Odysseus In Homer's The Odyssey

The Odyssey, an epic poem written by Homer, is about the journey of the epic hero Odysseus to return to his home after the Trojan War. Odysseus must endeavor through many ghastly challenges, because the Cyclops Polyphemus afflicted him with a curse, to get him to his wife and son, and uniting his kingdom. On his journey home, Odysseus shows multiple traits of an epic hero, the two most related to that title is bravery and cunning. However the characteristic that stands out the most are his abilites to get his way out of difficult situations; cunningness and cleverness. One of the challenges Odysseus must overcome is outwitting a giant Cyclops who had killed most of his men, while simultaneously finding a way out of the cave they're trapped in. The Ithacan king must also keep his men from falling under the trance of the deadly
sirens, and kill the scores of suitors inside his home by himself without creating suspicion towards him. These perils show how Odysseus is a clever and cunning leader. As Odysseus goes through those perilous situations, he displays his cleverness and cunningness to get him out of them. Odysseus displays his cleverness and cunningness when he confronts the Cyclops, Polyphemus, and outsmarts him to escape with his men. To escape, Odysseus plans to give the Cyclops bowls of wine, and knowing that he is very greedy, he believes the Cyclops will grow drunk and collapse. “Three bowls I brought him, and he poured them/down./I saw the fuddle and flush come over him” (9.310-311). When the Cyclops becomes drowsy and collapses, Odysseus uses this opportunity to blind the Cyclops and escape with his men under the bellies of Polyphemus’s lambs. This shows that Odysseus is clever because before he would watch Polyphemus to see what he does every day (in which this is him letting his cattle graze outside by opening the cave door). This also shows that Odysseus is clever because he deduces the Cyclops's character and uses it against him. Therefore, Odysseus sees how greedy the cyclops is when he devours some of his men, so he can use his Polyphemus’s greatest weakness against him, his lone eye. Without the eye he would be totally blind and would not be able to see where the crew is, allowing Odysseus to act on his plan of hiding under the lambs’ bellies and escaping to the outside. In this situation Odysseus is clever and cunning because he takes extra precautions against the sirens, so they do not all perish. Due to Tiresias telling Odysseus that before they go out to sea on a journey back to Ithaca that they will be killed by the siren’s beguiling song, he prepares his crew so they will not all die. “I carried wax along the line, and laid it/thick on their ears. They tied me up… and took themselves again to rowing” (12.712-715). Odysseus’s men are able to continue their rowing to pass the sirens without being drawn to their deaths, and Odysseus is able to listen to the siren’s songs, which Circe tells Odysseus, without being put under their deathly trance. Therefore his cleverness is established by using his resourcefulness to protect his sailors from future confrontations, and without it he and his crewmates might have suffered an untimely demise by the sirens. The beeswax allows the sailors to continue rowing so they are able to escape, and tying Odysseus down allows him to not suffer the consequences of rushing into a situation. Once again Odysseus outwits another deadly monster(s), showing his cleverness through his precautions. Odysseus’s cunningness and cleverness is shown when he plans with his son Telemachus to kill all of the suitors with just himself and his few allies.
Odysseus just recently reaches Ithaca and disguises himself as a beggar, but communicates with his son a plan that can result in Odysseus returning him and reclaiming his old life. “Look on, hold your anger… and I/shall signal to you, nodding: at that point/round up all armor, lances, gear of war/left in our hall, and stow the lot away/back in the vaulted storeroom” (13.1129-1138). Odysseus and his allies enact on the plan which allows them to storm against the suitors and reclaim the palace and Odysseus’s life. Whereas it is possible if Odysseus had not thought of the clever plan, then he would not have been able to reclaim his old life and continue to wait for the right time while his wife is being forced to marry one of the suitors. Furthermore, his plan allows him to easily slaughter the unsuspecting suitors, and join his wife at the head of the Ithacan rulers. Although the plan could've gone wrong, Odysseus is faithful in his son and his analytical abilities to outwit the
suitors. In the epic poem The Odyssey, by Homer, Odysseus faces a maniacal Cyclops, the deadly sirens, and the arrogant suitors to reclaim his scrambled life. As Odysseus goes through these perilous situations, he displays his cleverness and cunningness to get out of them. For him to get past them and continue on his quest, he must outsmart and outwit these dangers with his cleverness and cunningness. Because of these actions, it defines Odysseus’s cunning as one of his most defining and memorable qualities. This trait contributes to the development of the story and his character, truly defining him as an epic hero.