Selfishness In Odysseus In Homer's Odyssey

Odysseus says, “’I wanted to see [the Cyclops] and claim the stranger’s gift… So we lit a fire and made our thank-offering, and helped ourselves to as many cheeses as we wanted to eat; then we sat inside till he should come back with his flocks’” (111). Odysseus is impulsive and does not think before he acts. He is very selfish and only wants to see what glory the Cyclops gives him. He expects everyone to bow down to him, let alone know who he is, contrasting Odysseus when he fights the suitors at the end of the story and receives glory from his city. When Polyphemus, the Cyclops who happens to be Poseidon’s son, returns home, he traps Odysseus and his crew in his cave. Odysseus uses his cunning to escape. He cleverly tells Polyphemus that …show more content…
Odysseus, with the help of Hermes, overcomes her temptation and turns his men back to humans. Odysseus needs help from the gods in order to overcome his flaws, otherwise he will never return home. Odysseus stays here for a year and does not have a desire to leave, so one of his men says, “’Good heavens, have you forgotten home altogether?’” (131). Circe is very manipulative and tempts Odysseus very easily. Odysseus loves the attention he receives from Circe so he stays there for a year. He does this for himself, and is narcissistic and senseless once again. With the help of Circe, he resumes his voyage home. After some more difficulties on his journey home, Odysseus alone survives and washes ashore on Calypso’s island, and soon arrives on the land of the Phaeacians. All of these obstacles are Odysseus’s biggest tests. The gods all know Odysseus is impulsive and arrogant, so they allow Poseidon to test him, and becomes Odysseus’s biggest enemy because of that. Odysseus’s narcissism and egotism makes Odysseus stumble upon many obstacles and fail before he succeeds in his return to Ithaca, and as he tells the story of his wanderings, he finally realizes …show more content…
Odysseus’s road back is when he and his family travel to see his father Laertes, who has been living more like a slave, rather than a former king. Odysseus sees this and feels sympathetic for him and wants to bring his father home with him, so he can live a peaceful life. The arrogant and selfish Odysseus would not want to help his father, but now that he has overcome those flaws he becomes a good person and shows kindness to the ones he loves. While Odysseus is with his father, the news of the massacre has spread throughout the city, and Eupithes, the father of Antinoos, is enraged at the killing of his son. He declares revenge and him along with other men travel to Laertes’s home, wanting to kill Odysseus. This leads to the resurrection, where the hero is tested one last time. Odysseus, Telemachus, and Laertes, with the help of Athena, “struck them with sword and spear” (303). Odysseus defeats his last enemy and can now live wisely and peacefully with no threats or danger. He kills the suitor’s families because he needs to protect his home, family, and himself. He had to overcome his flaws in order to do this, which he did. Before another war breaks out, Athena says to the men, “Stay your hands from battle, men of Ithaca, be reconciled and let bloodshed cease” (303).