Character Descriptions Of Odysseus In Homer's Odyssey

In a patriarchal society, women lie at the bottom of the social hierarchy. A patriarchy judges women for their beauty and innocence rather than merit and intelligence. Throughout the twenty-four books of The Odyssey as well as Game of Thrones, a modern day rendition of medieval society written by George. R. R. Martin, women struggle for power in society.

Odysseus is more than likely the most renowned conqueror of all places during the time that he was alive. He was the mastermind behind the siege of troy and came up with the idea for building the Trojan horse all by himself. Many people probably believe that odysseus was more of a villain than a hero because he lead his men into dangerous situations in which some of them never returned home to Ithaca. In the passage on lines 130-210, Odysseus leads the men to an island with many sheep on it. Odysseus then decides that it would be a good idea for the crew and himself to stay on the island to see who the ruler of the island is or who the inhabitants of the island were. Then when odysseus decides to meet the cyclops and determine whether or not

Continuing into book 3, Telemachus is taught of the concept called xenia. Nestor, the king of Pylos, goes by the social contract of xenia, and shows Telemachus a good time while he is there. Nestor tells Telemachus stories of Odysseus during the Trojan War as well as Orestes, praising him immensely. Telemachus learns and appreciates the ways of his father, and so decides to follow the story of Orestes, and kill the suitors to take back his father’s home (3.52).

Two female characters are Penelope and Athena. Penelope is the beautiful wife of Odysseus. She hasn't seen her husband for twenty years and fears he is dead. She is pursued by many suitors who wish to take Odysseus' place. She weeps for Odysseus nightly. Some criticize that she doesn't kick the suitors out of her home because she likes attention. However, she has been without her husband for so long while he has been entertained by goddesses. If she wanted a little attention, then that would not be such a horrible thing. Nevertheless, she remains steadfast in her faithfulness to her husband. She even puts off the suitors using trickery that would make her husband proud, promising to remarry once she has finished weaving a shroud for Laertes,

However, his escapades in particular are especially demanding. For instance, Odysseus is held captive for several years by the goddess Kalypso, who allures him with her enchanting looks and mesmerizing ways, on the island of Ogygia. All the while he is there, the protagonist continuously longs for his wife and home. This is especially evident when he admits to the goddess, “Yet, it is true, each day I long for home, long for the sight of home” (5. 228-30). He struggles with this yearning emotionally, but is forced to remain strong. Furthermore, Odysseus later confronts yet another seductive goddess, known as Kirke, on the Aiaia. He almost loses the majority of his crew to this deity, but is ultimately able to save them from her. Eurylokhos, one of his crew members, tells him, “Like sheep they followed her, but I saw cruel deceit, and stayed behind. Then all our fellows vanished” (10.283-85). The time he has lost by being in Aiaia and the trauma of nearly losing his men had a tremendous, negative effect on the leader. Another example in which Odysseus experienced difficulties is during his conflict with Polyphemus, an infamous Kyklopes. The one-eyed giant causes many troubles for Odysseus and his men when they reach his island. From having to gouge his eye out to barely escaping the beast’s cave, Odysseus certainly struggled during his time there.

On the Cyclopes' island, he was interested in meeting the owner of the cave who had such fine cheeses. However, his men only want to steal the cheese and leave hastily because there was an uneasiness about the cave. Nevertheless, he fixes upon staying and not soon after, the cyclops Polyphemus returns. He and his men are now in peril because of Odysseus' recklessness. The consequence of his decision is that shortly after Polyphemus devours most of his men but this bolsters him to conjure a plan to escape. After he successfully exits the cave by blinding the cyclopes, he and his surviving men board the ship. As a result of his pride, he calls out to the monster, "If anyone asks who put out your eye, tell them it was Odysseus of Ithaca!”(Hinds 109). Considering the fact Polyphemus is the son of Poseidon, the cyclops calls out to him and therefore starts the troublesome voyage for Odysseus back home. When he returns to Ithaca he learns to control his hubris by replacing it with patience. Athena, the goddess of war and strategy, disguises Odysseus as a beggar because it is wisest to arrive in Ithaca without anyone being able to recognize him. This helps him create an element of surprise when he decides to confront the suitors and to deal the dangers of them possibly striking at him as soon as he walks into his home. In the time he spends as a beggar, he endures the abuse

Throughout all of human history, various pieces of literature usually reflect the nature of people and the current culture of the time it was written. A topic that was frequently written about in Greek Mythology were family dynamics and relationships between family members. More specifically, father-son relationships were an extremely prevalent topic in Greek Mythology. In particular, The Odyssey touched upon this topic greatly. The basic structure of father-son relationships have stayed the same like how the parent are supposed to take care of the children. But as general family dynamics and culture changed, the interactions between fathers and sons have altered greatly. In ancient civilizations there were less loving relationships between

Odysseus encounters many monsters and immortals throughout his homecoming journey. He faces everything from Sea Nymphs to Sirens, from Lotus Eaters to Cyclopes, and from Enchantresses to even the Gods themselves. Because Odysseus stuck through and pursued on, he finally returned to his wife and child. When Odysseus arrives in his homeland, Athena directs him to Eumaeus’ hut where he meets his son. At first, his son refuses to believe his father has come back, but eventually convinces himself his father has truly returned. After Telemachus and his father share a reunion, he leads his father to his house. Upon arrival, Odysseus disguises himself as a beggar and finds that the house has been taken over by sires trying to court his wife as a result of his actions. After completing Athena’s task, Odysseus reveals himself to his wife. However, Odysseus finds it very difficult to convince his wife that he has truly come back. When Odysseus reveals something no one else knows, Penelope runs to him and throws her arms around him. This sets off many emotions in Odysseus all at once, causing him to weep due to the euphoria of finally holding his wife once again. Odysseus’ persistence in returning home throughout a period of twenty years fulfilled his longing for love and to be reunified with his

In Homer’s Odyssey, excellence, or arete, in the form of cunning and physical prowess displayed by Penelope and Telemachus, respectively, do not hinder, but aid and benefit the excellence of Odysseus. Telemachus uses his strength, inherited from his father, to help Odysseus in his slaughter of the suitors. Penelope’s sly idea to hold a contest for her admirers allows Odysseus to reveal himself and reclaim his home. In the Books of Samuel, Jonathan and Samuel are often overshadowed by David (despite being excellent on their own) because David rescued Israel from the corrupted king Saul. Samuel’s greatness in prophecy create issues for David when it’s taken away by his death. Jonathan’s death threatens David’s

Women are weak, helpless, and have no real purpose other than to serve men and take care of children. . . or so they were perceived in history. In the Odyssey, one can see that Homer’s portrayal of women challenges the depiction of women during that time period. Throughout the book, many women intervened in Odysseus’ journey home to Ithaca, for better or for worse. One will see Penelope, Athena, Circe, and other women impact Odysseus’ expedition home. These women influenced the conditions of the journey by guiding Odysseus in different directions, and aiding him crucially. Their authority showed the idea behind an old proverb, which states, “Behind every great man there’s a great woman”. Throughout The Odyssey, the women exemplified their power during the course of Odysseus’ journey.

In The Odyssey, by Homer, Athena influences the lives of Odysseus and his family. In Greek mythology, gods challenge and control mortals. Gods also provide support to mortals and thus, mortals depend and act on behalf of the gods and their decisions. Athena, daughter of Zeus, is the goddess of wisdom, and both Telemachus and Odysseus benefit from her power. Athena possesses the ability to disguise herself and others, and this skill allows her to give advice and guidance. For example, Athena uses her power of disguise to help Telemachus on his journey to find his father. She continues to use this power to disguise Odysseus as a beggar to allow him to reunite with his family and prove his power and worth to Penelope among the suitors. Telemachus and Odysseus are ultimately victorious because of Athena’s power; in fact, Athena is the hero of this epic poem.

The Odyssey is an epic by Homer. It is a story about Odysseus journey back to Ithaca after the Trojan War. All the Greek heroes had returned home after the Trojan War except for Odysseus who was an important hero in Ithaca. Odysseus was absent in his son’s life and Telemachus decided that, it was time to find his father and bring him back home to his wife Penelope. Odysseus was trapped in Calypso Island for ten years and this made his son Telemachus to embark on a journey to find him after he learnt that he was not dead. The story is filled with mysterious and supernatural forces and happenings, but they still keep the characters going on in their expeditions. The Odyssey is an epic whereby the characters are developed

The book is surrounded by Odysseus coming back home. The characters that describes is Cleverness, bravery, intelligence, skill, and strength. he is a character who plays a highly important role in people 's life. It has been ten years since Odysseus has returned to his homeland. Throughout his journey Odyssey keeps his goal in mind getting back home to his son and his wife. In this book Odysseus has a very bad luck, he gets easily distracted through the path to home. Odysseus biggest enemy is his temptation it always distract him from going home and stay at the goddess house. The goddess who traps him in the mind web, but he shows his bravery fighting, showed cleverness by getting out of the situation. Odysseus wife Penelope is clever and

The odyssey, an epic told by Homer in ancient greece, has many major themes following odysseus’s adventures. While Odysseus is sentenced to never return home after the Trojan War. He is overcoming challenges to return home to his wife penelope and his son Telemachus. Throughout the story major themes of loyalty, hospitality and vengeance are hidden within the plot. The story continues to show his heroic side with three major traits. His first trait is being exceptionally skilled continued with cleverness and bravery. Despite Odysseus’s challenges he proves himself a hero because of the actions that show him as skilled, clever and brave.

Intelligence, loyalty, and fearless are only a few traits to describe Odysseus. In the Odyssey he proved to be extremely intelligent. The first time Odysseus showed his intelligence was when he told Polyphemus the cyclops that his name was “nobody.” He did this so when the cyclops ran away he would yell “nobody blinded me” rather than stating his name. He also shows his intelligence by the way he and his crew escaped the cyclops’ cave. Instead of simply walking out and possibly being caught, Odysseus thought that by strapping himself to the bottom of Polyphemus’ sheep he could successfully escape. His act of intelligence saved his and his crew's life.