Prowess Of Odysseus The Sirens In Homer's The Odyssey

Imagine getting something valuable snatched by a stranger who just walked by, a natural instinct would be to hit them, this would be known as physical prowess. In The Odyssey mental prowess was used over physical. It is common for people to use physical prowess because it is instinct to react back immediately. Instead of brute force, Odysseus uses his mental prowess to overcome several obstacles in The Odyssey thus refining the traits of a hero. In The Sirens, Odysseus showed many examples of mental prowess. The Sirens are monsters disguised as women who try to lower the men with there songs wanting them to kill themselves. Odysseus had been warned by Circe about The Sirens and was recommended that it would be better if Odysseus is the only one that listens to their songs “yet she urged that I alone should listen to their song” (783). Odysseus had thought of a clever plan of putting wax in the mens ears so they

Odysseus knew that things would have changed when he got home. Odysseus’s son Telemachus told Odysseus about the many suitors living in his home. Telemachus was ready to fight them, but Odysseus did not want to take action immediately because he knew that he would not be able to face all of the suitors. As Odysseus continued to stay in disguise he devised a plan that would get all the suitors out of his home. Odysseus explained the plan to his son. The plan was to take all of the suitors weapons so, when Odysseus would make his entrance there would be no chance of losing. Odysseus told Telemachus to “round up all the armor, lances, gear of war left in our hall, and stow the lot away back in the valued storeroom” (805). Odysseus put his plan into action and fought all of the suitors. Odysseus had won by using his mental prowess first and then his physical. If he had used physical first then Odysseus would have lost to all of the suitors but, using his mental he