Odysseus In the epic The Odyssey there are many characters; heroes, villains, and gods. The most important hero in the story is Odysseus; however, he is a very complex character. Throughout the epic, Odysseus displays many different sides of his personality, showing that he is not all good. In The Odyssey, Odysseus is very crafty. On his journey home Odysseus often had to think outside the box to escape difficult situations. One of these situations was at Calypso’s home. Odysseus had been held captive at the Nymph’s house for seven years. Finally, Calypso is forced to release him but she wants an explanation as to why he doesn’t want to stay there with her. So in reply he says, “’My lady goddess, here is no cause for anger./My quiet Penelope-how
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This often causes harm and puts his men and himself into danger. This happens in particular at the land of Cyclopes. While escaping from Polyphemus, Odysseus feels the urge to boast. He lets the cyclops know exactly who he is by saying, “’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’” (IX 416-419). By doing this the Polyphemus now knows his name, his father’s name, and where he lives. This then leads to the second time Odysseus is reckless when he again baits Polyphemus saying he’ll kill him. Now the monster asks his father, Poseidon to curse Odysseus to never again see his home. Once again Odysseus’s pride gets in the way of his journey home by causing Polyphemus to curse him. Odysseus’s hubris is also noticed when he wants experiences. When on Circe’s island some of his men are transformed into pigs. Odysseus goes to get them back and on his way Hermes stops him and gives him a plant to protect him and warns him to make Circe promise not to play any witch tricks on him. When Odysseus faces Circe he threatens to kill but doesn’t make her promise not to use any witch tricks on him. So because of Odysseus’s over confidence, Circe puts the men into trances after turning them back into men. They stay with her for one whole year before Odysseus begs her to let them go. Odysseus’s brazenness toward Circe caused him to lose a year of his journey because he wanted the experience of facing a goddess. Another time when Odysseus’s craving for experiences revealed his hubris was in book 12. Odysseus was warned about the Sirens by Circe. She told him that if any man heard their song they would fall under their spell and steer the boat into the rocks killing himself and everyone on the boat. Odysseus was warned not to listen to the Sirens but instead of listening to Circe’s warning he decided to tie himself to
This often causes harm and puts his men and himself into danger. This happens in particular at the land of Cyclopes. While escaping from Polyphemus, Odysseus feels the urge to boast. He lets the cyclops know exactly who he is by saying, “’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’” (IX 416-419). By doing this the Polyphemus now knows his name, his father’s name, and where he lives. This then leads to the second time Odysseus is reckless when he again baits Polyphemus saying he’ll kill him. Now the monster asks his father, Poseidon to curse Odysseus to never again see his home. Once again Odysseus’s pride gets in the way of his journey home by causing Polyphemus to curse him. Odysseus’s hubris is also noticed when he wants experiences. When on Circe’s island some of his men are transformed into pigs. Odysseus goes to get them back and on his way Hermes stops him and gives him a plant to protect him and warns him to make Circe promise not to play any witch tricks on him. When Odysseus faces Circe he threatens to kill but doesn’t make her promise not to use any witch tricks on him. So because of Odysseus’s over confidence, Circe puts the men into trances after turning them back into men. They stay with her for one whole year before Odysseus begs her to let them go. Odysseus’s brazenness toward Circe caused him to lose a year of his journey because he wanted the experience of facing a goddess. Another time when Odysseus’s craving for experiences revealed his hubris was in book 12. Odysseus was warned about the Sirens by Circe. She told him that if any man heard their song they would fall under their spell and steer the boat into the rocks killing himself and everyone on the boat. Odysseus was warned not to listen to the Sirens but instead of listening to Circe’s warning he decided to tie himself to