The Value of Cunning over Strength

1582 Words4 Pages

Odysseus was the person who originally came up with the idea of the Trojan horse, the strategy by which the Greeks were finally able to take the city of Troy itself and have it fall (Hunter). Odysseus came up with this very cunning idea of to take down Troy. This is what led to the fall of Troy. If he never thought of this idea Troy may have never have fallen. Therefore, Odysseus's amazing wits won over Troy and they could have never done it without him. He could have just said lets go brute force into Troy and most of them if not all of them would have fallen on the battlefield that day. He made sure all the ships and camps were hidden and did it during the celebrating that was happening in Troy. This way he was able to make it seem like it was a gift from the gods. I believe this is the best example of reinforcing my thesis from a secondary text. The reason why is that the Trojan Horse is the reason why they won the Trojan War. For ten years the battle was go in neither direction. However, then came along this idea that Odysseus thought of all on his own he claimed (WorldPress.com). The pure genuis of this strategy to wait patiently inside of a giant wooden horse until the city went to sleep was an unthinkable idea it seemed like back then.
Women found in this book also had to have cunning and strength of character to not be pushed around like a sex slave and become an object more than a human being. They displayed as much cunning as Odysseus throughout The Odyssey. They have to rely on the power of cunning over strength because they are weaker than the men as it has been for centuries. Homer's majority of minor characters it seems like are women. He is using all these minor characters to reinforce the theme...

... middle of paper ...

...ave probably died. However, when they work together they can defeat anything. The use of cunning through deception and disguise played a large role in Odysseus’ success in getting home; even when he was home he used disguise and deception. Women helped Odysseus become disguised sometimes and Odysseus did much of the deception. Odysseus and the women in The Odyssey were showing throughout the book the power of cunning over strength and how many different scenarios they used it in. I felt the examples I chose to enforce my thesis were appropriate, the better of the bunch, and showing different scenarios.

Works Cited

Homer, Robert Fagles, and Bernard Knox. The Odyssey. N.p.: n.p., 1996. Print.
Hunter, James. "Odysseus." Odysseus. Mythica, 03 Mar. 1997. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
"The Value of Cunning Over Strength." Blog. WorldPress.com, 13 Oct. 2012. Web. 03 May 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Treatment of Women in Homer's Odyssey

    882 Words  | 2 Pages

    Judged by modern Western standards, the treatment of women by men in Homer's Odyssey can be characterized as sexist. Women in Homer's Odyssey are judged mainly by their looks. If important men and gods consider a woman beautiful, or if her son or husband is a hero or has an important position such as king, the woman is successful. The way women in The Odyssey are treated is based on appearance, the things men want from them, and whether the woman has any power over men. During Odysseus' journey to the underworld he sees many different types of women. We hear about their beauty, their important sons, or their affairs with gods. We hear nothing about these women's accomplishments in their lifetime. Odysseus tells how Antiope could "boast a god for a lover,"(193) as could Tyro and many other women. Epikaste was called "that prize"(195) her own son unwittingly married.

    Read More

  • Odysseus's Qualities in The Odyssey

    754 Words  | 2 Pages

    Odysseus?s cunning is cardinal to his survival and that of his men. He uses his cunning to get them out of several unpleasant situations. When they are captured by the Cyclops, he can not use the strength of his men to escape, so he must use his cunning to free them. He lies and tricks the Cyclops to get out, ??My name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends, everyone calls me Nohbdy?? (9.397-99). This clever deception stops the other Cyclops from helping Polyphemos helping them to escape. Odysseus also shows his cleverness when he returns to Ithaca.

    Read More

  • Free Essays on Homer's Odyssey - Odysseus Defines a Hero

    691 Words  | 2 Pages

    As well as having courage and bravery, Odysseus is also a strong warrior and leader. Living as king of Ithaca, he leads his fleet of warriors across Poseidon’s sea into a great battle against the Trojans. It is here where Odysseus and his fleet of warriors defeated the Trojans because of his great leadership. Knowing that he cannot defeat the Trojans from outside the immense walls, he comes up with a different plan. A plan that will get him through the walls with a little help from Poseidon. He makes a giant wooden horse (Trojan Horse) and has a person present it as a gift to accept a peace with them. The Trojans accept the gift and open the walls for the horse, not knowing that inside the horse was Odysseus and a small fleet of soldiers. The Trojans had a great celebration for what they thought was a victory. As the Trojans finally went to sleep, Odysseus and his fleet crept out of the horse and completely slaughtered the Trojans in a very bloody battle.

    Read More

  • Mortal Women In Homer's The Odyssey

    907 Words  | 2 Pages

    The women were generally less defined than the men, but that is due to the fact that none of the women could be considered main characters, except perhaps Penelope. The woman all served a point, and were there to add to the plot or to compliment another character, like Penelope and Odysseus’s connection. Homer wrote women to help the plot along, but not be a major point or character themselves. The women are very important to the Odyssey, and the poem would not of been able to read the way it did if the women played no role. The poem illustrates women as important people, but only for the sake of a man. Homer wrote according to the greeks pyramid of social standing, where women were lower than men, but he still allowed women greater roles, and even gave them important tasks to fulfill, like Penelope and her suitors, or Helen and her elopement with Prince

    Read More

  • Important Role of Women in Homer's Odyssey

    1720 Words  | 4 Pages

    Before we delve into the traits of individual characters, it is important to understand certain assumptions about women that prevailed in the Homeric Age.  By modern standards, the Ancient Greeks would be considered a rabidly misogynistic culture.  Indeed, the notoriously sour Boetian playwright Hesiod-- who wrote about fifty years before Homer-- proclaimed "Zeus who thunders on high made women to be an evil to mortal men, with a nature to do evil (Theogony 600)."  While this view may have been extreme even for the Greeks, they were convinced of the physical and intellectual inferiority of women.  Thus, they believed that it was better for all--...

    Read More

  • The Odyssey

    537 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Odyssey is a tale that has changed literature and storytelling. In this tale Odysseus is a Soldier from the battle of Troy trying to get home to his island of Ithaca, where he is king. His wife and son must wait ten years while he is trying to make his way home. In Odysseus’s absence wooer’s, or better known as suitors, learn of his absence and travel to Ithaca to win his wife’s hand in marriage. These men come every day feasting on Odysseus’s food and wine, and give his servant’s orders. His son Telemachus, does his best to keep the suitors from ruining his fathers house but he is only a boy, and doesn’t receive the respect of an adult. Telemachus then has a visit from the god Athena, whom Odysseus is friends with, who advises him to travel to find out about his father. In his travels he hears that Odysseus may still be alive. Meanwhile Odysseus goes through a series of adventures and hardships that prove his wisdom. It is interesting in contrast of the Iliad, even though Achilles was much stronger and a better warrior, Odysseus was portrayed as a greater hero due to his wisdom. He uses this wisdom to escape from the Cyclops.

    Read More

  • Role of Women in the Odyssey

    1575 Words  | 4 Pages

    “A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day, which is an exclusively masculine society, with laws framed by men and with a judicial system that judges feminine conduct from a masculine point of view” (Ibsen). This saying also applied to the times of the Odyssey, an epic constructed by the blind, eight century B.C.E. poet, Homer. As one of the few representatives of ancient Greek social order, the blind, Homer witnessed women as substandard to men, regardless of their actions; many of them existed as seductresses, prostitutes, or slaves. He engraved into his poem women’s roles; the roles of women, as mothers, wives, seductresses, and goddesses are exemplified in this epic, when shown in comparison to the men of that era.

    Read More

  • Female Role In The Odyssey

    1080 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the era of Homer, women played a very specific role in society, and even in literature. Women of this time were basically put in a box, and expected to never step out of line. If they did go against the arbitration of men, then they were faced with serious consequences. However, female characters play a huge role in both aiding, and delaying Odysseus’s journey home. I will proceed to analyze, and interpret the actions and intentions of every major female character in The Odyssey.

    Read More

  • Odysseus Foolishness

    892 Words  | 2 Pages

    When people think of Odysseus, they think of a great, cunning, warrior. Who wouldn’t see him that way, he fought his way through Troy and embarked on a journey back home to see his son and wife again. On the surface Odysseus seems like a genius but in Homer’s, The Odyssey, Odysseus shows many instances where he outwits his foes but his foolishness heavily outweighs his smarts; he becomes boastful after a victory which leads to more hardships, he leaves precious cargo in the open for his brutish crew to mess with, and refuses help from the gods which nearly leads to his demise.

    Read More

  • Portrayal of Women in Homer's Odyssey

    451 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Odyssey: Portrayal of Women How does Homer portray women in the epic, The Odyssey? In order to answer this question you must look at woman and goddesses as two separate groups of people who are "people". This is because they are portrayed in two separate ways. You see, a regular woman like Penelope is looked at as beautiful but has.

    Read More

  • How Is Odysseus Brave

    1633 Words  | 4 Pages

    Now that we have discussed a bit on his bravery, now we can talk about how Odysseus is cunning. The third line in book one calls Odysseus cunning, but how so? Well going back to what we talked about before about how he outsmarted Polyphemus and used his own strength against him. Also, with the use of magic, he was able to defeat Circe. When Circe turned his men into pigs, he convinced her to turn them back into men. (Book 10: lines 413-420) Odysseus is also very strategic. When he returns home to Ithaca, he remains virtually unseen and plans just the right time to attack and defeat all the

    Read More

  • Essay On The Odyssey Being Cunning

    918 Words  | 2 Pages

    Odysseus’s cunning nature is shown from the very beginning of his journey returning from Troy after the war. After the conclusion of the war, his godly enemies as well as others ruined his chances of returning home and made any chance of getting home near impossible for Odysseus to return.Throughout the ensuing journey home to Ithaca chronicled in the Odyssey, it is shown how important being sly and cunning are. Homer demonstrates throughout his epic poem The Odyssey, that being clever, sly, and cunning is important to achieving one’s goals and surviving through hardships. Only by exhibiting these qualities when faced with challenges such as killing his enemies, escaping a bloodthirsty cyclops, and finding a way to safely pass by the deadly

    Read More

  • Greek Women in The Odyssey

    425 Words  | 1 Pages

    The women in The Odyssey are a fair representation of women in ancient Greek culture. In his work, Homer brings forth women of different prestige. First there are the goddesses, then Penelope, and lastly the servant girls. Each of the three factions forms an important part of The Odyssey and helps us look into what women were like in ancient Greece.

    Read More

  • The Connections Of Odysseus And The Trojan War

    829 Words  | 2 Pages

    He needed to identify an effective strategy and take action because of the battle. There were many difficulties that played a part in determining a solution, but Odysseus finally figured out an approach. Since Troy had a powerful defense and protection with its tall walls, it prevented intrusions from the Greeks. However, Odysseus devised “the idea of the wooden horse [that hid the majority of the] Greek warriors inside” (Odysseus’ Journey). This plan was strategic because the horse became a “peace offering” from the Greeks to the Trojans. “With the help of Athena, they [the Greeks] were able to convince the Trojans to take the horse into the city” (Odysseus’ Journey). Odysseus’ contributions towards the Trojan War allowed the army to enter into the city of Troy, too. Furthermore, when night approached, the Greek army, led by Odysseus, came out and defeated Troy and the Trojans. Due to this brilliant idea, the tiresome battle between the Greeks and the Trojans was ended once and for all. Odysseus’ resourcefulness and cunningness, regarding the gigantic wooden horse, was a major impact on the Greek’s victory. Odysseus’ involvement regarding the strategic ruse of the Trojan horse brought the ten-year Trojan War to a

    Read More

  • Cunning over Strength

    935 Words  | 2 Pages

    The cornerstone of early Greek culture was using strength instead of your mind to get you through dangerous situations. From the statues and the stories Greek heroes were always portrayed as powerful and athletic, and used this to there advantage. The Odyssey written by Homer is an epic poem that shows that it’s not always your strength but your cunning ability to get you through treacherous situations. Throughout The Odyssey there are numerous examples in which characters show this skill including, Odysseus’s escape from Polyphemus, his resistance of the Sirens, and Penelope’s ability to trick her suitors.

    Read More

More about The Value of Cunning over Strength

Open Document