Examples Of Arrogance In The Odyssey

After reading The Odyssey, two main traits that can be used to describe the central character, Odysseus, are clever and arrogant. Throughout the poem, Odysseus continually demonstrates his cleverness in his ability to outsmart his adversaries during his adventures at sea. A perfect example to support this would be when he encounters the cyclops Polyphemus. Odysseus is keenly aware how well he succeeds at being clever which as lead him to become quite arrogant. He believes because his cleverness has helped him escape life threatening situations that have saved his life and those of this men that he is invincible which has made him arrogant. He shows his arrogance during his encounter with the sirens and also when he returns home to a line of suitors vying for his wife.
During Odysseus’s interaction with the cyclops but more specifically with the cyclops Polyphemus he …show more content…
Right after he visits Circe’s island, Circe offers Odysseus bits of advice on how to overcome the sirens. Sirens are mythical creatures that lure in sailors to their rocky shore and wreck the sailors ships by possessing people with their singing. The only way to escape the enchanting singing is to block your ears with beeswax, according to Circe. Odysseus forces his men plug their ears with the beeswax, while arrogant Odysseus wants to hear the sirens’ sweet tune for himself. He demands his crew to tie him up on the ship’s mast while he hears the sirens sing. Here it says, “They tied me up, then, plumb / amidships, back to the mast, lashed to the mast, / and took themselves again to rowing” (1234.117-119) to show that Odysseus’s crew has tied him up to listen to the siren’s song. He shows arrogance here because he wants to hear the Siren's song for himself thinking that he is strong enough to handle