs devour me by the Argive ships(Beers 63)!” Hector to his last breath wanted Achilles to honor the code of the warriors and take his body to his parents. Achilles does not honor this code. Making him look like a bad person. But some people may feel that he is just acting revenge for his fallen friend. Hector has lost the battle and faces the consequence of his
wrongs. Killing Achilles friend brought on his death and in the end he meets his fate. Gilgamesh, Iliad, Beowulf, and Odysseus were used to show character growth through the use of setting, tone, mood, and plot -conflict. The characters changed and grew with the progression of each story. Ending each story with a hero, that the community needed at the time. The use of each literary device lead to the growth of each character. If not used the character would be a dull and boring hero, that no one would believe in.