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Odysseus Strengths And Weaknesses

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In the epic poem "the Odyssey", Odysseus, the king of Ithica is sailing home from the Trojan war, when he is swept off course by Zeus. Along his way home, he stops at multiple islands for provisions, and encounters a different setting on each one. Odysseus shows his strengths and weaknesses along the way and shows a different one each time they encounter something.
The first island Odysseus and his men encounter is home to the Lotus-Eaters. These are people who live on the island and eat lotus flowers which are similar to addictive drugs. They offer flowers to Odysseus' men and a few eat the flowers. As a result, they lose all motivation to return home to Ithica. Odysseus gathers his men and forces them onto the boat against their will. He doesn't want to leave any of his men behind. This showcases Odysseus' determination and good leadership. …show more content…
Here, Odysseus takes his twelve best fighters with him and they venture up to a cyclopes' cave. THey could raid the cave and leave, but Odysseus wants to stay and see the cyclops. When the cyclops returns home to find the men in his cave, he tells them they are ninnies. The cyclops traps them and ends up eating a total of 6 men. Odysseus has to form a plan to make the cyclops drunk and stab him in the eye so they can escape. They make it out alive, but if they just raided the cave and left, he wouldn't have lost his men. This shows how stubborn and full of himself Odysseus can

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