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Three heroic qualities and evidence from the odyssey
Connecting the modern world and revenge in the Odyssey
Three heroic qualities and evidence from the odyssey
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If someone did something wrong to a person in the times of Odysseus he had the right to kill them. Now a person can not do that. He had the right to kill anyone that was considered his property.In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus should have killed the suitors because they messed with his wife, they were not loyal ,and they tried to kill his son. To begin with, Odysseus should have killed the suitors because they messed with his wife. He had every right to kill the suitors for messing with his wife. The suitor were harassing his wife. He should have killed them for that very reason. They wanted her to marry one of them when she was already married. In addition, he should have killed them because they were not loyal.
They partied with other
Every day people make decisions. Some are more important than others, but all decisions have consequences, no matter how small. The decisions that you make, and the decisions others make could affect your life. They may have positive effects, but they may also have negatives effects like in The Odyssey by Homer. In general, Odysseus and his men made some decisions that lead to some very negative effects.
In Odysseus's mind he has very good reasons to kill the suitors. He decided to kill them when he found out that they wanted to marry his wife. The suitors has all assumed that he was dead, for 20 years. As a result they tried to marry his wife. Penelope also believed that he was still alive and she tried to delay any marriages. Odysseus's idea to kill them all is not very logical especially because while he was away on his 20 year expedition he cheated on his wife two times. Odysseus actions were very rash. The reader can see this when Eurymachus says, “Rash actions, many here,” (Homer 818). Eurymachus knows that Odysseus has made rash decision and he is trying to show him his ways and how it is bad. Later the reader reads that Odysseus doesn’t really see that and he is just excited to be reunited with his wife.
In his part of the story Odysseus is trying to get him and his men free of the cyclops so they can go home. The cyclops is Poseidon's son and Odysseus offended Poseidon when he harms the cyclops, which is very disrespectful. These are two huge examples that show why Odysseus is a bad
“Oh for shame, how the mortals put the blame on us gods, for they say evils come from us, but it is they, rather, who by their own recklessness win sorrow beyond what is given,” (1.32-34) is a simple quote reminding us the entities in charge of all characters in the poem The Odyssey – the gods. Hubris, or excessive human pride, is most detested by the gods and likewise is most punishable by them. The Odyssey is a story about Odysseus and Telemachus, two heroes who throughout their adventures meet new people and face death many times. Telemachus goes to find his father after he learns from Athena that he is still alive. The two meet, and Odysseus attempts to go back to Ithaca after he was lost at sea, and on his way there becomes one of the most heroic characters in literature as we know it. Like all heroic characters, Odysseus began to display hubris as he learned how true of a hero he was. James Wyatt Cook, a historian and an expert on The Odyssey, wrote about how hubris can affect the characters that display it. He says, “Because Homer’s Odyssey is essentially comic, that episode [opened wind bag destroys ship] is only one of a series of setbacks Odysseus experiences before reaching his home in Ithaca and recovering his former kingdom and his family. Such, however, is not the case for those who display hubris with tragic outcomes.” (Cook 1) Initially, Odysseus learns about Aias who died as a cause of the excessive pride he portrays. Proteus warns Odysseus when he says, “…and Aias would have escaped doom, though Athena hated him, had he not gone widely mad and tossed outa word of defiance; for he said that in despite of the gods he escaped the great gulf of the sea, and Poseidon heard him…...
.... There, they taunted him and agreed with Penelope that whoever could prove himself worthy in a shooting contest with Odysseus’s bow would be determined as Penelope’s new husband and the new King of Ithaca. However, when it was his turn to shoot, he turns on the suitors and his arrow hit Antinous, the rudest of the suitors, under the chin, and kills him. Then together, with his son and the assistance of Athena, attacks the suitors, one by one, punishing them for disrespecting him and his home. Through this, Odysseus receives a personal satisfaction as a result of his diligence in taking back his home, and avenging his wife. His personal satisfaction was his revenge.
Odysseus is a fool because he doesn’t have a good heart. The poem states,” Spare your own people…as for ourselves we’ll make restitution …meanwhile we can’t blame you for your anger.” “You forced yourselves upon this house …Fight your way out or run for it if you think you can escape death.This shows that Odysseus didn’t have heart because he murdered innocent people when they offered him
Homer’s poem The Odyssey depicts the tendency of people to ignore the consequences of their actions. Odysseus punished Penelope’s suitors without thinking of consequences that he would have to endure. He did not acknowledge the consequences because that would prevent him from doing what he wants to do. Odysseus wanted to kill the suitors; they ate away at his fortune. Finding consequences for murdering the suitors would force Odysseus to realize what he is about to do is not a good idea. Odysseus chose to ignore the consequences and killed the suitors anyway. Odysseus had absolutely no reason to kill the suitors; they had the right to stay in his home because Penelope made them feel welcome, Penelope and Telemachus both told them that Odysseus was dead, and although Telemachus told them to leave, he did not have the right to do so.
In the case of the suitors, Odysseus’ onslaught was obviously justified as they had indeed plundered and pillaged his home and resources. However, upon observation of the suitors before the killings, he noted that Amphinomus seemed compassionate and respectful of Odysseus’ son, Telemachus. Odysseus was merciful when he suggested to Amphinomus that he leave.
With the Odyssey, Odysseus learned a big lesson in humility. The greatest example of this is in the last five books or so within the story. He has to dress, act, and live like a beggar in order to regain everything he had lost. While he was a beggar, the suitors treated him horribly. Antinous, leader of the suitors, was the worst of them all. He was the first to mistreat Odysseus and planned to kill Telemachus. He was also the one that would abuse him physically and verbally for some time to come. Also, if that weren’t enough, he planned a boxing match for Odysseus to be in to watch him get beat up. All this was happening and the other suitors were most likely following their leader in whatever he was doing. Odysseus had to control himself the whole time this was happening. If he had lost his temper, the suitors would have killed him, his son, and most likely taken over the kingdom. That didn’t happen though. Odysseus learned self-control and humility. He may not be perfect at it, but going through all the humility made him a better man. Along the same topic, he was a king going through this humility. It would be one thing for a peasant to go through it, but a king? This made it even harder for Odysseus. He had rank above all the suitors and could rightly kick them out of his kingdom. Instead he waits for the right time and kills them all. The “pre-journey” Odysseus would of thought of himself invincible and probably would have died trying to get his kingdom back.
In virtually every violent action done by anybody, revenge is the fuel of the action. The same is true in The Odyssey by Homer, an epic telling the journey of Odysseus back to his homeland Ithaca, after the Trojan war. His son, Telemachus, and wife, Penelope, need him desperately as there are suitors trying to court Penelope in the mindset that Odysseus is dead. The suitors stay and their house and eat all their food, however, Telemachos is trying to drive them out. Telemachus sails all over Greece in search of information of his father, and eventually Odysseus returns home safely after a tumultuous trip. Although Odysseus is extremely clever and intelligent, there are many actions in the epic which lead others to plot revenge on him. Revenge
In the book, ¨The Odyssey¨ translated by Robert Fitzgerald, Odysseus’ actions are considered just and moral, but in today’s standards his actions are considered self defense. For example in Book 22 through 24, Odysseus is plotting and carrying out his revenge on the suitors. This action is one of the most conversion, but it was self defense, because they invaded his home and the suitors will kill Odysseus and his son Telemanchus if he does not act. Odyssus also acted in self defense in the Cyclopse cave in
Odysseus should not be condemned for his actions. There are many justifiable reasons for the method in which he punished those who were disloyal and uncivil. One should take into consideration his trials, and put themselves in Odysseus’s place. If you came home after twenty years, and found men about your wife, (or women about your husband) would you consider morality first? In Odysseus’s case anyway, his all powerful heart and emotion filled his brain with rage. And any human being today would submit their mind to their feelings if their souls had been tossed about on the sea by Poseidon.
When people think of Odysseus, they think of a great, cunning, warrior. Who wouldn’t see him that way, he fought his way through Troy and embarked on a journey back home to see his son and wife again. On the surface Odysseus seems like a genius but in Homer’s, The Odyssey, Odysseus shows many instances where he outwits his foes but his foolishness heavily outweighs his smarts; he becomes boastful after a victory which leads to more hardships, he leaves precious cargo in the open for his brutish crew to mess with, and refuses help from the gods which nearly leads to his demise.
Returning to the quotation “… the great leveler, Death: not even the gods/ can defend a man, not even one they love, that day/ when fate takes hold and lays him out at last’” (Homer 3.269-271). Death is a power that surpasses the gods. In The Odyssey we are introduced to gods who control the water, the wind, and the decisions of men. They can bring peace and war, but the one thing they cannot do is prevent a mortal’s fated death. This alone shows how central death is to The Odyssey. The power that death holds rivals no others in this story, there is “… no escape from death” (Homer 12.483). Death is a constant threat for Odysseus throughout this story, and the future foretold for Odysseus by Tiresias is not one of his life being a good one but of “…your own death will steal upon you…/ a gentle, painless death, far from the sea it comes to take you down…” (Homer 11.153-154). His fortune ends not with his happy life, but with his eventual death. This scene is crucial because it draws the reader back not to the life that Odysseus will have once he has successfully returned home and killed the suitors but the death that he will experience. It draws it back to when and where Odysseus will die and take his place among the
Odysseus angered Poseidon. He angered him when Odysseus blinded Poseidon’s son Polyphemus, the Cyclops. Then the Cyclops prays to Poseidon and asks him to destroy Odysseus’s ship. He also said that if Poseidon cannot do that, make sure Odysseus returns home late, but returns a broken man. Therefore, Poseidon then slows down Odysseus’s journey making him go through many obstacles, torments him, and does not allow him to go home. (Dorthonion, No date)