Intelligence In The Odyssey

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The Odyssey is an epic by Homer about a character named Odysseus and the story of his journey back home. Odysseus performs actions and exhibits qualities of which call into question his sense of reality and intelligence. Odysseus is easily characterized as a bumbling incompetent. He demonstrates a lack of closure and recklessness that from time to time again has put him and his men in potentially fatal situations. Upon evasion of the Cyclops, Odysseus yells back of his success and honor, only for the Cyclops to hurl a boulder towards him, delaying their escape and diminishing their odds of survival (¨The Cyclops¨. ###). If Odysseus was to leave the island quickly and silently, he would have avoided any odds of losing men or death on his own …show more content…

Odysseus´ quarrel with the god Poseidon, which culminates in the Cyclops’ calling on his father to make sure Odysseus never gets home, dooms Odysseus’ men (###). The rancor Odysseus and Poseidon have for each other leads to many series of unfortunate events that end with Odysseus being the sole survivor of the crew. Odysseus’ incompetence in this situation concluded with these events and could have been easily avoided by the diminishing of Odysseus´ arrogance of which allowed him to believe he could quarrel with a being significantly more powerful than him. Simultaneously, his irrationality when it comes to his dealings with the suitors upon his return to Ithaca represent his incompetence in being the king and a loyal husband to his wife. After proving that he was Odysseus to his wife and the inhabitants of Ithaca, he proceeds to slaughter the unfaithful suitors for attempting to seduce his wife (“Death at the Palace” ###). Odysseus, who is supposedly the king of Ithaca, slaughtered his own subjects that he had the obligation to protect, and at the same time he was disloyal to his wife by virtue of having the expectation that she will always be waiting for him, rather than hoping that in his extended absence she would remain happy and seek a new lover as a father figure for their

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