The Tragedy Of Odysseus In Homer's The Odyssey

The Odyssey tells the tale of the Grecian general, Odysseus, and his return voyage to his home Ithaka. Odysseus had fought in the Trojan War, and during the war and his return journey, he faced many dangers and overcame them. Because of his wit, cunning, and bravery, Odysseus is often viewed as a great hero. Although literary scholars of The Odyssey have argued that Odysseus is a hero, closer examination shows that Odysseus is not a hero based on his rash and foolish decisions, his skewed logic, and the end result of his journey. In The Odyssey, Odysseus boasts of his skill often, a foolish decision that often got him into trouble. He angered the god of the sea, Poseidon, when he claimed that he won the Trojan War without any outside help. It was because of his pompous boasting that Poseidon cursed Odysseus so that he could not return home to Ithaka, as the sea would always place an obstacle in his way. When Odysseus and his men arrived at Polyphemus’ island, even though they saw a giant one-eyed man, a Cyclops, a sight which should dissuade exploration, Odysseus’ counsel was to proceed and investigate the island. This foolish decision lead him and his men to be trapped in a cave for days, fearing that they would be the Cyclops’ next meal. Odysseus and his men did finally escape through great cunning, which is somewhat heroic, but with much fewer

Although literary scholars of The Odyssey have argued that Odysseus is a hero, closer examination shows that Odysseus is not a hero based on his rash and foolish decisions, his skewed logic, and the end result of his journey. Odysseus was surely brave and cunning, but he didn’t do things that are heroic in our