1. This shows the value of bravery. As Odysseus and his crew row toward two fearsome monsters, Odysseus shows no fear. He reminds the men of the monsters they have already faced, and this inspires them. Death looks him in the eye, and, in response, Odysseus laughs in its face. 2. This shows the value of intelligence. He knows that the Sirens will lure any man to his death who hears this song. He covers their ears to that they can row away while not having to cover their ears or tie themselves up. 3. This shows the value of showing respect for the gods. When Odysseus faces death at the hands of Scylla, he turns toward Zeus. Odysseus sees Zeus as a benevolent yet just ruler who will help heroes who deserve it. 4. This shows the value of loyalty …show more content…
This shows the value of hospitality. Telemachus allows the gross, ugly beggar into his house to ask food and expect nothing in return. 6. This shows the value of respect for the gods. Odysseus regularly burns offerings to the gods. He takes a beautiful ram and offers it to Zeus to show his respect. 7. The colorful sky at sunrise is being compared to a ruler taking the throne. Dawn rises up and lingers in the sky for a short while before leaving. It would make sense to personify dawn as taking a seat atop the sky. 8. The hands of the men are personified as working men. The work of the men requires skillful hands. The men’s hands are doing all of the work. 9. The cavern is personified as a yawning mouth. This makes sense because the cave is a large, gaping hole similar to a wide open mouth. 10. Death is personified as having a grip. This makes sense because they are in danger of dying with very little possibility of escape. 11. Kevin’s grip is stronger than his cousin John’s. 12. Today’s lesson is more difficult than yesterday’s. 13. Lazy students in college are most likely to fail. 14. The customer’s comments seemed more informative than that of the salesperson. 15. Mrs. Smith is happier in her job as a teacher than most other
Courage and bravery are two things that Odysseus has a lot of. This is evident when he defies the god Poseidon, telling him that he is unstoppable. Odysseus then gets back on his ship on starts to sail on Poseidon's waters back to Ithaca. Pride is good to have, but in Odysseus’s case, it’s a little too much. On the other hand, he does things that make him a great hero. When Circeturned his crew into animals, he climbed straight up a mountain, risking his life just to save his crew. He will do anything to get back to Ithaca and see his wife and son, no matter how crazy it is. He even goes into the underworld to speak to a prophet about how to get back to Ithaca. Being brave and courageous is all about being willing and able to go to the extremes to help or possibly save people or even a place in need.
Throughout literature characters have relied upon entities greater then themselves to furnish them with aid as they meet the many challenges they must face. The Odyssey is a tale of Odysseus’ epic journey and the many obstacles that bar his return home. But Odysseus is not alone in this struggle and receives aid from many gods, especially the clear-eyed goddess Athena. There are times when Odysseus beseeches the gods for aid, but other times he is too foolhardy to receive aid from even the immortal gods. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus’ journey revolves around the cyclical phases of his dependence, independence and his return to reliance upon the gods’ aid.
In this long narrative poem, Odysseus changes from being disrespectful to the gods by explicitly saying that he doesn’t need them, to longing forgiveness later by stating that he is nothing without them. After the success with the Trojan Horse, Odysseus considered himself higher than the gods because he, a mortal, was able to accomplish something even the gods couldn’t. He boasted to Poseidon and the others about how he is overpowering, and how his power and abilities were far beyond their limits. His epic boasting to the gods had lead him to create his own obstacles as, he is one who essentially was the cause. This disrespectful attitude is the personality which shows how Odysseus behaved at the beginning of the story. It not only demonstrates what he was once like, but how his obstacles get much more precarious. As this is the attitude in the beginning, by the end of this epic, Odysseus understands the value of gods and their power, even if it’s for good or bad. At the end of book twenty-two, page 1160, on lines 107-109, Odysseus finally accepts the fact that he is not the biggest thing
Freeing Odysseus from Kalypso, controlling the wind so he could float in the correct direction to shore, and arranging a meeting between Nausikaa and Odysseus are just a examples of how Athena helped Odysseus in the book. Zeus, god of gods, also spoke highly of Odysseus by saying, “Could I forget the kingly man Odysseus? There is no mortal half so wise; no mortal gave so much to the lords of the open sky.”(Homer 1. 84-86) Odysseus’ ability to do more than most men shows the reader that he is the hero of the story. This archetype allows the reader to understand the importance Odysseus has in the story. It also allows the reader to know why he is loved and known by so
Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus shows us a vast amount of bravery and courage; the primary thing a hero needs. In book 9, when Odysseus battled Polyphemus (the Cyclops) to try and save the lives of all the crew members held captive in the cave, he was demonstrating bravery the entire time because, the true meaning of bravery is when you have the ability to challenge fear, or danger which is exactly what he did in this situation. Even though Odysseus was afraid to confront the Cyclops, he did it anyway in order to get him and his crew members out of the Cyclops cave alive; despite the 2 men the Cyclops ate. Another way Odysseus demonstrates courage and bravery was when he didn’t give us on his crew even when things got rough for example, when he faced Scylla knowing he would lose se...
Glory is a reward often granted to those who go bravely into the face of adversity. To be glorified is not something that should be vilified; however, the active pursuit of it is difficult to define as anything other than selfish and egotistical. When fleeing the cave of Polyphemus, Odysseus felt it necessary to taunt the monster whom he had so narrowly escaped: “Cyclops, if anyone, any mortal man, asks how you got your eye put out, tell him that Odysseus the marauder did it, son of Laertes, whose home is on Ithaca” (437). All that this earned Odysseus was a curse backed by the wrath of Poseidon and a boulder hurled his way. In this instance, Odysseus’ words could only serve himself. The only glory Odysseus could have attained was a figment of his own imagination. By praising himself, by wagging his self-proclaimed might in the face of his adversary, he had accomplished nothing other than endangering his crew and delaying their return to
Odysseus is a hero because he acts courageously while facing the many challenges he encounters. Odysseus’s shows great bravery when he engages in physical challenges. Odysseus daringly fights against the suitors, while significantly outnumbered: “For I must tell you this is no affair / of ten or even twice ten men, but scores, throngs of them” (XVI, 291 – 293). Even though Odysseus is facing hundreds of men, his bravery keeps him confident that he can win the battle. Odysseus must use his physical strength when Poseidon punishes him with turbulent waves: “Odysseus’s knees grew slack, his heart / sickened, and he said within himself / Rag of man that I am, is this the end of me?” (V, 307 – 309). Odysseus is exhausted from the torrential sea, yet refuses to give up because of enormous courage and his unwillingness to surrender. Odysseus must also cope with emotional challenges throughout his journey. His emotions are tested when he ventures to the underworld, Hades, and must confront his greatest fear, death: “From every side they came and sought the pit / with rustling cries; and I grew sick with fear. / But presently I gave command to my officers” (XI, 45 -47). Although Odysseus is deeply fearful when he comes face to face with the dead, his mental f...
This tale coincides with the times in Greece. This was a time that art and Philosophy were extremely important and respected by the people. Odysseus was a new type of hero that didn’t win by overpowering his opponents, but by using his mind to outwit them. Manners also seemed to play an important role to Odysseus, as he was learned to be polite and generous to strangers and in the end punished those who weren’t.
First of all, Odysseus is brave and courageous, giving him the initiative to fulfill his goals. One example is when Odysseus confronts Skylla. Odysseus purposely “made [his] way along to the foredeck—thinking to see her first from there” (Homer 217). If he was scared, he would have hidden underneath the deck. But instead, Odysseus goes out to face the beast. Odysseus knows that Skylla is immortal and cannot die, yet he is brave enough to confront her. Next, Odysseus fights the suitors, who are courting Penelope in his palace. The suitors greatly outnumber Odysseus, but Odysseus still chooses to fight even though the odds are against him and he is able to win. He stands up against those who do wrong. Having the courage to fight, Odysseus defeats the suitors and fulfills his goal of regaining his palace. If Odysseus was a coward and did not fight, then the suitors would have eventually won Penelope, resulting in Odysseus losing his palace and his wife. Many people have bravery and courage, but not many use it, as Odysseus does, to achieve their purpose.
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...
Like David who is favoured by God, Odysseus is favoured by some of the gods and goddesses who reside on Mount Olympos. Zeus, the king, however, feels neutral and will help according to what he sees fit. When Odysseus and his crew realizes they are trapped and are bound to be eaten by the Cyclops, the son of Laertes has the idea of having the big brute drink wine till he is passes out and then drive a burning stake into his eye, blinding him. Of course it would’ve been easier to just kill Polyphemos, but then no one would be able to move the hefty boulder blocking the entrance. So afterwards, all the men clung onto the sheep and rams, hanging from their underbelly, and waited until they would be released into the pasture. With four men eaten, but everyone else free including Odysseus, he hollers from his boat, “‘Zeus and the other gods have paid you back!’” (Odyssey. l. 536) and starts this shouting contest between them. From this, Odysseus tells him his real name. Polyphemos is rather shocked by this knowledge because a prophecy had warned him about this blinding event, expecting someone who was a good-looking giant, and continues to call Odysseus a tiny coward for tricking instead of fighting him. What’s different between Polyphemos and Goliath, other than the fact that one is a mythical being and the other just abnormally enormous in height, is that a god favoured the former of the two. Ever since the Trojan War, some of the other Olympians, especially Poseidon, have been making Odysseus’ journey home a devastating hardship. Polyphemos, as son of the earthquake god, prays to Poseidon that Odysseus return home with a broken spirit after several
Stressed greatly in ancient Greek culture, hospitality is evident throughout Homer’s writing, which reflects and expresses many different value systems within it. For example, when in the cave of the Cyclops, Polyphemus, Odysseus confronts him by saying, “we therefore humbly pray to show us some hospitality and otherwise make us such presents as visitors may reasonably expect” (92). To the Greeks, hospitality was very important, to the point that it was an expectation and not just a quality as it is in today’s culture. If you feared Zeus and the gods, you were to show hospitality. In opposition to this, Odysseus’ request for hospitality is followed by the Cyclops stating, “you are a fool…we Cyclopes do not care about Zeus or any of your blessed gods for we are ever so much stronger than they” (92/93). In accordance to this, the greatest reason for one to show hospitality was because they believe...
One of the most important traits displayed by Odysseus is his courage. Throughout his journey he has courage when fighting off monster,Gods, and other mythical things. One example of this is near the end of the story when he is about to fight off the suitors. He decided to fight off all of the suitors with mostly just his son. For him to kill of all the suitors just to get his house back is very courageous.Right before he attacks them all, he strings his bow and takes aim at Antonis, then shoots an arrow through his throat ”Odysseus’ arrow hit him under the chin and punched up to the feathers through his throat. Backward and down he went, letting
The epic poem The Odyssey, written by Homer, centers around the main protagonist Odysseus and his long journey back home. Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, returns home after defeating the Trojans in a ten year war. On his way back, he angers Poseidon, god of the sea, by blinding his son, Polyphemus the Cyclops. Due to Odysseus’ actions, Poseidon refuses to let Odysseus reach home, and Odysseus and his crew are forced to go through a series of obstacles throughout the epic. Through this adversity, Odysseus must show his heroic attributions in order to survive. Homer portrays Odysseus as a hero by giving him characteristics such as: craftiness, loyalty, and bravery.
In ancient Greece, the Gods’ power has constantly been praised and known as the God’s Love. In Homer’s Epic, what has really attracted my attention is how God in his highest love Odysseus and been always with him during his journey. Odysseus also knew that he would not be alive if he was not praising the names of Gods especially with the goddess Athena.