Essay On Odysseus

True to You In the world today, finding people who truly represent what they are and stand for is a difficult task. Dictionary.com defines authenticity as “representing one’s true nature or beliefs; true to oneself or to the person identified.” Authenticity is often confused with conceitedness, when a person “has an inflated self-image and perceives himself as incredibly entertaining and wonderful.” My brother, Corey, to me, truly represents being authentic.

In the book The Odyssey, the main character, Odysseus, is a man who is loved and respected by many. In the beginning of the book, we learn that Odysseus has left on a journey and, since it has been many years since his departure, many people assume that he has passed. On his journey, he portrays his many traits, not all of them being good ones either. Some of his good traits include his cunning, bravery, and hard work ethic. On the other hand, his negative traits are his excessive pride, immense curiosity, and rather large temper.

Odysseus knew it himself that he and his men may not be able to get through this big of an obstacle, but he just pushed them forward. This shows an act of foolishness as leader because he did not notify his men of the dangerous obstacle coming towards him, but just keeps put to leave his men to fend for themselves. An example of Odysseus’ arrogance is when Odysseus brags to Cyclops and yells out, “O Cyclops! Would you feast on my companions? Puny am I, in a Caveman’s hands?

Odysseus is a typical example of a hero. He is able to pull off miraculous things to save himself and his crew seemingly without fail. The story of his journey is well known, and a great tale of his adventures. In the two parts we have read so far, we see what he is willing to do for his crew, and his intelligence and quick thinking in difficult situations. The first challenge that waits them is the island of Cyclopes. They begin by checking out the island to see if there is any danger, but they are caught. Odysseus then has to lie about the ship saying it had been destroyed. Then after his friends meet a terrible fate, he tells Polyphemus, the giant, his name is Nohbdy. After he stabs the cyclops in the eye, this leads him to say that nobody hurt him. After this Odysseus makes his escape, and is almost caught as they leave, so Odysseus taunts them, telling them his name and story. This is the end of act one. In act two they tell us of the island of Aeolus which ends up giving them a worthless gift, and then the land of Laestrygones, that destroy all of their ships but one. They then end up at Aeaea, and split up into two groups, one to search the island, and the other to watch the ship. The exploring group then gets trapped by Circe’s cunning magic. Following this news, Odysseus is offered help from Hermes for ways to avoid Circe’s magic. He then enters and tries to avoid the fate of his crew. Eventually he is told to bring all of his crew there, and he ends up

Odysseus fought tirelessly to protect his crew, his family, and himself, and used his four strongest qualities to do so successfully. With the evidence presented, it is clear to see that as a result of his use of tact, cunning, resilience, and loyalty, Odysseus is able to complete his journey

Odysseus is an epic hero because of his bravery and confidence during every obstacle throughout his journey In Part 1 whie Odysseus is about to come across cyclops cave, he says “I brought along and victuals in a bag, for in my bones I knew some towering brute would be upon so soon- all outward power, a wild man, ignorant of civility. “ Odysseus is showing his bravery of not being petrified of what he might come across, like the cyclops. Odysseus has no intention of harming them, but he is not sure what their intention is. This example is important because not only does it show confidence in himself, he also shows confidence in his men. In Part 2 Odysseus also shows his confidence in his men in part 2 where Eurylochus says, “Are you flesh and blood, Odysseus, to endure more than a man can?

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.

In the story of the Cyclops Homer’s theme is intelligence rules over brute strength. Odysseus uses brilliant wisdom to overpower the might of the Cyclops. Homer shows that with Odysseus’ careful tactics he was able to beat even the mightiest of people. Homer also teaches that if one cannot keep their cool wisdom and strength are nothing.

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.

However, examples within the literary narrative of the Odyssey leaves the discussion open with regards to his leadership. Thus, the question of leadership supersedes the topic of Arete. Was Odysseus the ideal leader or did he portray undesirable leadership tendencies? The examples that will presented will illustrate that Odysseus hubris, risk taking prowess, and at times unwillingness to follow instructions often placed his crew in danger as he journeyed Ithaca.

In the novel The Odyssey, written by Homer, Odysseus is portrayed as a bad leader because of his selfish decisions and bad character. Odysseus makes a selfish decision when he leads his crew to stay in Polyphemus’s cave thinking he would offer gifts and Odysseus would “accept (his) help, or any gifts/” he had to “give” (9.726-727). This is a selfish act because he is putting his crew in danger for something that would only benefit himself. In the end, many of his people died and no one benefited. Once again, Odysseus displayed selfish acts when Circe told him “ he will be the only survivor of their long journey” (Homer 764).

Odysseus is the king of Ithaca and is trying desperately to get home to his country and family. Along the way, Odysseus and his men are faced with many struggles, most of which are extremely dangerous, but never lose their hope for home. Although he may seem great, Odysseus is conceited, extremely unfaithful, and lacks in leadership. Odysseus may be strong and brave, but he is not what a true hero is. From the start of the story, Odysseus recurrently illustrates an attitude of conceitedness through his self centered actions.

A great leader views the world like he is looking through 3D glasses, always seeing the depth and vibrancy of the possibilities around him. A bad leader is like a cyclops wearing an eyepatch, never able to see his mighty hand in front of his own face. In The Odyssey, Homer illustrates the journey home to Ithaca taken by Odysseus and his men. Unfortunately, Odysseus makes poor choices throughout his travels and his actions often do more harm than good. Two character traits define Odysseus and shape his poor leadership style.

In what ways does Odysseus develop as a character during the time of the story?

He could have left and kept going straight for home but he instead went back to save them, this leading into another quality of Odysseus. Bravery. Throughout his venture he has stayed courageous, getting past the Cyclopes, Circe, and sirens. Now, he does have a multitude of great qualities but, despite all of the good that he has done, Odysseus still has flaws.