Assignment On Odysseus In Book One Of The Book 'The Odyssey'

“Stranger, there is no quirk or evil in you that I can see.” (104). She understands the hardships that he had been through and does her best to make him feel welcome, offering him clothing, food, and a place to stay. Nausikaa feels badly for what Odysseus has been put through. This is shown by the way she addresses him using phrases like “a poor man in distress” (104) and “poor fellow” (105). However once Odysseus bathes and dresses himself, her opinions of him change. “Uncouth he seemed, I thought so, too, before; but now he looks like one of the heaven’s people. I wish my husband could be fine as he and glad to stay forever on Skhería.” (106) She no longer saw Odysseus as an uncivilized stranger, but as a man who she desired to be a husband of her’s. When speaking of how he should enter the city, she claims that people would question whether or not he would be her husband, and how they could potentially mistake him for a god. She was very complimentary and had developed somewhat of a crush. Nausikaa felt that Odysseus was a good man from the start, but her feelings towards him changed when he cleaned himself

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,

Throughout the story, Odysseus demonstrates his courage that ultimately allows him to survive. One of these moments was during his journey back to Ithaca, where he faces a race of man eating giants called the Cyclops. Odysseus originally stops his ship there to relish a feast while on his journey back to Ithaca, but while doing so, out of curiosity explores the island. Soon, he finds a deserted house and decides to wait of the owner. The owner was unknowingly one the Cyclops, named Polyphemus. When the giant arrives home, he starts by eating two of the crew members alive. The remaining crew’s reaction to this was, “Crying out, we lifted our hands to Zeus”(Homer 9.287), But Odysseus thought differently, by quickly adapting to the situation and coming up with a plan. More

“Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.” -Erich Fromm

Odysseus cried out to the Gods that he doesn’t need them. He then chose to not make a sacrifice to the Gods, to thank them for their help in the Greeks victory. Odysseus shows his hubris again when he blames the Argives situation solely on his men and calling them “mutinous fools” taking zero responsibility. In this scene Odysseus is self-centered, and displays obnoxious behavior while disrespecting all his men. His arrogance is most prominent during his encounter Polyphemus. Odysseus met Polyphemus and claimed his name was “No man”. During Odysseus’ escape he felt a little proud and arrogant and told him it was not “No man” who had blinded and fooled him, but rather “the cunning”

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

Athena and Odysseus use deception and trickery throughout Homer’s Odyssey to test people, fulfill prophecies, and satisfy their own desires, and they are justified in using deception because they fulfill fate. Athena tricks those around her to test cleverness and encourage deception; Odysseus deceives others not only to return home and gain fame, but also to fulfill prophecy. Paralleling these two characters, God and Jacob in the book of Genesis engage in deception and trickery to complete destiny. Similar to the goddess, God also tests people, though he deceives humans to test their trust and obedience rather than their ingenuity. Jacob, comparable to the mortal Odysseus, uses deception to achieve success and find a home, while fulfilling

After they finish washing the clothes, they set them out to dry. Next, they bathe and rub olive oil into their skin. After they finish bathing, they start playing games on the bank of the river. Their shouting wakes Odysseus, who was sleeping nearby. Because Odysseus is naked, all of Nausicaa’s maids are intimidated, and they flee. However, Nausicaa stays because of the courage that Athena gave her. Odysseus pleads with Nausicaa, and she agrees to help him. Nausicaa decides to let Odysseus bathe in the river and give him food and clothing. Nausicaa wants her maids to help Odysseus bathe, but Odysseus declines the offer because he does not want the maids to have to see him naked. After he bathes, he rubs olive oil into his skin and puts on the clothes that Nausicaa gave him. Nausicaa then has her maids give Odysseus food and water. At first, Nausicaa wants Odysseus to go back into town with her, but she realizes that her going into town with an unknown man may cause gossip. Instead, she tells him to go back to town by himself, and wait for the girls at her father’s estate. She also tells him to then go to the palace and beg the queen for mercy. The chapter ends with Odysseus at Nausicaa’s father’s estate, praying to Athena that the Phaeacians will show him mercy and

In The Odyssey, the character Odysseus can be considered a hero because he demonstrates many characteristics that are attributable to most heroes. After the battle at Troy, Odysseus strives to sail back to his homeland (Ithaca); however, he encounters some issues along the way and Poseidon attempts to make it impossible for Odysseus to return home. At the beginning of this journey, Odysseus wants to make it back to Ithaca with all of his crew alive. This selfless goal displays Odysseus acting for the greater good because he knows that these men have families that depend on them and would like for them to come home. Along the journey home, Odysseus and his crew come across a cyclops and become trapped in the cyclops’ cave. Odysseus’ over eagerness

Although Zeus is surrounded by gods who prioritize their own desires and self-interest, Zeus remains the main enforcer of morality which manifests in the forms of enforcing the code of hospitality and the upholding of justice. His sense of morality overrules his self-interest and partiality towards his fellow gods. Zeus maintains his moral values and does not fail to act upon these values when dealing with both gods and mortals, despite the fact that his connections to the gods are deeper than his relationships with humans.

In this Epic Poem, Homer displays the significance of women in a subtle yet impactful way. In The Odyssey, Circe, the sea which of Aiaia, exposes men’s fragility of succumbing to tempting women and thus revealing the power of a women’s touch. When Odysseus’s men sea the smoke coming out of Circe’s house they follow it and discover a beautiful singing voice which they think can only come from a goddess. She brings them in for a meal and fools them, turning them into pigs. Odysseus asks for strength and courage from the gods which they give him and he uses his potency against her. All of this shows the role Circe plays as a woman in this Epic Poem, essentially she symbolizes temptation, a destructible woman.

Athena is a major character throughout the book of The Odyssey and is known as the goddess of wisdom and battle. Throughout the course of the book, it is evident that Athena has a weak spot for the main character, Odysseus. Odysseus is trying to return home after the Trojan War, as the other Greek hero’s have already done, however he faces multiple challenges a long the way. Fortunately, for Odysseus, Athena was there to guide him through a few of these troubling situations.

The conversation between Athena and Odysseus in the middle of book 13 reveals how each of them feels and thinks about the other at this stage in the epic. When Athena is first coming to meet Odysseus, after he has landed on Ithaca, she decides not to appear as herself to Odysseus, but first as a “young man… a shepherd boy”, and she then changes back to herself (13.252). She does this to get an honest opinion from him, as if she had appeared as a god, he might not have been honest with her. She also wants to hear his story, and see if he is actually thinking about her. After he does not “recognize” her because of her “endless” shapes, she is angry with him and accuses him of “never getting tired of twists and tricks” (13.340,56,32). She is evidently

The story of Odysseus would not exist if not for the strong female characters that all become a part of his journey. One of the women is the nymph, Calypso, who is forever banished to the island of Ogygia for her father’s wrongdoings. Odysseus ends up stranded on the island with her for seven years after being shipwrecked and lost at sea by Poseidon. Calypso ultimately acts a temptress to Odysseus, and serves as a constant reminder of everything he longs for back at home.

Odysseus is simultaneously one of the smartest and dumbest Greek heros. Taking place after the infamous Trojan war, Homer’s The Odyssey, chronicles the journey of Odysseus back to his home, Ithaka. However his ingenious mind seems worn out from the war as along the way he constantly makes mistakes that set him farther and farther away from home. Even with the gray-eyed goddess Athena helping as much as she can, simple judgement errors pop up everywhere. Ultimately, Odysseus is undoubtedly clever in the moment, his inability to plan ahead or see the hypothetical consequences of his actions often creates the need for his quick-thinking.