Before The Odyssey even begins, it is told that Odysseus is lost at sea. Odysseus, cursed by the god Poseidon, owns up to his own, and other’s, mistakes, all creating a long and difficult journey back to Ithaca, his home, involving monsters and many hardships. In his journey home, Odysseus finds out much about the world and himself. When Odysseus finally returns, after 20 years of wandering, we know he has been with three women, other than his wife Penelope, who he left at Ithaca: Circe, Calypso, and Nausicaa. Along with his adventure, these three women teach Odysseus about himself. Each time Odysseus lands on one of the three women’s islands, he is offered shelter, food, and their love. The extent of acceptance of this love shows Odysseus’ loyalty to Penelope waiting for him to return in Ithaca. Each interaction with the women also shows good and bad traits of Odysseus. Throughout Odysseus’ adventure, he grows as a person and becomes worthy of Penelope’s love as shown by his relationships with Circe, Calypso, and Nausicaa.
Odysseus’ relations with Circe shows both Odysseus’ loyalty and infidelity. When Odysseus reaches the island of Circe, he tells his shipmates to scout the island and meet Circe. In return Circe turns Odysseus’ scouts into swine. To save them, Odysseus must go to Circe. There, he must threaten and seduce her in order for the pigs to be turned back into men. Odysseus, now being praised by Circe for his resistance to her spell, tells Circe; “If you, you really want me to eat and drink, / set them free, all my beloved comrades– / let me feast my eyes.” (10.425-27) This request of Odysseus shows his loyalty to his crew. Not only did Odysseus ask for his crew, but he asked for his crew before he, himself ate. This l...
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...icaa. Although Odysseus’ sex with Circe and Calypso may seem troubling they show just how loyal Odysseus really is. With each new women on Odysseus’ journey, he reacted differently. He starts out loyal, but eventually falls into temptation, not wanting to at first sleep with Circe, but later willingly sleeping with her. With Calypso, at the beginning, he had feelings for her, but later grew to miss Penelope, and just slept with her to not be lonely. And lastly with Nausicaa, he didn’t even show affection. Odysseus’ loyalty and love are portrayed by his interactions with these three women. His different actions for each, corresponding with his loyalty to Penelope, with each new encounter strengthening his loyalty and love, ensuring his loyalty with Penelope. Even after the end of The Odyssey, Odysseus’ adventures helping him find his true self.
Works Cited
Odyssey
When challenged during his excursion, Odysseus was prepared to give up any of his men if it meant saving himself. While he was absent for twenty years, Penelope did everything that she could to remain faithful to her husband. Penelope was unsure if her husband was even alive, but felt that moving on to a different man would not be just. While Penelope was at the palace awaiting Odysseus’ return, Odysseus was at Aeaea with Kirke. Odysseus was off living his life without thinking of how his actions could affect his wife. In book eleven, Odysseus is instructed by Kirke to go to the underworld to talk to Tiresias. When he arrives, one of the first people he spoke with was his mother, Anticlea. She goes on to inform her son that she died of grief waiting for him to return home. Odysseus only ever thought about how he would be affected by this prolonged journey and never about the lives of those who cared about him, such as his wife and his
In Book XIX of Homer's The Odyssey, Odysseus, posing as a poor beggar, has a discussion with Penelope regarding Odysseus himself, and how the "two" met. Readers may question why Penelope does not recognize her own husband. Later on, one sees that at least Eurycleia distinguishes Odysseus. Penelope reveals a dream she has had to Odysseus, asking for an explanation. This Book of The Odyssey brings forth an envisage regarding the death of the suitors that is soon to come.
Though the reader is inclined to see Penelope and Odysseus as a more favorable pair, a marriage between Nausicaa and Odysseus would have been very beneficial. Nausicaa is a powerful catalyst, but after her moment of glory, she is quickly forgotten. Because The Odyssey is crafted so that the audience cheers for the hero, Odysseus, many do not consider any other wife for the hero than his faithful Penelope. The noble Odysseus has made many decisions that have shaped his travel home, such as deciding to go to the underworld on Circe’s advice, but one should consider how the decision to marry the young Nausicaa instead of moving on from the Phaecians would have affected many events in a constructive manner.
Odysseus follows Hermes’ instructions. He dines with Circe, and when she touches him with her wand, he draws his sword and lunges at her. Circe asks him to become her lover, but Odysseus demands that she first swear an oath to free his friends and to not try to harm him again. Circe agrees. Circe changes Odysseus’ crew back into humans, and all of his men stay with her for a
One important characteristic that Penelope and Odysseus share is their loyalty to each other. Odysseus failed to return home seven years after the Trojan war. Because he is assumed dead, 108 wealthy noblemen and princes invade his palace and refuse to leave until Penelope has married one of them. By marrying her, the suitors hope to gain control over Odysseus’s wealth and power. However, Penelope remains faithful to Odysseus. But, as a woman, she is powerless to remove the suitors from the palace. And without a man in the household, she is subject to her father’s decisions. However, despite his wish for her to remarry, Penelope clings to the hope of Odysseus’s return and remains faithful to him. She waits and gathers information by asking strangers who arrive in Ithaca about Odysseus. She goes through the stories of their encounter point by point, and asks about every detail while tears stream down her eyes. Although the suitors promise her a secure future, Penelope continues to wait for Odysseus. Without Odysseus, she does not believe that she will ever be happy again.
The author writes "But as I sent them to Scylla, I told them nothing"(Homer 936). This is showing that Odysseus did not tell his crew about Scylla, and how he had to sacrifice 6 of them. This is questionable because a hero would not have sacrificed 6 of his men, he knew 6 of them would have to die, but he still went that route anyways. The author also writes "I entered Circe's flawless bed of love"(Homer 921). This quote is insinuating that Odysseus had slept with Circe even though he already had a wife. This act is questionable because he is sleeping with other women, as if he was not committed to his current wife. In conclusion, Odysseus while on his way back to Ithaca, though he would go out and heroically and save his men, he also willingly sacrificed him just to get back to
Calypso offers Odysseus a passive, peaceful life, “less eventful,” is how she describes it. She is offering a relationship where she will supply all that he needs. What then happens to the warrior hero who loves to share of his adventures as seen with the Phaeaceans ? A life with Calypso would have ultimately crushed the spirit of the man he had been. By sharp contrast, Penelope supported her husband in his efforts to help his friend, Menelaus in the Trojan War.
In that regard, it was no wonder Odysseus’s is such an atrocious leader. A great example of Odysseus being disloyal is on Calypso’s Island. “…He lay with her each night, for she compelled him.” (892) This quote shows how Odysseus is disloyal to his grieving wife, and sleeps with a goddess daily. A leader cannot expect loyalty when the leader is notorious for being unloyal. “Now Circe, ‘loveliest of all immortals,’ persuades Odysseus to stay with her.” (903) This is another quote that shows Odysseus cheating on his wife, while his wife is at home is at home distraught over her missing husband. A great leader leads by example. By that philosophy, it should not be expected of Odysseus’s men to be loyal to him, when Odysseus cannot stay faithful to his own wife. Consequently, Odysseus is also extremely selfish, on top of being incredibly
While the relationship between Odysseus and Telemakhos is a blind love, the relationship between Odysseus and Penelope is a love between two people who just want to be together. Odysseus shows his love towards Penelope throughout the Odyssey. In spite of the fact that Odysseus has been gone for twenty years, he never forgets his wife back in Ithaca. One example of how much he wanted to go home was when he went to the island of the Lotus-Eaters. He could have stayed on the island of the Lotus-Eaters where everything he ever wanted was there, but the thing he wanted the most was to be with his wife. Penelope likewise displays this kind of love towards Odysseus.
Again Odysseus shows a lack of self discipline while with the witch Circe. Odysseus chooses to stay with Circe instead of trying to make it back to his wife, Penelope, and his kingdom of Ithaca. In the Odyssey it says "he enjoyed the many pleasures of Circe." (Page 913). This proves that Odysseus, once again has no control over himself when he is tempted. He choose the beautiful witch over his very own wife who has been waiting for years for him to return.
Odysseus on numerous occasions, is unfaithful to Penelope. Penelope however, remains loyal to Odysseus and she is praised by greek society for it while Odysseus is never seen as adulterous for his disloyalty. However, one could argue that Odysseus’s relationship with Calypso is non-consensual, as she used her power over him as a goddess to control him and keep him on the island. In the end, however, Penelope and Telemachus are the main reasons Odysseus continues his journey home to Ithaca. The other marriage we are introduced to is the relationship between Agamemnon and his wife Clytemnestra. When Agamemnon returned from war, his wife and her lover murdered him. He sees this as a cruel act of deceit, despite the fact that he killed their daughter. Agamemnon views Clytemnestra, and other women as evil and untrustworthy. In book eleven he tells Odysseus, “So, there’s nothing more deadly, bestial than a women set on works like these, what a monstrous thing she plotted, slaughtered her own lawful husband!” Agamemnon makes this generalization and doesn’t take into consideration that he also cheated on his wife and probably murdered numerous
Women play an influential role in The Odyssey. Women appear throughout the story, as goddesses, wives, princesses, or servants. The nymph Calypso enslaves Odysseus for many years. Odysseus desires to reach home and his wife Penelope. It is the goddess Athena who sets the action of The Odyssey rolling; she also guides and orchestrates everything to Odysseus’ good. Women in The Odyssey are divided into two classes: seductresses and helpmeets. By doing so, Homer demonstrates that women have the power to either hinder of help men. Only one woman is able to successfully combine elements of both classes: Penelope. She serves as a role model of virtue and craftiness. All the other women are compared to and contrasted with Penelope.
The relationship between Odysseus and his wife Penelope is one of loyalty, love, and faith. Both characters are driven by these characteristics. Odysseus displays his loyalty in his constant battle to get home to his wife. This love helps him persevere through the many hardships that he encounters on his journey home. Odysseus spent 20 years trying to return to his home in Ithaca after the end of the Trojan War. Along the way he manages to offend both gods and mortals, but through his intelligence, and the guidance of Athena, he manages to finally return home. There he discovers that his home has been overrun by suitors attempting to win Penelope’s hand in marriage. The suitors believed that Odysseus was dead. Odysseus and his son, Telemachus,
Often times in life we search for a companion, someone to share our love and life with. Odysseus and Penelope's lasting relationship is an obvious representation of love in the Odyssey. Although Odysseus is gone for twenty years he never forgets his faithful wife in Ithaca. This love helps him persevere through the many hardships that he encounters on his journey home. Penelope also exemplifies this same kind of love for Odysseus. At home in Ithaca, she stays loyal to Odysseus by unraveling his shroud and delaying her marriage to the suitors that are courting her. She always keeps the hope that her love, Odysseus, will return. Odysseus and Penelope's marriage clearly illustrates the theme of love.
... those phaeacians who have helped Odysseus to return home. And for Calypso, she tried to offer Odysseus the immortal life and promising him to be his eternal wife, but Odysseus’s love for his wife Penelope pushes him to fight for his return