Initially, using his boundless bravery and extraordinary leadership instincts, Odysseus is able to spare several of his crew men’s lives from the monstrous Cyclops'. Although the Cyclops is a “mighty man” with great strength, Odysseus “[speaks] up in reply” to him because of his gallantry (Homer 152, 278-80). Odysseus knows that standing up for his men is the only way to protect them, he must be brave and demonstrates this by sacrificing himself to prevent the giant man-eating Cyclops from consuming his men. He “[drew] the sharp sword from [his] hip” and “[stabbed] him where the midriff holds the liver”, blinding the immense beast (154, 324-27). Odysseus’s bold decision to stab the Cyclops requires superior leadership, facing a giant individually…
In the epic myth The Odyssey, written by Homer, Odysseus takes a twenty year long and perilous journey back to his homeland Ithaka. He must face many physical and mental challenges that makes him worthy of being a hero. The physical qualities that possess an epic hero include immense gallantness and dexterity. This can be seen when “Odysseus had blinded god-like Polyphemus, the mighty cyclops who was Poseidon’s son” (Rosenberg 78). Cyclopes are gigantic and man-eating. To face such a powerful, terrifying monster one must be extremely valiant, a trait that as you can see Odysseus possesses. A task like this also reguires a lot of skill, one must be clever because strength alone will not suffice against a Cyclops. The mental traits that epic…
Odysseus was definitely courageous in The Odyssey. Odysseus’ actions are important because they demonstrate how a small act that is spur of the moment can save many people’s lives. For an act to be courageous, it must require extreme danger to the individual. Defeating Polyphemus was definitely dangerous…
Heroes are characterized by their intelligence and resourcefulness, strength, bravery, and loyalty. Based on this description, Odysseus, the protagonist of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, is a hero. In the section “The Cyclops”, Odysseus represents these five characteristics in many forms. His bravery is shown when he approached the Cyclops, Polyphemus, while trapped in his cave, to yell about not obeying the gods’ rule of treating guests well, as he was not, to Odysseus and his men. A portion of what he told Polyphemus was, “We would entreat you, great sir, have a care for the gods’ courtesy; Zeus will avenge the unoffending guest.” While hollering at him, Odysseus was very much in danger of being eaten alive, being so close and yelling at…
Odysseus, the hero of The Odyssey, has found himself in many interesting, as well as dangerous, predicaments. Although these predicaments were extremely challenging, Odysseus always found a way to survive. His survival depended on his mind and body combined. Without this important balance of thought and strength, it is obvious that Odysseus would not have made it home safely, or he may have not even made it home at all. Throughout The Odyssey, by Homer, Odysseus showed amazing personal qualities that enabled him to survive his adventures.…
Wise Odysseus displays his mental deftness throughout his perils in The Odyssey by outmatching opponents relying on his brain in lieu of beauty or brawn. This is demonstrated when Odysseus is faced with the strong and formidable opponent, the giant, Polyphemus. Odysseus is well aware he cannot win against the giant by using brute force, as he is largely outmatched physically. Odysseus and his men are stuck in quite the predicament because if they kill the giant, they will forever be…
Throughout Homer’s “The Odyssey,” Odysseus’ actions and choices are the driving point of the plot. When he and his crew encounter Polyphemus the Cyclops, he tries to secure his legacy by shouting his real name, and giving other important information away. The Cyclops prays that a curse befall him and his friends and Poseidon hears him. After this, half of Odysseus’ men are turned into swine when they encounter an enchantress and give into temptation, and though no men are killed, the crew is again delayed in their journey by a year. Misfortune and death are prevalent throughout the consequent chapters, where men are constantly lost, and those that survive begin to lose faith in their leader. By the end of chapter 12, all of the men have died,…
The Odyssey, written by Homer, describes an epic hero to be a mortal male, someone who goes on along, dangerous expedition, also who is very brave, intelligent, and responsible. He will face many conflicts yet always manages to prevail. Odysseus possesses all these traits and demonstrates it throughout the entire Odyssey, such as when Odysseus and his men become trapped in a Cyclops’ cave and he needs to figure out a way to escape using his intelligence as well as when he must think up how he is too make it passed a deathly part of the ocean that lures you to your death with divine, angelic songs, and also having to decide between the death of…
One of the traits that Odysseus demonstrates is courage. This is displayed in many situations such as when Odysseus demands hospitality from the Cyclops: “It was our luck to come here; here we stand beholden for your help, or any gifts you give- as custom is to honor strangers. We would entreat you, great Sir, have a care for the gods’ courtesy; Zeus will avenge the unoffending guest.”(Page 1052) This is courageous because the Cyclops is a giant that towers over them and demanding anything from a beast of that size takes much courage and bravery. Another display of courageousness is when Odysseus comes up with the plan to make a weapon out of a stake with a sharp point and puncture the Cyclops’s eye out with it. This takes a great deal of courage and bravery for Odysseus and his remaining men to complete because it is a very difficult and risky task that could end in disaster at any moment. Odysseus also demonstrates courage when trying to avoid the Sirens, the Wandering Rocks, the Scylla, and the Charybdis while trying to sail home. He overcomes these obstacles with courage and intelligence that allows him and some of his men to escape alive. There are countless events in the Odyssey that…
Odysseus was clever after he tricked the cyclops, Polyphemus, to drink Odysseus’ wine. This caused the cyclops to become drunken and fall asleep. This allowed Odysseus to stab and blind Polyphemus. This was a both, clever and smart decision because if Odysseus killed Polyphemus, Odysseus and his men would be trapped by the massive boulder that Polyphemus put to block intruders from entering and exiting his cave. The Odyssey describes the sabotage as a bloody and gory event, “... straight-forward, lifted it, rammed it deep into his crater eye,’ ( Homer Pt. 1). The steps of the hero’s journey show similar insight, “ The hero's progress through a series of tests… obstacles that make them stronger,” ( Campbell 3). In the Odyssey the tests were an example of the fight with Polyphemus.…
To start, Odysseus was developed with standard Greek heroic traits. First, Odysseus was courageous in the face of opposition, as shown by his encounter with Charybdis and Scylla. The protagonist of The Odyssey commanded his crew to row onwards in the face of the monsters, showing his courage. He was also intelligent, as he devised a plan to escape the wrath of Polyphemus. Odysseus made the Cyclops drunk with his liquor before blinding him and allowing his crew to escape on the underside of the sheep of the island. Finally, the main hero of the story was perseverant, as illustrated when he left Ogygia, battled Poseidon’s storms, and made it to King Alcinous’s island.…
In The Odyssey, Homer gives Odysseus qualities of cleverness and skill while he overcomes his obstacles. Odysseus and his men face these challenges when Poseidon’s son, Polyphemus, curses Odysseus and his men when Odysseus tells Polyphemus who blinded him. Polyphemus then prays to Poseidon who asks for chaos on Odysseus’ voyage home, and he would rather have him dead than return home hurt. Because of this, Odysseus faces many decisive tasks ahead of his embarkment back home. When he lands at the island of the Lotus-Eaters, he saves his men and he forces them to stay on the ship. He decides to tie himself to a pole because he wants to hear the sirens, but he doesn't want his ship to go towards them. He decides between Scylla and Charybdis, and Odysseus makes a decision because he wants his men to stay alive. When Odysseus arrives home to Ithaca, he is sneaky when learning about the suitors in his palace. Odysseus uses his…
Odysseus was very witty because he came up with the battle strategy that ultimately let them win the trojan war. He created a wooden horse and hde soldiers in it to later attack. Odysseus set up a peace offering, which was the horse that help many soldiers,, they trojans accepted and believed they won the war. After a few hours after all the trojans celebrated and were very drunk, they came out of the horse, which was in the center of the town, and they attacked. They used brutal force and slaughtered many people. The Ithacan were ultimately victorious against the Trojans. Another display of wit was when he escaped from polyphemus, poseidon's son who is also a cyclops. Odysseus and his crew went into Polyphemus's cave and camped out for shelter. The cyclops was not happy and wanted to destroy and eat the crew members and Odysseus. Odysseus has to lose a few men to Polytmus by the cyclops eating the crew. Odysseus makes a plan to stab the cyclops in his eye and then claim hi name is Nobody, so when the cyclops calls out to his neighbors they believe that nothing is wrong. The plan works out flawlessly, except for when they left the island of the cyclops. When they left they left by boat to escape to another island and then ultimately back to Ithaca. The plan fell short because Odysseus was unaware that Polyphemus was Poseidon, the god of the seas, son. So, when odysseus and his crew left the island on boat and odysseus was boasting how he outwitted a cyclops, Poseidon heard and got angry because he had just injured his son. Odysseus also exemplified an epic character by his wit by listening to the sirens sing. Odysseus is the only person to ever be able to hear the sirens because he used his wit. By Odysseus placing bees wax in his ears he was able to listen to the sirens but not have to deal with the complications of him being dragged into the water ultimately dying. Odysseus exemplifies an…
- Explain why it is important to observe an individuals reactions when communicating with them.…
Odysseus has the standard qualities that make him a hero; strength, bravery, courage, nobility. He is also the embodiment of the standards and morals of his culture. But his most redeeming quality is his intellect. He proves time and time again that not only is he smart but also extremely clever. He shows this not only by openly evaluating situations but also by outwitting his opponents, such as the Cyclops. He uses this to his advantage, to overcome the obstacles preventing him from returning home. He also uses it in ways, such as lying, stealing and cheating,…