Odysseus was a brave and wise warrior who fought proudly at the battle of Troy. Following his ten years of battle he spent another ten years just trying to reach home again. He was faced with many drawbacks and hardships on his way back to his home of Ithaca where he hoped to be reunited with his wife and son. These delays, however, never got the better of the epic hero, this is because of Odysseus’s persistence. This good heroic quality of his is the reason that he was eventually able to return home to his family. Odysseus has many good qualities such as his bravery, cunning and wisdom but it was his persistence that was the driving force on his journey home. Persistence is defined as being a firm or obstinate continuance in a course of …show more content…
It was his persistence that helped him stay calm after Poseidon drove his ship off course after he had blinded his cyclopes son Polyphemus. Although it took the help of a friend to remind Odysseus of home, it was his persistence that made him strive to get back after realizing he had spent a whole year there on Circes island. And lastly after spending seven years on Calypsos island it was his persistence that gave him the hope and the passion to try again after being set free because of the dues ex machina from Zeus and Hermes. Even after this event, there were still many more setbacks and obstacles to overcome but he was able to hurdle over them and keep his goal in …show more content…
Perseverance was important during the time that the Odyssey was written, the reason for this is because much like our current culture things are not handed out, you have to be determined and work for what you want. If you don’t have persistence you give up and when you give up you miss out on opportunities that could benefit you. In some instances, our culture is lacking persistence, many people would rather take the easy way out instead of putting in the effort and making the accomplishment themselves. One example of a way in our culture that people take the easy way out is when people ask for money instead of making the effort to get it for themselves. There is a website called GoFundMe where people can ask for money for certain projects, this website is meant to be used for business or charity purposes. Unfortunately, like many things, people will take advantage. I’ve seen and heard of many time were people go on this website or other similar ones for simple things like groceries or a manicure. This however doesn’t compare to another way our culture can use persistence and it is quite possibly the most important. This day in age, people are commonly acting out the most serious and grim way of taking the easy way out and that happens to be suicide. When people suffer and deal with drawbacks and hardships they feel low and hopeless, this is when persistence is most important.
Through his actions, and the loyalty, determination, and intelligence he showcases, Odysseus undeniably illustrates the true qualities of a
Odysseus’s Tumultuous Journey Heroes in today’s literature often take on difficult challenges that put themselves in constant danger to better themselves. Joseph Campbell came out with a book in 1949 called “A Hero with a Thousand Faces” which he introduced the “Hero’s Journey” formula that Odysseus closely follows. The Odyssey is a Greek mythology following Odysseus, a Trojan War hero who faces many dangers trying to get back to his homeland of Ithaca. At his homeland of Ithaca suitors are eating out his home and trying to marry his wife while Telemachus sets out to find his father, but eventually comes back unsuccessful. Finally, Odysseus comes home and takes back his home and family.
Perseverance helps push a person past their limits to reach their goal. Throughout the book, Odysseus faces many problems he must solve in order to return home to Ithaca. He must escape the Cyclops’s cave, figure out a way to get past the sirens, and dodge the dangerous sea monsters. His determination will help him get back home to see his wife Penelope and return to rule Ithaca. In The Odyssey, Homer presents the idea that perseverance can make a person stronger when they overcome many obstacles and have a goal to work towards.
In the epic poem “The Odyssey” the main character and hero of this story is a wise king known as Odysseus. Throughout the story Odysseus portrays many different characteristics that belong to his personality as he tries to make his way back home to Ithaca. One of Odysseus’ traits is patience, which is used with many different characters as Odysseus uses this skill in his plans and strategies. The trait patience is important because, it is needed in real life scenarios, and can help keep someone calm or composed in tense situations. Patience also is useful because it can help an individual to be able to wait for long periods of times without getting upset or frustrated.
In The Odyssey, Odysseus’ journey is created by a cycle of self-created obstacles that are solved by quick witted thinking and ultimately reflect no real desire to learn from his errors or create any character development. Throughout the story, Odysseus expresses a strong desire to return home to Ithaca, however he is constantly thwarted by his own curious and boastful nature. For example, when
In the epic story the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is returning from the Trojan war, and on his way home he finds many obstacles ahead of him. Odysseus is the ruler of Ithaca and he is trying to return home to his land. Many creatures try and stop him from achieving his goal of returning home, but he and his crew have to push through and get home. Odysseus portrays bravery and courage leading his crew through these tough challenges. Odysseus heroically leads his crew and himself through dangerous obstacles, but also foolishly endangers them during the journey home.
Personal strengths and weaknesses are magnified during the course of a journey. Some strengths that were magnified during the course of Odysseus’ journey were courage and self-discipline. There were many instances in which he proves to be a courageous man. In the Cyclops story, Odysseus knows that whatever lives on the island he has arrived to is “a towering brute” and a “wild man ignorant of civility” and yet he decides to venture into the cave.
Odysseus is the main character in the book The Odyssey, this book is an epic poem with Greek gods, and goddesses. Odysseus in the book has many different features in his personality, but most important he is a hero. This character shows the value of patience in many different ways. The value of patience is a way of life, it is the action of waiting without getting upset or frustrated. This action is important because Odysseus portrays it throughout the whole story.
The Odyssey by Homer is an exemplary story that teaches life lessons to those going on a journey for themselves. It illustrates how the challenges and obstacles one may face can help someone become a better leader. The Odyssey highlights one man, Odysseus, a man filled with excessive pride, experiencing the wrath of the god Poseidon. He expects to arrive at his home, Ithaca, safely to reunite with his wife, Penelope, but unfortunately faces many temptations and setbacks. Due to the challenges he faces, it prevents him from arriving home as early as he thought he would.
In fact, his character traits can connect to others in the world, like determination. Odysseus’s determination throughout his adventures is a similar trait that I share and has brought us both success. Odysseus’ determination does not only help him throughout his journey, but also helps him be successful. While passing through Scylla and Charybdis, Odysseus tells the men to “Get the oar shafts in your hand, and lay back hard on your benches; hit these braking seas” (Homer 836).
In the book called The Odyssey by Homer, it mainly follows the story of a king of a village called Ithaca, hundreds of years ago-This man, is named Odysseus. Odysseus goes through many adventures after the victory of the Trojan War. However, this is where Odysseus, is not being as strong as a great war hero and a king as he should be. Although Odysseus was seen as a very strong person, physically and mentally, he lacks the appreciation and the care of his crew throughout the trials and didn’t think through many of his actions thoroughly and how they would affect not only his crew but people around him.
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
When reading the odyssey I noticed that Odysseus went through a lot of difficult tasks and journeys and has had more than one near death experience. If you read through the book you will notice that most of Odysseus’ hardships go with a life lesson that teach you what to do or not do in the future in that type of situation. One of the life lessons is when a has to hang onto the tree branch for a whole day to survive because Charybdis swallowed his ship. The symbol or life lesson in this part is determination because he wants to get home to his wife and son alive and it is a hard task,but he was willing do it because he had so much determination to get home. If odysseus didn’t have determination at that time he could have just let go because it hurt or it was hard ,but he didn’t because the need to go to his wife and son was greater.
The Odyssey and The Outliers portray that perseverance is essential to living a happy and successful life because conflicts are overcome and dreams are followed. Some will argue that overcoming conflicts does not take perseverance; However, in The Odyssey, after Odysseus and his men defeat the cyclops, Odysseus gives his men a pep talk to help encourage and inspire them. When Odysseus says, [“by courage, council and intelligence, we escape away”](210-211). He is reminding his men that they persevered through the trials they faced against the cyclops.
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.