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The Character Of Odysseus In The Odyssey

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People take pride when building a title for themselves. They know exactly what they want and will do anything to achieve that. This is an example of Odysseus in The Odyssey. In Homer’s, The Odyssey, the main character, Odysseus, faces many obstacles on his journey home after the Trojan War. Odysseus has been one of the most frequently depicted characters in literature. He has both heroic traits and human weaknesses, which makes him an epic hero. He has defeated a Cyclops, and defeated suitors that were attracted to his wife. Odysseus portrays superhuman strengths in different ways throughout his journey, and exceptional courage. He is very strong and a great leader, and comes upon, but overcomes, many wild beasts. Odysseus excels in using …show more content…

Odysseus demonstrates sharp intellect which proves his intelligence. “But I kept thinking how to win the game: death sat there huge; how could we sleep away? I drew on all my wits, and ran through tactics, reasoning as man will for dear life, until a trick came-and it pleased me well” (Homer 963). Odysseus had a plan for escaping the Cyclops, a plan that a person with great intelligence would come up with. Another way Odysseus shows his intelligence is when he and his men encounter the Sirens on their way back to Ithaca. The Sirens are creatures that live on an island and lure men to death with beautiful singing voices. Odysseus must take this route even though he knows they will not be able to overcome the Sirens voices. He managed to plug his men 's ears with beeswax to stop the Sirens’ voices, but he wanted to hear the singing but knew he did not have enough power to resist them. Odysseus was smart enough to realize his own limitations due to him saying, “So all rowed on, until the Sirens dropped under the sea rim, and their singing dwindled away. My faithful company rested on their oars no, peeling off the wax that I had laid thick on their ears, then set me free” (Homer 978). Odysseus was willing to save his crew from dying first than himself even though he knew he wanted to hear the Sirens sing. Demonstrating the act of putting beeswax in his crew 's ears showed his intelligence with the

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