“The Odyssey”, written by Homer and translated by Robert Fitzgerald, follows King Odysseus of Ithaka on his twenty year journey home from the Trojan War. Throughout the epic poem Odysseus must face many obstacles, some inevitable, and some the result of human mistakes. Odysseus demonstrates his arrogance time and time again, manipulating people to get what he needs to overcome these obstacles with little thought to how much their generosity will cost them. Odysseus uses his end goal to justify taking advantage of other people’s hospitality because Odysseus’ hubris won’t allow him to see his own flaws.
Odysseus justifies trying to use people he believes to be below him with his his goal of making it home, and his hubris blinds him from his …show more content…
Odysseus washes up on the shores of Skheria Island after leaving Ogygia, where he was held captive by the goddess Kalypso. When Odysseus reaches the palace, he says “Arete, admirable Rhexenor’s daughter, here is a man bruised by adversity, thrown upon your mercy and the king your husband’s, begging indulgence of this company... grant me passage to my father land. My home and friends lie far. My life is pain”(Fitzgerald, 7.156-164). Odysseus complements Arete and makes her and her husband pity him, in the hopes that this will be enough to manipulate them into showing an extraordinary amount of hospitality. Instead of asking Arete and Alkinoos to help him find passage home, Odysseus commands them to “grant me passage”. In using this word choice, Homer shows that Odysseus has enough hubris to believe that he has the right to order royalty around in their own home, and to assume that his personal happiness is worth the possibility of losing a ship to them in their current situation. All through the poem Odysseus demonstrates his arrogance and hypocrisy, but in his plea to Arete, Odysseus makes it apparent that he believes his own goals are more important than the goals of
Odysseus justifies trying to use people he believes to be below him with his his goal of making it home, and his hubris blinds him from his …show more content…
Odysseus washes up on the shores of Skheria Island after leaving Ogygia, where he was held captive by the goddess Kalypso. When Odysseus reaches the palace, he says “Arete, admirable Rhexenor’s daughter, here is a man bruised by adversity, thrown upon your mercy and the king your husband’s, begging indulgence of this company... grant me passage to my father land. My home and friends lie far. My life is pain”(Fitzgerald, 7.156-164). Odysseus complements Arete and makes her and her husband pity him, in the hopes that this will be enough to manipulate them into showing an extraordinary amount of hospitality. Instead of asking Arete and Alkinoos to help him find passage home, Odysseus commands them to “grant me passage”. In using this word choice, Homer shows that Odysseus has enough hubris to believe that he has the right to order royalty around in their own home, and to assume that his personal happiness is worth the possibility of losing a ship to them in their current situation. All through the poem Odysseus demonstrates his arrogance and hypocrisy, but in his plea to Arete, Odysseus makes it apparent that he believes his own goals are more important than the goals of