Neoptolemus
Audience: All
Imagine having to choose between your morals and beliefs and what your people want you to do; tough choice right? This was a reality for Neoptolemus. Faced with this intense dilemma, He was torn. Betray your people or betray your values, each comes with a dire consequence. Throughout life, we make many difficult decisions, which not only impact us but those around us. The decisions Neoptolemus will make will not only impact him, but an entire empire. But when these critical decisions go against everything Neoptolemus believes in, the choices he makes, will set the outcome of the war. When the city of Troy needs them the most, Odysseus and Neoptolemus conspire a plan to steal the bow of Hercules from Philoctetes.
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Neoptolemus shows his morals when he is hesitant to follow Odysseus on his task to acquire the bow of Hercules from Philoctetes in a despiteful manner. He questions Odysseus plan multiple times and only gives in when Odysseus talks about the end reward. It is clear that Neoptolemus decision making skills were flawed in many ways than one. Even though he knows in his heart what is the right thing to do, he still has to think it over. This contrast is what Neoptolemus sees when he chooses what to do. He says “Then I hate to have to put them into action. And it is not in my nature to practice treachery, nor so I am told, was it my father’s” (Sophocles 404). It is clear that Neoptolemus does not believe in treachery and shoots to be like his father; Achilles. Who was a noble and virtuous man. A person’s morals really show when they feel guilt. Neoptolemus says “What should I so? I wish I had never left Skyros. And had to face this unbearable pain” (Sophocles 423). After he confides in Philoctetes that he has deceived him, he feels agonizing pain and questions why he even came in the first …show more content…
He had lied to Philoctetes by telling him that he too hated Odysseus. This new-found friendship caused Philoctetes to trust in Neoptolemus. After being alone on an island for a decade, it was nice for Philoctetes to finally have someone who he could entrust. When Philoctetes suffers a series of unbearable fits of pain in his foot, he trusts in Neoptolemus to handle his bow. But when Philoctetes hands Neoptolemus his bow, Neoptolemus is overcome with guilt and dismay. After being forced to hide his true self, and go against everything he believed in; he cracked. He does the noble thing and tells Philoctetes of his sinister plot to betray him and steal the bow. He did the thing which was right, and after Philoctetes releases his rage, he forgave him when he saw how sincere he was. This causes Odysseus to flee because he is terrified that Philoctetes will unleash his wrath upon him. After an extensive argument, Neoptolemus agrees to take Philoctetes back to his home in Greece. But just as they were ready to leave Hercules intervenes and tells them to go join the fight in the Trojan War. As reluctant as Philoctetes is, Hercules insists they go. Hercules promises of fame and riches for Philoctetes. The famous saying “the end justifies the means” comes into play when we think about this situation.
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.
Odysseus’s revenge towards the suitors, whose only crime was the crime of theft, was unnecessarily cruel, after all, a hero must be able to forgive. It has been twenty years since anyone on Ithaka have seen, or even heard news about Odysseus. Therfore, it would have been perfectly pliable to pronounce him dead. “ He has been gone for twenty years.” The people of Ithaka were all under the impression that Odysseus, has in fact, passed a...
In Philoctetes, the character of Odysseus is portrayed as well accustomed to using deceit for personal gain without much consideration for morality or human compassion. He not only deceives Philoctetes himself, but he has the audacity to con Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, into doing the same. Odysseus's first deception of Philoctetes happens before his second arrival on Lemnos with Neoptolemus. Odysseus and his crew maroon the injured Philoctetes on the island with no one to help him by sneaking away while he is asleep. Odysseus explains their reasons for abandoning him:
What are the key points you will want to emphasize in your online profile for Character 1 (3-4 sentences)?
This shows that Odysseus’ self-serving nature extends beyond material greed into the equally sinful realm of pride. In a classic display of hubris, Odysseus taunts the Cyclopes fulfilling the sole purpose of stroking Odysseus’s ego. At first it appears that our hero is lacking foresight, but Odysseus tells Polyphemus his name in hopes that tales of his cunning will spread throughout Greece: a very selfish goal, directly resulting in the endangerment of the lives of both him and his men throughout the remainder of their travels.
The Odyssey, usually accredited to Homer, contains several key conflicts which strengthen readers’ understanding of the protagonists. The conflicts are of particular help in understanding the hero Odysseus’ reasons for his actions. One episode in which Odysseus displays his key character traits of arrogance, cunning, and recklessness is book 9, in which Odysseus defeats the Cyclops Polyphemus.
Odysseus displays his desire for glory through his careless actions during his encounter with the Cyclops Polyphemus. The desire for glory Odysseus displays is shown through the words he speaks to Polyphemus. He is a clever character but makes rash decisions that affect the outcome of his original goals and intentions. While Odysseus is trapped inside of the cave of the Cyclops, he begins to taunt Polyphemus. “I called back to the Cyclops, stinging taunts: So, Cyclops, no weak coward it was whose crew you bent to devour three in your vaulted cave—with your brute voice! Filthy crimes came down on your own head, you shameless cannibal” (Fagles, 226). Odysseus was insulting the Cyclops, and those insults caused the rage of the monster to boil over. The Cyclops was already angry with Odysseus blinding him, and was even more demoralized and angry when Odysseus began to taunt him. As Odysseus goes on with his insults and as his anger rises, he says, “Cyclops—if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed—say Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged out your eye, La...
Through temptation and torture, Odysseus never forgets that he must put others’ needs before his own desires. Like a hero, Odysseus has to sacrifice the options that benefit him in order to benefit his others. Specifically, Odysseus accepted the fact that he laid with Kirke in order to free his men from her spell. Though it went against all of his ethics and unfaithful to Penelope, Odysseus’s main objective was to return home with all of his crew alive. He illustrates his true loyalty to Penelope when he declines Kalypso’s offer of immortality. Odysseus immediately responded and refused Kalypso’s offer: “My lady goddess…come (Book V, 223-233).” Many individuals would not decline immortality, but he did not ponder over the thought of living for eternity. Odysseus made this decision based on his ethics and because of true love. Odysseus also makes ethical decisions to save people’s lives. For instance, ...
Odysseus portrays his selfishness right as the book begins and this shows how truly incompetent of an individual he is. One form of selfishness Odysseys shows is adultery. He is unfaithful to Penelope many times throughout the book. He reveals this trait specifically when he is with Kalypso on Ogygia and with Kirke on Aiaia. Odysseus shows his selfishness when he steps foot on Kalypso’s island because he chooses to stay with her for seven years. He did not care about the crew’s feelings on the matter, since all’s he cared about was himself. By the time the seven years were up, the crew members finally realized they had to make Odysseus leave. These actions also make a liar out of Odysseus because he said he wanted to return home more than anything, yet he did not even make the slightest attempt to leave. On Aiaia, Odysseus was forced to sleep with Kirke to save his men from staying swine, but he still committed adultery. No matter what the reason, adultery is a choice that can be controlled. An additional negative quality Odysseus obtains is being self absorbed. This trait is seen when Odysseus traveled to the Land of the Dead. He shows his selfish qualities in this example because he travels there initially for his own benefit. Odysseus also has attendances to t...
His own stubbornness and arrogance. lead to his fall. Oedipus says to Jocasta when he discovers he murdered his very own father, “Oh no no, I think I’ve just called down. a dreadful curse upon myself” (412). Sophocles believed that humans have free will yet they are limited by a larger order that controls all the things that are.
The Odyssey paints a picture of the supposed savior Odysseus. The irony of Odysseus’ situation is that he really is not the marvelous hero that many who read The Odyssey see him to be. When imagining a great hero, the words of cruel, unfaithful, selfish, or careless never come to mind, but the son of Laertes sets examples for each attribute. Odysseus makes many poor decisions that cause his dislikable traits to outweigh his few better ones. Several of his more prominent characteristics are exhibited on numerous accounts.
“I will do all that I can…” proclaims Oedipus (43). People can control the direction of their lives. In life, decisions are made, advice is given, but ultimately the one dealing with the issues makes the decision. Oedipus was born with a fate, as described by the oracle. His family took precaution to avoid the fate. Inevitably, the fate was fulfilled, but he made his own decisions throughout his life, as well as having decisions made for him. In Oedipus the King, we are able to see that certain things in life can be controlled: family, personality, and success.
An interesting and important aspect of this Greek notion of fate is the utter helplessness of the human players. No matter the choice made by the people involved in this tragedy, the gods have determined it and it is going to come to pass. T...
After Oedipus becomes king of Thebes, the people of Thebes become plagued. Oedipus’ feels responsible for saving the people of Thebes. Oedipus’ pride to save the city later turns to pity after he divulges the sin he has committed. His pride forces him to find the traitor who murdered Laius. He eventually finds out that he is the sinner and gouges his eyes out to prove that he is not worthy of sight.
Accordingly, the leaders face and question their personal ethics as they try to decide on a matter that affects the outcome of the Trojan War for the entire Greek army. Predominantly, Odysseus, Neoptolemus, and Herakles of Sophocles’ Philoctetes demonstrate three different styles of leadership among influential men of Greek tragedy through essentially deceit, righteousness, and glory; furthermore, Philoctetes’ responses to the leaders confirms the rationality and effectiveness of the varied approaches, despite his weighty distaste for Greek leadership. Chiefly, Odysseus utilizes trickery to achieve his goal for his given mission, and he is perfectly open to lying along the way (Soph.1-8-9). In Philoctetes, Odysseus prays to first Hermes, god of tricks, then Athena and Victory before sending off Neoptolemus on his mission (132-5).