The Character of Odysseus
Odysseus endures suffering on his journey in The Odyssey, a challenge that develops loyalty and perseverance and fosters moral growth. After spending two decades in the city of Troy after the Trojan War because “Helios, the Sun God, took away the day of his homecoming” (27), Odysseus is finally allowed the opportunity to return to his home in Ithaka as “that very year came in which the gods had spun for him his time of homecoming” (27). However, the trek home is not easy, and making a successful return tests Odysseus’s strength, determination, and courage. Odysseus’s character is first tested when his homecoming is prevented by Kalypso, a nymph who detains him, “desiring that he should be her husband” (27). Spending seven years as Kalypso’s captive, Odysseus says she “received me and loved me excessively and cared for me, and she promised to make me an immortal and all my days to be ageless, but never so could she win over the heart within me” (91). Although he submits to her physical temptations, Odysseus only truly desires his wife, Penelope, and denies Kalypso’s offer of immorality. Despite the appeal of Kalypso’s proposal, his determination does …show more content…
Odysseus 's ship is tossed in the ocean, but still he insists that he “will stay with it and endure through suffering hardships” (97). They journey on, and soon Odysseus and his crew face a flesh-eating Cyclops, who eats two men and takes Odysseus captive in his cave. Odysseus develops a plan of escape “with a firm twist of the hands and enduring spirit clung fast to the glory of the fleece, unrelenting” (148). It is with persistence that he is able to overcome another difficulty delaying his success. It would have been very easy for Odysseus to give up after all of these troubles, yet he chose to persevere through them, reinforcing his strength of
Odysseus endures suffering on his journey in The Odyssey, a challenge that develops loyalty and perseverance and fosters moral growth. After spending two decades in the city of Troy after the Trojan War because “Helios, the Sun God, took away the day of his homecoming” (27), Odysseus is finally allowed the opportunity to return to his home in Ithaka as “that very year came in which the gods had spun for him his time of homecoming” (27). However, the trek home is not easy, and making a successful return tests Odysseus’s strength, determination, and courage. Odysseus’s character is first tested when his homecoming is prevented by Kalypso, a nymph who detains him, “desiring that he should be her husband” (27). Spending seven years as Kalypso’s captive, Odysseus says she “received me and loved me excessively and cared for me, and she promised to make me an immortal and all my days to be ageless, but never so could she win over the heart within me” (91). Although he submits to her physical temptations, Odysseus only truly desires his wife, Penelope, and denies Kalypso’s offer of immorality. Despite the appeal of Kalypso’s proposal, his determination does …show more content…
Odysseus 's ship is tossed in the ocean, but still he insists that he “will stay with it and endure through suffering hardships” (97). They journey on, and soon Odysseus and his crew face a flesh-eating Cyclops, who eats two men and takes Odysseus captive in his cave. Odysseus develops a plan of escape “with a firm twist of the hands and enduring spirit clung fast to the glory of the fleece, unrelenting” (148). It is with persistence that he is able to overcome another difficulty delaying his success. It would have been very easy for Odysseus to give up after all of these troubles, yet he chose to persevere through them, reinforcing his strength of