Is Odysseus Truly Loyal
Has someone you know ever gone on a trip or journey and has not been loyal? In the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus went on a journey and cheated on his wife Penelope. Odysseus is the king of Ithaca, he left for Troy to fight the Trojans because Paris, a Trojan, kidnapped Helen a Geek. He has been gone for 20 years and is trying to make it back to Ithaca and his wife Penelope. Odysseus is not loyal to Penelope because he sleeps with multiple women , he did not truly care how fast he got home and he does not act very urgent to be with Penelope when he does get home.
On Odysseus’s journey home he sleeps a lot of other women. When Odysseus Is saving his crew from Circe, he tells her he will not sleep with her, but he caves
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Odysseus did not truly care how fast he got home. If he was being loyal he would do anything to get home to Penelope. Odysseus is recalling of when he and his crew stayed with Circe just for fun,“ And there we sat at ease,- day in, day out, till a year had run its course” (Homer 10 514-515). Odysseus did not truly care how fast he got home because he wasted a whole year when he could have been getting home to be with Penelope. This shows disloyalty because he is not going home to Penelope, he is kind of avoiding her. Odysseus is on his way home when they see an island:“We all turned out, intrigued to tour the island...The good red stocking our vessels holds had not run out, there was still plenty left”(Homer 9 169, 181-182)Odysseus and his crew stopped at the Cyclops’s island when they did not need to, he was kind of avoiding Penelope. Id they did not need to stop they were just wasting time. Odysseus made it to an island where he was taken care of by the Phaeacians, they ask him about what happened and how he got to the island: “Let me tell you about the voyage fraught with hardship/ Zeus inflicted upon me”(Homer 9 43-44) Odysseus did not have to tell the Phaeacians his whole story and waste a lot time when he could have been getting home to Penelope, instead of totally forgetting about …show more content…
When he was telling Penelope about how he “met Odysseus” while he was desquised, he could have told her he was Odysseus, she can keep a secret, “But he gave his falsehoods all the ring of truth. As she listened on, her tears flowed and soaked her cheeks.” (Homer 19 236-237) Him lying to her is not very loyal, and not trusting her to keep a secret so they could have been happy together is not very loyal either. Odysseus could have easily told her who he was since he was not urgent to be with her, he did not tell her. When Odysseus got home to Ithaca, instead of killing the suitors so they stopped pestering Penelope or spending time with after so much time he goes and talks to his swineherd putting him first,“So up from the haven now Odysseus climbed up a rugged path through timber along high ground-Athena had shown the way- o reach the swineherd 's place” Odysseus is putting this swineherd first instead of his wife Penelope which is not very loyal, and instead of doing this he could have been killing the suitors so he could spend time with Penelope sooner.Odysseus is disguised now and starts a fight or causes himself to be challenged to a fight, “Whoever wins this bout and proves the stronger,let that man step up and take his pick of the lot.”(Homer 18 54-55)Odysseus did not need to fight Irus, he could have been plotting a plan with Telemachus to get rid of the suitors so he could be
In The Odyssey, Homer conveys a mixed message about Odysseus’s crew. At times, they seem loyal, whereas other scenes reveal them as disloyal. Homer does this to help center the attention on how Odysseus can fall victim to temptation and stand up to take control of his crew. The critical moments where Odysseus and his crew are in disagreement are significant because they demonstrate how Odysseus is epic, yet still human and flawed.
One of Odysseus's many qualities is determination. He remains determined throughout the entire saga to get back to his family. During Odysseus's Odyssey he encounters many obstacles, beast, god, and nature. Odysseus must get through all of these hardships before he can make it back to his family and home. On his way back Odysseus is next to Charybdis and she swallows his boat. He must holds on to the branches of a fig tree to survive, "But I clung grimly, thinking my mast and keel would come back to the surface when she spouted. And ah! How long, with what desiree, I waited! Till, at the twilight hour...the long poles at last reared from the sea"(12.560-64). Odysseus shows his determination to get home, because it would be easy for him to just let go and drown, but no Odysseus hangs on so he can see his wife again. Once he is at home he finds suitors at his house. Odysseus kills one of them and the others beg for mercy, ??Not for the whole treasure of your fathers, all you enjoy, lands, flocks, or any gold put up by others, would I hold my hand??(22.65-67). Odysseus is determined to get revenge on all of the suitors and he will not be satisfied until they are all dead. Without his strong will and determination Odysseus would not have made it through his trials. Although determination is a must for a journey such as Odysseus?s cunning is also just as essential.
In Homer's epic The Odyssey, Odysseus returns to the island of Ithaka disguised as a beggar. He reveals his real identity to his son, Telemakhos, as well as a few others who he would need to help kill the suitors. However, Odysseus does not reveal himself to his wife, Penelope. She recognizes the beggar as her long lost husband and chooses not to unveil his true identity. Penelope does this because she realized that her husband would be in danger, in his current surroundings, if she was to reveal who he really was. Therefore she acts as if she does not know the beggar is Odysseus. However, it is portrayed subtly in the book that she does indeed know that the beggar is her husband.
Now comes the part where he puts Penelope to the test. By sharing this information with her about her husband he comes to understand her feelings for him. Penelope has not only been loyal to Odysseus as her husband, but also as the authority figure. She has demonstrated her loyalty by being true to him for twenty years in his absence and has not remarried.
... as the suitors. “Would I play such a trick on you, dear child? It is true, true, as I tell you, he has come! That stranger they were baiting was Odysseus. Telemakhos knew it days ago- cool head, never to give his father away, till he paid off those swollen dogs!” (Book XXIII, Lines 27-32). Like most heroes, Odysseus was able to use his leadership abilities to get to his beloved, Penelope.
Firstly, Penelope who plays Odysseus’s wife is alone tending to her city Ithica until her husband returns. Meanwhile Odysseus is out fighting in the Trojan War and against many of the Greek God’s who are trying to make his trip back home as eventful and hard as possible; “…work out his journey home so Odysseus can return” (Homer 276). While King Odysseus is away Penelope is to deal with a bunch of suitors who are eating and trashing out Ithica, “…if those suitors have truly paid in blood for all their reckless outrage” (559). In order for Penelope to keep peace until Odysseus returns she has to come up with a clever plan to keep the suitors from completely taking over. For almost 2 years Penelope was able to keep the suitors from getting out of hand by saying she will find someone to marry and replace Odysseus after she is d...
...lyphemus knows who blinded him so Odysseus calls back to the Cyclops to tell him that his name is Odysseus despite his men begging him not to. Because of his arrogance Poseidon punished Odysseus and his men and delayed their journey back home and caused a storm that made Odysseus shipwrecked. His arrogance also portrayed by Homer when he decided to listen to the Sirens instead of putting wax in his ears. He took a risky decision and his decision could have put him and his men in harms way. In contrast, throughout the story, Penelope appears to be humble. Instead of acting like Odysseus, Penelope never intends to make her name well known throughout the suitors. Instead she stays calm and encourages the suitors to stay home and make them think that they are welcome. Of course she hate the suitors but she never tells them to leave. This behavior contrast with Odysseus.
However, his journey isn’t over yet. This last leg of Odysseus’s journey is perhaps the most important and crucial. Odysseus’s nurse and maidservant, Eurycleia is the first woman in Ithaca to know that Odysseus is back after she recognizes the scar on his leg while she is washing him. Eurycleia vows to keep his identity a secret. Odysseus’s wife, Penelope has stayed faithful to Odysseus for all the years that he was gone. Penelope was consistently unweaving her web to the delay the suitors. The reader even grows sympathetic for Penelope as “we see her struggle to make the virtuous choice about her marriage, despite pressures from her suitors, her son’s endangered situation, and her own uncertainty about Odysseus’s survival” (Foley ). Finally, Odysseus reveals his identity and Penelope is bewildered, but quickly embraces her husband after he tells her the secret of their immovable bed. It is the faithfulness of Penelope and nurse Eurycleia that insures Odysseus’s survival to the very end.
How many couples can remain faithful to each other even when they have been separated for twenty years? In The Odyssey by Homer, Penelope overcomes numerous obstacles to wait for Odysseus’s return while he struggles to overcome the perils of his journey and return to Penelope. By overcoming these challenges, Penelope and Odysseus demonstrate their shared characteristics of loyalty and cunning that make them ideal for each other.
Book 9-12 of The Odyssey are series of Odysseus’s flashbacks on his rough and tortuous journey after the Trojan War. Odysseus and his men escaped through giants, get helped by goddess and visited the souls of death, along the way many men died, in the end the Odysseus is the only man left alive.
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.
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
...e might lay plans to kill our enemies” (XVI, 275-277). This quote shows that not only does he show trust in the gods, but how he has already planned out and prepared to kill the suitors. Ultimately, Odysseus overcomes his hubris by growing into a new person that contains humility.
_The Odyssey_ is believed to have been written by Homer and is infused with loyalty throughout the entire epic story. Odysseus is the most faithful, loving, and loyal husband, to Penelope, that any woman could dream of. Odysseus, in the beginning of his description of the trials and tribulations that he has endured, pledged his eternal loyalty to his ever-faithful wife Penelope. ?We are mortal weary and sick at heart/? [if only] now may I see once more/ my hall, my lands, my people before I die!? (Homer 7:233-240). Thought Odysseus did lie with the goddess his loyalty to Penelope held true. The ?Enchantress in her beauty? (Homer 7:274) enslaved the grand Odysseus to her will; yet Odysseus ?in [his] heart [he] never gave consent.? (Homer 7:276) The goddess offered Odysseus a choice, the ?promise [that he] should be/ immortal, [and] youthful, all the days to come? (Homer 7:275-276) or to continue his long continuous voyage to his queen Penelope. Because Odysseus chose to return to his devoted Penelope instead of gaining immortal life he has provided...