“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. To start, within the course of The Odyssey, Odysseus displays hubris through many of his actions. The most prominent instance in which Odysseus shows hubris is while he and his men are trying to escape from the Cyclops Polyphemus. They drug the monster until it passes out, and then stab him with a timber in his single eye. Polyphemus, now blinded, removes the gigantic boulder blocking Odysseus’ escape, and waits for the men to move, so he can kill them. The men escape from the cave to their boat by tying themselves under flocks of rams, so they can easily slip by. Odysseus, now proud after beating the giant, starts to yell at Polyphemus, instead of making a silent escape. Odysseus’ men ask him to stop before Polyphemus would “get the range and lob a boulder” (436). But Odysseus shows hubris by saying that if they were to meet again, Odysseus would “take your life” and “hurl you down to hell!” (462; 463). Polyphemus, now extremely angry with Odysseus, prays to his father, Poseidon, to make Odysseus “never see his home” again, and after which, throws a mountain towards the sound of Odysseus’ voice. (470). Because of Odysseus’ hubris after blinding Polyphemus, Poseidon grants the prayer, and it takes Odysseus 20 years to return home, at the cost of the lives of all his men. Next, Polyphemus demonstrates hubris by believing that because he is a giant, he is unbeatable by anyone, even a god. This is shown when Odysseus meets Polyphemus and greets him with gifts, as it is a custom to show courtesy to hosts and guests alike, (unexpected or not). Failure to give gifts can lead to revenge from the gods. Odysseus tells Polyphemus this, but Polyphemus “would not let you go for fear of Zeus” because the Cyclopes “have more force by far ”. (205; 200) Polyphemus then angers the gods further by kidnapping and eating Odysseus’ men, both of which are considered extremely uncivil in Greek society. Polyphemus is so confident in his invulnerability he lets the men roam free inside the cave, a mistake that leads to his downfall.
In the early aspects of Odysseus’ journey, Homer establishes the initial state of Odysseus’ identity, one that includes dangerous arrogance, complacency, and desires for concealment. This image is prominently presented in his encounter with Polyphemus. Overstaying his welcome, stealing, and overly expectant of hospitality he leads his men to their doom (IX.325-328, 258-259, 300-302). When asked for his name, he replies cleverly “Nobody--that’s my name” disg...
Like Jacob, Odysseus connived, manipulated, and deceived. On his journey home from the Trojan War, Odysseus uses his trickster ways to get himself out of trouble. One famous tail was his encounter with the one-eyed Cyclopes Polyphemous. Odysseus and his crew landed on the land of they Cyclopes. They made themselves at home, eating the cheese and goats of the Cyclopes, fully expecting him to be hospitable. Instead, Cyclops began eating then men as though they were animals themselves. Odysseus and his men were trapped in the cave and Polyphemous rolled a stone over the entrance so no one could exit. Odysseus connived a plan and gave the Cyclopes some wine. When he got drunk and passed out, Odysseus poked out the eye of Polyphemous and completely blinds him. Odysseus and his men escape the cave by clinging to the bellies of sheep (Odyssey, Ch. 9). He also disguised himself as a veteran of a Trojan war to Eumaios, a loyal servant, and as a beggar to his wife and son.
After they finally escaped from the brutal monster, Odysseus made another poor decision. The men were rowing their boats away from the island when Odysseus decided that it was a good idea to taunt the raging Cyclops: “So, Cyclops,...Your filthy crimes came down on your own head, you shameless cannibal...so Zeus and the other gods have paid you back” (9.531-36)! This angered Polyphemus more, which led him to hurl a mountain top into the water, forcing Odysseus and his men back near the shore. After one time, you’d think Odysseus would have learned his lesson, but he continued to taunt the monster after they had rowed back out: “Cyclops - if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you...say Odysseus, raider of cities...Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca” (9.558-62)! Not only did Polyphemus acquire the location of his home, he cursed Odysseus, so that if and when he returned home, it would be late, he would be broken, and problems at home would arise, which was why taunting the Cyclops was a horrible decision. In conclusion, one could argue that most of Odysseus’ choices were favorable
After stabbing Polyphemus in his eye and blinding him, Odysseus provoked and harassed the Cyclops, which angered him immensely. “ Cyclops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes’ son whose home’s on Ithaca';, shouted Odysseus to the crippled Polyphemus, which was not very smart. If Odysseus had not told the Cyclops this incriminating information, he would have had a much safer journey. Polyphemus begged his father Poseidon, god of earthquake, to curse Odysseus. The Cyclops cried out to his father to prevent Odysseus from returning home, and pleaded with him to let Odysseus lose his companions.
The first bad decision that Odysseus made was poking Polyphemus’ eye out. Even though it was necessary to escape, poking the sea god’s son’s eye out is never a good idea. To make matters worse, Odysseus bragged about his accomplishment later to the cyclops. The only reason why it took Odysseus ten extra years to get home was because Poseidon was angry at him for severely injuring his son. Also, if Odysseus would not have revealed his name to the cyclops, Polyphemus would never have known who poked his eye out. In return, Polyphemus would never had told his father, Poseidon, that Odysseus injured him and that he should give him a hard time on his journey home. So, if Odysse...
Hubris is often found in heroes but it can also be found in minor characters. A good example of this is when Odysseys and his men are sailing back to their home with the bag of winds. Soon odysseys fell asleep of exultation his men were greedy and decided to open the bag of wind’s and hopefully find gold a riches but instead they made the gods angry and set them back to the start of their journey back home. Arachne was a very talented girl who lived in Greece. She
The role model for society should not be someone with a big head. Odysseus is quite the self centered. Odysseus comes home, and after killing the suitors, he receives a test of sorts from Penelope to prove he is Odysseus. She wants to move his bed, though he knows the bed is carved out of a tree. He then realizes this is their sign and boasts to his wife saying he is the only one who could have made it or removed it from it's place. Earlier in the story Odysseus tries to come together with the remaining crew. Though in doing so, he brags about his success. "Did I not keep my nerve, use my smartness to find a way out for us". He seems to think it was just by the sole operations of himself they escaped the Cyclops. Odysseus and his crew encountered a Cyclops on their journey home. They manage to escape the clutches of the Cyclops, Polyphemus. Once aboard their ship, almost out of harms way, Odysseus chooses to call back to anger Polyphemus. After his achievement, Polyphemus throws the rock and narrowly misses the ship. After the crew protests, Odysseus shouts back again. Polyphemus gets the final word by asking his father, Poseidon, god of the sea, to give them a long and terrible journey
In Odysseus’s encounter with the cyclops Polyphemus, he proves he is a leader when it comes to fighting those that do not follow Greek values and traditions. On his long voyage home, Odysseus and his men stopped at the lawless land of the Cyclops.Here, there are no rules, they do not follow Greek values, and they believe they are stronger than the gods. This contrasts with the Greek society, which values making sacrifices to the gods and believes one should act with cleverness rather than brute force. Once Polyphemus eats two of Odysseus’s men, Odysseus realizes how inhumane they are and how they threaten human values, dignity, and control. Knowing that he might be the next victim, Odysseus comes up with a plan. First, Odysseus gives Polyphemus a large...
After escaping Polyphemos’s cave, Odysseus’s crew remains loyal. As a result, the focus changes to Odysseus being the epic hero. Odysseus takes control of the situation and allows most of his crew to escape safely. The crew is helpless and directs the attention to how Odysseus rescues his crew by blinding Polyphemos with a spear. He has escapes by having his men hang on the underside of rams. Odysseus laughs and keeps calm during the entire tense situation. “They lumbered off, but laughter filled my heart…” (9.461). Odysseus’s ability to keep his cool is what separates him from an ordinary man. Odysseus rises up when his crew is in predicaments. His lea...
When Odysseus meets Polyphemus the cyclops he thinks he’s going be nice and be grateful. Polyphemus eats Odysseus men. They then make a plan to get him drunk and stab his then escape. They do it. But before escaping safely Odysseus
Odysseus and his men land on the island of the Cyclops extremely hungry and looking for food. He and his men carefully search the island despite the “....instant foreboding that we were gong to find ourselves face to face with some barbarous being of colossal strength and ferocity, uncivilized and unprincipled” (Homer;9;213;216). The Cyclops also known as Polyphemus returns home from tending his animals to find twelve strangers in his cave. He quickly returns the boulder back in the door way and begins asking the men who they are and where they came from. At first Polyphenus shows hospitality to them until Odysseus replies to him with a lie. Polyphenus is outraged and quickly grabs two of Odysseus’ men and bashes their brains out and begins to eat them. Odysseus and his men are terrified that such a horrific creature could do such a thing. He then realizes that will have to use their whits to get away from this creature not their brute strength. He then hardens a stick out of a piece of olive wood and hides it under some dung in the cave. When Polyphenus returns to the cave Odysseus then sets out to ...
Hubris is extreme pride or arrogance shown by a character. In The Odyssey, Odysseus was hubris about everything because he thought he was the best of the best but he was just as flawed as everyone else around him. Hubris came to be defined as overweening presumption that leads a person to disregard the divinity fixed limits on human actions in an ordered cosmos. In The Odyssey, not only was Odysseus very hubris, he had fatal flaw in him too because when he gets all cocky about beating Troy, Poseidon makes it harder to get back to his
Odysseus is curious about who lives on the mainland. Odysseus decided to bring a dozen of his men and a wine given to him from Apollo to go visit a cave near the shore of the mainland. The cave happens to be the home of Polyphemus. Odysseus and his men discover ample amounts of food in the cave and his men want to steal it and leave. Odysseus decides to not do this and to wait for the owner of the cave to return so he can see how hospitable the host is. Polyphemus is the son of Poseidon and is nearly as powerful as Poseidon himself. Polyphemus laughs at the idea of hospitality and responds by eating two of Odysseus’ men and trapping the rest for meals. When the cyclops leaves, Odysseus devises a plan to make a lance out of a club the giant uses. When Polyphemus returns, he proceeds to eat two more of Odysseus’ men. Odysseus then offers Polyphemus the wine. While drinking, Polyphemus asks the name of Odysseus in which he responds by saying that his name is “Nobody.” Once Polyphemus passes out, Odysseus and his men stab the cyclops
This is evident during his encounter with the cyclops. Odysseus finds an empty cave filled with livestock and dairy products. Not knowing that this cave belongs to the Cyclops Polyphemus, Odysseus waits there for the owner to return expecting that he will receive gifts. Polyphemus traps Odysseus and his men in the cave and begins to eat them. By getting Polyphemus drunk and stabbing him in the eye, Odysseus and his men are able to escape. When Odysseus reaches his ship, he tells the Cyclops his actual identity. “If every any one asks you who put out your ugly eye, tell him your blinder was Odysseus, the conqueror of Tory, the son of Laertes, whose address is in Ithaca” (Homer 110)! Odysseus wants to ensure that people will know he is the one who blinded Polyphemus and in this series of events, his main character flaw shows. His lack of humility seems unheroic but Odysseus does learn from his mistakes and completes the hero’s
After the Trojan War, Odysseus, the handsome, brave hero of The Odyssey makes the god of the sea, Poseidon, angry by claiming that he alone won the Trojan War. Poseidon vows he will make Odysseus' journey home tough. While on the island of the Cyclopes, they find an abandoned cave that is owned by the one-eyed Cyclops Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon. There they become trapped, Odysseus tells him his name is Nohbody, and offers Polyphemus some wine so that he can become intoxicated. Polyphemus becomes drunk, passes out, and Odysseus and his men devise a plan and attack him in his eye with a sharp, hot wooden pole. Polyphemus...