In 'The Odyssey' an epic poem written by Homer, a greek poet, it tells the tale of how the King of Ithaca, Odysseus, goes on an eventful adventure that costs him 20 years and all of his men. In this epic poem Odysseus demonstrates many strengths and weaknesses. Odysseus' strengths are put to use very well and show how smart he can be. However, his weaknesses put him through many hardships and show what he needs to work on.
Odysseus has many strengths. Such as being crafty, smart, cunning, and even quick thinking. In 'The Odyssey' Odysseus depicts being quick thinking in the episode 'The Cyclops' where Odysseus tells the Cyclops, Polyphemus, that his name is Nohbdy. When Odysseus introduces himself as 'Nohbdy' the Cyclops believes it. So, whenever Odysseus and his men stab Polyphemus in the eye, he screams that someone by the name of Nohbdy is hurting him. The other Cyclops thinking he is saying nobody is hurting him so they leave him. Odysseus also demonstrates being crafty in the same episode. He shows craftiness by taking a tree trunk and sharpening it. He then puts the tip in the fire and uses it to stab the Cylops in the eye to escape.
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Some of his weaknesses are being prideful, stubborn, unloyal, and having a quick temper. Odysseus makes pride one of his weaknesses because after killing the Cyclops, they escape onto their ship where Odysseus yells back at the Cyclops revealing his real name and shames him for letting him escape. This does not work out in Odysseus' favor because the Cyclops' father, Poseidon, curses Odysseus. His other weakness is being unloyal. Odysseus proves to be unloyal when he lived with Circe for a year and they had three children. This is unloyal because back in Ithaca his wife Penelope, who stayed loyal and had hope he was alive, and his son, Telemachus, a wait his
Some of these traits include his courage, his thirst for kleos, and his intellect. Odysseus shows great courage throughout The Odyssey which makes him one of the warriors in the story. In book 1, it says that Odysseus went to fight in the war between the kingdom of Troy and
Odysseus’s crew being turned into pigs brought the loyal trait out of him because he needed to get his crew out of a spell that turned them into pigs and he was ready to sacrifice himself. Another one of Odysseus's traits is him being arrogant, as Odysseus is on his boat outside, he boasts about taking the cyclops’s eyesight to the cyclops. Homer, Author of The Odyssey, demonstrates Odysseus's arrogance by asserting “If ever martial man inquire how you were put to shame & blinded, tell him Odysseus took your eye”(574). Odysseus being arrogant affects his journey because sometimes he cares too much for fame, in addition to Odysseus being arrogant he’s also very easily distractabe as
Odysseus’s most significant fault had to do with his thought process and the decisions that he made (his cerebration). There were many instances where if Odysseus would have simply gone with the plan and thought of others and not just himself, he would be saved from a lot of hardship. He often put his men into bad situations, costing them their lives. He tended to make decisions off the top of his head, instead of listening to the advice given to him.
When Odysseus and the men go to the island of the cyclops they get trapped in a cave. The cyclops that traps them eats a few of the men everyday. One day Odysseus decides that The King is going to stab the cyclops in the eye using a long log that has been put into fire. The cyclops is then blind and cannot see when Odysseus and the men sneak out of the cave underneath the sheep. This makes Odysseus a hero because Odysseus was thinking about how to get everyone out of the cave.
Before Odysseus plans to blind the Cyclops with the sharp, heated timber, he tells the Cyclops, “Cyclops, you ask my honorable name? Remember the gift you promised me, and I shall tell you. My name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends, everyone calls me Nohbdy” (Page 665, Lines 359-361). This example shows that even though the moment is to think about how to escape,Odysseus thinks about what he says before doing anything. This example exemplifies the heroic trait because in the current situation Odysseus uses prior knowledge he knows about the Cyclops to help him, which shows how Odysseus overcame his external conflicts by using his intelligence.
In the epic poem The Odyssey the main character Odysseus shows many qualities of an epic hero. Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, has a wife, Penelope, and his only son, Telemachus all struggle as Odysseus goes to war in Troy the day of Telemachus’ birth. Odysseus struggles and fights through obstacles that no mortal on earth has ever conquered. Odysseus demonstrates the qualities of a leader, speaker, and superhuman strength that every epic hero should have. Odysseus shows the characteristic of leadership many times throughout The Odyssey.
However, his journey back to Ithaca is plagued with weaknesses that often lead to negative consequences for himself and his crew. One of these weaknesses is his hubris, as demonstrated in his taunting of Polyphemus, the Cyclops. Odysseus' excessive pride and arrogance lead him to reveal his true identity, putting his entire crew in danger and setting in motion a series of events that ultimately delay his journey home. This hubristic behavior ultimately leads to dangerous encounters with Poseidon, the sinking of his ship, and the loss of his entire crew, except for Odysseus himself. By showcasing the consequences of Odysseus' hubris, the text suggests that excessive pride and arrogance can be significant weaknesses that lead to negative
The character Odysseus in The Odyssey by Homer is portrayed as having wisdom, intelligence, and perseverance. While hurting the Cyclops Odysseus used his insight cautiously into this situation, when he misleads the Cyclops about his identity he demonstrated his sharpness, ultimately pushing through the grief of his men of Scylla. Wisdom is a character trait that can describe Odysseus. Without the wisdom of Odysseus' throughout the entire journey, he would not have been able to return home.
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. Odysseus is exceptionally skilled in many ways aiding him from each challenge to the next. When Odysseus is trapped in the cave with the Cyclops he decides to us his skills to make a stake to blind the monster, “[He] hewed [the stake] again to make a stake with a point at the end.” (Homer.
In the Odyssey, Odysseus's main character trait is being clever. Throughout the story he shows many intelligent feats that show how clever he is. He is almost overly clever which can lead to arrogance. Like at the bottom of page 1147 Homer writes how Odysseus
In Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey," Odysseus is portrayed as a complex and multifaceted character, and the question of whether or not he is a hero is one that has been debated by scholars for centuries. On one hand, Odysseus possesses many admirable qualities that are typically associated with a hero, such as intelligence, courage, and leadership. On the other hand, he also has many flaws and makes many questionable decisions that call into question his heroism. One of the main arguments for Odysseus being a hero is his intelligence and cunning.
For example, he is able to outsmart the Cyclops Polyphemus, which requires both intelligence and resourcefulness. He is also able to resist the temptation of the Sirens, showing his strength of character and willpower. In addition to his bravery and intelligence, Odysseus
Odysseus’s traits help him achieve his goal of returning to his home. Odysseus and his men have a lot of willpower to continue traveling after some dangerous and life risking experiences with cannibals, lotus-eaters, cyclops and many more creatures that could of killed Odysseus and his whole crew. Odysseus's confidence and epic hero traits only increase as the story goes on, his confidence in his men increase as he starts noticing how strong and powerful his men can be, and also shows confidence in
One way that Odysseus shows cleverness is when he is able to get his men out of dangerous situations. Two stories in which Odysseus uses his cleverness to get him and his men out of dangerous situations are in “Scylla and Charybdis”, and “The Cyclops”. Another way how Odysseus shows his cleverness is he deceives others to his advantage. In “The Cyclops” he deceives Polyphemus when he tricks him into thinking his name is Nohbody, and this helps him to escape the island and not get caught. Cleverness is a trait in The Odyssey that helped Odysseus to get him and his men out of dangerous situations, and cleverness also helped deceive others to Odysseus’
Odysseus was a man of great stature and strength; however, Odysseus was not only physically strong, but mentally strong as well (Olson). We can see Odysseus’ mental strength, or cunning, and bravery when he is in the den of Polyphemus and devises the plan to save him and his crew by calling himself nobody and stabbing out the cyclops’ eye. He also recognizes that he