Odysseus: The Dynamic Character In Homer's The Odyssey

In the novel The Odyssey, written by Homer, the main character is put in conflicting challenges, which overall shape him into a strong and thoughtful man. Odysseus in the beginning of the story is self-centered and cares about his ideas and opinions more than others. He was more interested in activities that could potentially endanger the well-being of his friends and family. This brought bad tidings to himself when the gods realized his poor behavior. A specific god named Poseidon saw his childish self and wanted to make some changes. When trouble finally came his way he suffered greatly, but from the pain he was able to development as a person. Odysseus is a dynamic character because of how much he changes from the beginning of the book to …show more content…
The reader sees how much he has developed when realizing his action in the past to know. Odysseus in the beginning cared about himself and returning home from war. He had few to no concerns relating to his crew member who aspired the same goal. An example of this was when Odysseus forced his crew to travel to the cyclops island. He did not choose to go to the island for the sake of helping the warriors, but for his own curiosity. While the soldiers were there many people died by getting eaten the cyclops named Polyphemus, whose father is Poseidon. This foreshadowed misfortune to the people trapped on the island. After some time on the island, Odysseus came up with a plan to get home. The plan started the moment he got to the island. When Polyphemus ask what his name was, he stated his name as “Nobody.” After that he stalled the cyclops by giving him food and alcohol. The drink made Polyphemus fall asleep, which gave Odysseus a perfect shot to kill the cyclops or in this case blind him. As the cyclops struggled, he screamed for help and exclaim that “Nobody” was hurting him. Odysseus and his crew were able to leave the island, but before leaving he made a foolish mistake. “If any man on the face of the earth should ask you so- say Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged out your eye, Laertes son who makes his home in Ithaca” (Homer 227). This was a careless response to leaving, this …show more content…
The most important thing to him is his family. He promised his wife he would return home and finish the life they created with one another. When he left and was faced with challenges it took him time to remember his drive to return home. After sleeping with many women, he discovered he was empty, longing for his wife. This is what sparked his drive again. Once his selfishness went away he found his loyalty to his family. The loyalty he had gave him courage to come home to his family and find peace with himself and