Odysseus In Homer's The Odyssey

1441 Words3 Pages

Twenty years of action and adventure, defeating creatures, surviving, and just trying to get back home. In The Odyssey by Homer, the hero Odysseus takes an arduous journey navigating through raging waters and defeating strenuous creatures in order to get back home with his crew to his wife and son in Ithaca. Odysseus goes through a variety of islands on the way, each including many characters he needs to overcome. Being clever and cunning in difficult situations with the Cyclops, Scylla, Sirens, Charybdis, and finally the suitors will lead to success and survival in the future. The cleverness of Odysseus is first supplied when he brilliantly guides his men from the danger of being devoured by the horrific beast to safety outside the …show more content…

He is a king, so it is ironic he would be dressed up as a penurious person. Odysseus is dressed like this because Athena "... (advised) him to proceed disguised as a beggar" (italics, page 32). This brilliant idea would be deceitful to everyone, since no one would suspect a poor man to be the triumphant Odysseus, returning home after twenty years at sea. He is in disguise because many suitors have taken his home and are bidding for his wife, abusing the fact that Penelope's husband is still alive. If he were to try and take back his home as Odysseus, the suitors would try to ambush him or no one would even believe it was the king at all, due to the fact that many suitors have already tried to convince everyone they were the ruler of Ithaca, son of Laertes. When Odysseus was in disguise, his old nurse recognizes him. Eurycleia is ordered to wash the guest's feet to show respect and honor. When she is washing his feet, "she recognizes Odysseus from a scar on his leg" (Italics, page 38). This is not good because they do not know whether Eurycleia will spread the news of king's return, or keep it to herself. Odysseus privately asks the old nurse not to share the word to anyone, and Athena enchants Penelope with a spell so she will not recognize what happened. Later on, with the help of his son, the cowherd, and the swineherd, Odysseus and his helpers all defeat the pompous suitors. When the ringleader of suitors has been taken down, the rest of the men “scan the walls in the long room for arms” (line 1244). However, they do not yet realize there is simply no weapons for them to fight back with. Odysseus and his group have already planned this strategy and directed Telemachus to remove all weapons from the great hall, where the contest was taking action. If Odysseus had

Open Document