Lack Of Free Will In Homer's Odyssey

An example of this is in Homer’s ‘The Odyssey” where Odysseus tries to persuade his crew to bypass Thrinacia, the island of the sun god Helios, but they were too stubborn and insisted on landing. Due to their ignorance, and refusal to listen to Odysseus they accidentally angered the god Helios and to appease Helios Zeus sent down a thunderbolt on their ship killing all of Odysseus’s crew except himself. This is proof of how this was not entirely his fault, and how his name and reputation of being a hero shouldn’t be

His sense of pride and arrogance makes him neglect the pleas of his men even in these dire situations. He is willing to satisfy his own sense of curiosity and pleasure without thinking of the consequences it would have on his man. Even though he is destined to escape all deaths and attacks, his team is not nearly as fortunate. Their lives are in mortal danger because Odysseus considers them as baby calves who should sacrifice their lives for him when the

However, Socrates is not satisfied with such definition and responses to Euthyphro that many of conflicts exist among the gods and what is pleasant to one god might be unpleasant to another. Consequently, Euthyphro says that goodness is something pleasant to all gods. So at end of dialogue, Socrates have not agreed with Euthyphro and says “So I think you’ve just been playing games with me, Euthyphro. I asked you to tell me what holiness really is, and it seems you’ve sneakily refused to tell me” (Plato, 1984, p.49). Thereby, the dialogue leaves readers with unanswered question “Does goodness exist?” and if it exists what goodness is?

Unlike Margaret Atwood’s interpretation of the Sirens, he does not see them as strong women who are in need of being rescued. He shows them as sinister creatures who are determined to destroy any man who gets in their way. The artist is inspired by the original Greek mythology and shows Odysseus as one recognizes his weakness and with god-like strength in his successful attempt to stand against the temptation of Siren

Again, on the island of the Sungod Helios, Ulysses' men disobey strict orders and feast on the sacred cattle when he goes inland to pray and falls asleep. The woes that Ulysses faced made his growth as a character more realistic and more credible because it was not simple or absolute. Although his men were not disciplined well and under control he did not make his men do anything he would not

Odysseus is also acutely aware of his surroundings especially for an illusion, for example, the island with the sirens singing. Even if these were warnings from the gods and goddesses themselves, he would still learn and remember what to do the next time he encounters these problems in his life. Lastly as I mentioned before, a hero must always show mercy to their foe no matter how bad they are. But Odysseus doesn’t show any mercy to his enemies, not even his own when they disrespect his honor and pride. A real hero doesn’t kill even if their honor and pride has been torn to shreds, yet Odysseus killed all those suitors because they were ransacking his house and eating his goods.

While Oedipus slanders the gods at every chance given, Creon is more respectful, he listens to what the gods say and follow their instructions, so the chance of yet another plague due to the anger of the gods is unlikely. The destruction that hailed onto Thebes was due to Oedipus’ murder of Laius, but one has to think that perhaps the reason the gods even brought up now was because of his constant smearing of the gods skills and knowledge. Perhaps, if he was more respectful, the price of his murder may have been let off and forgotten, seeing as he is a hero. Yet he brought this anger down on himself, on all of Thebes, and Creon was the one who knew how to fix it not Oedipus. Creon was the one who called for Tiresias, who knew that the gods needed something in return for the cease of the

He also appeals to the men’s emotions by stating “We have no strong Odysseus to defend us, / and as to putting up a fight ourselves- we’d only show our incompetence in arms” (X 63-65). This is expressing Telemakhos’ desperation because he knows that he does not have the ability to defeat the suitors himself and take back control of his home. In addition, he says, “Think of the talk in the islands all around us, / and fear the wrath of the Gods, / or they may turn, and send you some devilry” (X 70-72). Telemakhos says this to make the men of Ithaca think about their immortal fame (kleos). If they allow this to happen in Odysseus’ home without intervening, their eternal reputation would be tarnished.

Since the Cyclops was son of Poseidon, Poseidon curses Odysseus with a bad trip home because of what he did to his son. Overall, Odysseus is arrogant, making him nt fit to be labeled as a modern

Odysseus immediately tries to blame Zeus and the other gods. It was Odysseus’s fault his men were starving and had nothing to eat. He was not there to remind his men that the cattle was not for eating. A hero would take full responsibility for the mistake they made. Odysseus was not there when he should have been and should not have tried to place the blame on someone other than