The Odyssey: A Hero’s Inner Journey
Homer’s The Odyssey presents the reader with a traditional hero: Odysseus. The epic follows Odysseus’ departure from Troy as he encounters obstacle after obstacle preventing his return to Ithaca. This journey represents the hero’s confrontation of his own evil character. In The Odyssey, Odysseus’ good nature triumphs over his evil as he learns from the consequences of his previous wrong doings.
As a result of his greed, Odysseus’ encounter endangers the lives of himself and his crew in the land of the Cyclops. When they first explore the island, his crew hunts many goats, providing themselves with a luxurious amount of meat. However, wanting more, Odysseus and twelve men enter the cave of the Cyclops. Despite …show more content…
Shouting from across the water, he mocks the Cyclops who is blinded with anger after his eye is taken out. Odysseus foolishly reveals his name, his patronymics, and his hometown. The Cyclops, revealing himself to be Polyphemus, calls to his father, Poseidon, to make the son of Laertes return home “late, in wretched plight, having lost all his comrades . . . and find trouble in his home” (124). As a result, it is Odysseus’ own boasts that result in his difficulties later on where each of Polyphemus’ statements come true: he is the only survivor of a storm that wrecks all his ships, he finally arrives home two decades since his departure, and he finds suitors eating up his estate. However, Odysseus does not make the same mistake on Calypso’s island several years later. When the gods demand that Calypso may no longer keep him any longer. The goddess makes one final plea to persuade Odysseus to stay. She calls his wife “inferior in looks or figure” compared to “a goddess in form and face” (68). But Odysseus replies modestly this time, acknowledging that his “wise Penelope's looks and stature are insignificant compared with [hers]” (68). Thus, the hero commits no evil of boasting or disrespecting the cosmic order. His humility prevents the angering of another …show more content…
The suitors wanting no violence, beg Odysseus to “spare [them], who are [his] own people . . . and afterwards [they] will repay [him] in bronze and gold” (289). Nevertheless, Odysseus is bloodthirsty for vengeance intending to slaughter them all. What results is a deadly battle, one where many men are horribly butchered. Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, is struck twice during the fight. The battle escalates when the suitors equip weapons forcing Odysseus to realize the “peril of the situation” (291) he created. The suitors are described as a “formidable body” (293) and Odysseus is only saved when Athena arrives. It is after the spill of blood when Odysseus changes and controls his anger. Latching onto his knees, Phemius begs for mercy, claiming that killing him will cause remorse. At this moment, Medon the Herald clasps onto the legs of Telemachus also begging to avoid his father’s fury. Now sensible and just, Odysseus spares both innocent lives. Furthermore, when Eurycleia sees the floor covered with the blood of the defeated suitors she feels like gloating. However, she is stopped by Odysseus who has “no cries of triumph here” (298). While he may have emptied his house, the son of Laertes does so in a murderous and vengeful manner. Instead of accepting a peaceful offer by the suitors, he cuts down his guests in fury. He proceeds by asking Eurycleia for a fire so that he “can purify the house” (299), likely his way of cleansing his own wrong
Homer’s The Odyssey presents the reader with a traditional hero: Odysseus. The epic follows Odysseus’ departure from Troy as he encounters obstacle after obstacle preventing his return to Ithaca. This journey represents the hero’s confrontation of his own evil character. In The Odyssey, Odysseus’ good nature triumphs over his evil as he learns from the consequences of his previous wrong doings.
As a result of his greed, Odysseus’ encounter endangers the lives of himself and his crew in the land of the Cyclops. When they first explore the island, his crew hunts many goats, providing themselves with a luxurious amount of meat. However, wanting more, Odysseus and twelve men enter the cave of the Cyclops. Despite …show more content…
Shouting from across the water, he mocks the Cyclops who is blinded with anger after his eye is taken out. Odysseus foolishly reveals his name, his patronymics, and his hometown. The Cyclops, revealing himself to be Polyphemus, calls to his father, Poseidon, to make the son of Laertes return home “late, in wretched plight, having lost all his comrades . . . and find trouble in his home” (124). As a result, it is Odysseus’ own boasts that result in his difficulties later on where each of Polyphemus’ statements come true: he is the only survivor of a storm that wrecks all his ships, he finally arrives home two decades since his departure, and he finds suitors eating up his estate. However, Odysseus does not make the same mistake on Calypso’s island several years later. When the gods demand that Calypso may no longer keep him any longer. The goddess makes one final plea to persuade Odysseus to stay. She calls his wife “inferior in looks or figure” compared to “a goddess in form and face” (68). But Odysseus replies modestly this time, acknowledging that his “wise Penelope's looks and stature are insignificant compared with [hers]” (68). Thus, the hero commits no evil of boasting or disrespecting the cosmic order. His humility prevents the angering of another …show more content…
The suitors wanting no violence, beg Odysseus to “spare [them], who are [his] own people . . . and afterwards [they] will repay [him] in bronze and gold” (289). Nevertheless, Odysseus is bloodthirsty for vengeance intending to slaughter them all. What results is a deadly battle, one where many men are horribly butchered. Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, is struck twice during the fight. The battle escalates when the suitors equip weapons forcing Odysseus to realize the “peril of the situation” (291) he created. The suitors are described as a “formidable body” (293) and Odysseus is only saved when Athena arrives. It is after the spill of blood when Odysseus changes and controls his anger. Latching onto his knees, Phemius begs for mercy, claiming that killing him will cause remorse. At this moment, Medon the Herald clasps onto the legs of Telemachus also begging to avoid his father’s fury. Now sensible and just, Odysseus spares both innocent lives. Furthermore, when Eurycleia sees the floor covered with the blood of the defeated suitors she feels like gloating. However, she is stopped by Odysseus who has “no cries of triumph here” (298). While he may have emptied his house, the son of Laertes does so in a murderous and vengeful manner. Instead of accepting a peaceful offer by the suitors, he cuts down his guests in fury. He proceeds by asking Eurycleia for a fire so that he “can purify the house” (299), likely his way of cleansing his own wrong