The Rise And Fall Of Odysseus In Homer's Odyssey

Odysseus’ flaw is pridefulness because of his sheer imagination that he can do whatever he pleases and can do it better than everyone. He feels the need to deliberately show signs of superiority to his fellow acquaintances. His cockiness gets in the way of his real goal, getting home to his family which seems like a given from his point of view, which it isn't. The passage repeats the prosperity Odysseus believes he has on the world “I know well how to handle the polished bow, and would be first to strike any man with an arrow aimed at a company of hostile men … But I will say that I stand far out ahead of all others such as are living mortals now and feed on the earth. Only I will not set myself against men of the generations before, not with Herakles nor Eurytos of Oichalia, who set themselves against the immortals with the bow, and therefore great Eurytos died suddenly nor …show more content…
The reader processes the Odysseus’ cockiness as an attempt to salvage any sign of power that he possesses. He underestimates his opponents and overestimates himself with can be a major disadvantage for him in the rest of the story. The reader perceives Odysseus as a figure that can win a major battle nevertheless collapse under the fight of a superior being. The reference from the epic poem gives a sense of how odysseus conducts himself “Cyclops, in the end it was no weak man’s companions you were to eat by violence and force in your hollow cave, and your evil deeds were to catch up with you, and be too strong for you, hard one, who dared to eat your own guests in your own house, so Zeus and the rest of the gods have punished you.” (9.475-479). The quotation give the reader a clue on the tracks Odysseus is following according to his dialogue. Odysseus is finding himself exceeding himself by great measures, the question is can he keep up with the path he has paved out for