Hiding behind a false identity or a false story is sometimes the easiest way to face difficult decisions. Some believe that, if they make others think something other than the truth, they will have an advantage and, in turn, be superior. Stephen Porter and John C. Yuille acknowledge that “deception is the deliberate misrepresentation of facts through words or actions” (450). Deception is a form of disguise used by humans to hide who they are, what they feel, or even what they have done. In the Bible, it states that “even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light,” showing that, not only mortals use falsehood to achieve what they strive for, but that deities also utilize these methods of duplicity to infiltrate the minds of the mortals who worship them, or even in their own myths, where the immortals trick others for their own advancement (The Official King James Bible Online, 2 Cor. 11: 14). Deception is used for many different psychological reasons and it is used in Homer’s The Odyssey by many characters in the poem, including mortals, gods and goddesses.
Odysseus is a man of many faces: war hero, adventure seeker, devout Hellenist when he chooses to be, and even bloody murderer. The face he is most known for in The Odyssey, though, is a cunning and deceitful face. As he is planning to escape the cave of the one-eyed son of Poseidon, the Kyklops Polyphemos, Odysseus tells Polyphemos that “[his] name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends,/ everyone calls [him] Nohbdy’ (Homer: IX, 397-8). According to Ahuvia Kahane, “calling himself ‘[Nohbdy]’ is Odysseus’ strategy for survival in a deadly world of monsters,” and in this instance, Odysseus does survive, along with most of his men by creating a false identity so t...
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...dings on Homer. Ed. Bruno Leone. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1998. 158-164.
“Dissociative Identity Disorder.” NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illnesses. NAMI, 1996-2014. Web. 14 May 2014. http://www.nami.org
Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998.
Kahane, Ahuvia. “The Odyssey.” Homer: A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: Bloomsbury, 2012. 121-145.
“Other Translations of 2 Corinthians 11:14.” The Official King James Bible Online. King James Bible Online, 2014. Web. 14 May 2014. http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org
Porter, Stephen and John C. Yuille. “Deception.” The Encyclopedia of Psychology. Ed. Alan E. Kadzin. Vol. 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. 448-452.
“Poseidon.” GreekGods.org: Mythology of Ancient Greece. greek-gods.org, 2013. Web. 14 May 2014.
Heubeck, Alfred, J.B. Hainsworth, et al. A commentary on Homer's Odyssey. 3 Vols. Oxford PA4167 .H4813 1988
Heubeck, Alfred, J.B. Hainsworth, et al. A commentary on Homer's Odyssey. 3 Vols. Oxford PA4167 .H4813 1988
"“There Are Two Ways to Be Fooled. One Is to Believe What Isn't True; the Other Is to
Heubeck, Alfred, Stephanie West, and J.B. Hainsworth. A Commentary on Homer's Odyssey. New York: Oxford UP, 1988.
The character of Odysseus in homers epic is known for his strength, courage, brilliance, guile and versatility. These characteristics can be seen when he tricks the Cyclops Polyphemus (son of the earth-shaker Poseidon). After Odysseus tricks the cyclops into getting drunk with red wine the cyclops asks him his name. To this Odysseus proclaims “Noman is my name. They call me Noman” (Hom.Od.IX.364). This
Deception influences people’s decisions and outlook on life. Internal deceptions occur when someone tricks themselves into thinking something that is not true. External deceptions occur when a person or character tricks another person or character. Internal and external deceptions occurs in day to day life as well as in literature. Deception plays a significant role in Great Expectations because it both internally and externally affects characters.
Heubeck, Alfred, J.B. Hainsworth, et al. A commentary on Homer's Odyssey. 3 Vols. Oxford PA4167 .H4813 1988
“There is no safety in unlimited hubris” (McGeorge Bundy). The dictionary defines hubris as overbearing pride or presumption; arrogance. In The Odyssey, Homer embodies hubris into the characters Odysseus, the Suitors, and the Cyclopes. Odysseus shows hubris when he is battling the Cyclopes, the Cyclopes show hubris when dealing with Odysseus, and the Suitors show it when Odysseus confronts them at his home.
Homer’s epic, the Odyssey, is a heroic narrative that follows the adventures of Odysseus, the powerful King of Ithaca. The main story involves Odysseus’s return journey to his homeland after the Trojan War. However, Homer skips around in the action periodically to give the reader a better understanding and interest in what is going on in the epic. Homer takes his audience from the present action involving Telemakhos’ search for news of his father’s return, to the past where Odysseus tells the Phaiakians of his tragic journey home after the war. The events in Homer’s epic are not in order but still prove more effective at guiding the reader through the narrative. Although the events in the Odyssey are not in chronological order, the story line is enriched by Homer’s use of the in media res method because it introduces characters that were not involved in Odysseus’ adventure, because it shows the urgency of Odysseus’ return to his kingdom, and because it allows the reader to become more interested in the opening chapters without having to wait for a climax in the action.
Homer. ?The Odyssey,? World Masterpieces: Expanded Edition. Maynard Mack ed. Ed. Coptic St.: Prentice, 1995.
As Agamemnon tells Odysseus, “Let it be a warning even to you. Indulge a woman never, and never tell her all you know. Some things a man may tell, some he should cover up” (Book XI 199). This is not news to Odysseus, who treats all women with caution ever since he was betrayed by his wife Helen, who acted in a way that defiled all womankind. Agamemnon did not come to this realization all by himself, however; his statement represents the common sentiment that existed throughout all ancient Greece. Even before Odysseus speaks with Agamemnon, he exhibits a similar attitude in his many encounters with women during his long journey home. Every major female character that Odysseus comes across uses deception in one form or another to get the better of him. This being the case, Odysseus fights fire with fire, using his own cunning deception against the evils of womankind.
Homer. The Odyssey: Fitzgerald Translation. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. Print.
Within the epic poem "The Odyssey", Homer presents the story of Odysseus's quest to find his home and his identity. According to Homer's account, with its origin in oral tradition, the two quests are interchangeable, as a mortal defines himself with his home, his geographic origin, his ancestors, his offspring, etc. But in addition to this Homer illustrates the other aspect of human identity, shaped by the individual and his actions so that he may be recognized in the outside world. Through this Homer presents Odysseus in two ways: the first his internally given identity as ruler and native of Ithaca, son of Laertes, father of Telemachos; the second the definition of the external world which sees the "god-like" mortal famous for his clever actions and the god's almost unanimous favor.
Heubeck, Alfred, J.B. Hainsworth, et al. A commentary on Homer's Odyssey. 3 Vols. Oxford 1988
According to Barlow, Durand & Stewart (2012), Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is one of several dissociative disorders in which a person experiences involve detachment or depersonalization. They go on to explain that people with DID ha...