True Loyalty In Homer's The Odyssey

Improved Essays
What is true loyalty? In the story The odyssey, there are many themes that come out throughout the story. Loyalty is one topic or theme that is important to the story of The Odyssey. Without this themes, the story The Odyssey has no purpose because loyalty is what drives a;; these characters to do what they do and helps connect the story till the end. Loyalty is an action that is portrayed in the immediate family members of Odysseus, a loyalty that is strong no matter the circumstance. Penelope, Odysseus wife, is an excellent examples of what loyalty is in the Odyssey. Imagine being without your significant other for more than 20 years. Penelope waited for that long having faith that her husband would return. She was smart about acting

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Loyalty and Change in The Odyssey The Odyssey, by Homer, is an epic tale of a Greek kings return home. Odysseus yearns to return home to his wife Penelope, his son Telemachus, and the kingdom in which he ruled. Over the course of this journey each character must endure many challenges that shape their personality. Although Penelope remains strong in her personal beliefs, Telemachus and Odysseus change greatly throughout the story.…

    • 1108 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Odysseus Journey

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages

    First off, Odysseus shows Loyalty to his crew even when he received disloyalty in return. In book 10 when they came across the island of Aeaea and Circe, Elpenor alerts the leader that his colleagues were transformed into swine. Odysseus went on to go save them instead of leaving them behind on the island. Once he met with Circe, it wouldn't work if he just asked her to let them go. Instead he respectfully trusts Hermes and does as he is told to not to refuse the Nymph with the lovely braids.…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In The Odyssey, Homer presents a double standard to the reader. While the author really applause the men who are unfaithful to their wives, the women remain faithful to their husbands. This concept is shown through the epic's two main characters, Odysseus and Penelope. Odysseus is unfaithful to his wife Penelope. Calypso, a goddess has captured Odysseus, the hero of Homer's epic poem, when his ship is blown off course.…

    • 181 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Homer was able to show that loyalty by presenting it with many different characters. Penelope’s loyalty was established through true love. Telemachus showed his loyalty by going on a search for his father he hardly knew to establish a relationship. Eumaeus and Philoetius was just very loyal and true servants. Odysseus showed a strong sense of respect to the gods, and they helped him overcome difficult obstacles.…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To start off the subject, Penelope in The Odyssey, a heroic tale from Ancient Greece, has gained guile and cunning through her heroic and cunning husband Odysseus. Waiting for over 20 years for her husband’s…

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Odyssey Loyalty is the devotion towards a person that can bring both prosperity and shortcomings, depending on the actions a person takes to remain loyal or disloyal. Loyalty is like a double-edged sword that can be used to protect loved ones; however, it can also be used to betray close companions. Life offers many challenges and temptations; however, loyalty can be used to fight against these appeals or to fight towards these desires. In epic poem The Odyssey by Homer, loyalty is expressed as an important quality in Greek culture that brings happiness and praise, while disloyalty brings betrayal and criticism.…

    • 1485 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Odyssey Literary Analysis Rough Draft The meaning of faithful is loyal, constant, and steadfast. It also means a commitment to rules and regulations when it comes to a certain person, place or thing. Odysseus was not faithful to Penelope in any way, shape or form. On multiple occasions, Odysseus slept and stayed with different women.…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Eumaeus, the swineherd of Odysseus, is an important character that Homer depicts within the poem of The Odyssey, and one very interesting aspect of this character is his characterization of loyalty. Homer establishes loyalty as a strong and vital characteristic of Eumaeus through the passage in Book Fourteen in which the swineherd is introduced into the poem, approximately from lines 40 through 85. This portrayal of the theme of loyalty through the character of Eumaeus is a crucial aspect of The Odyssey, as this is the welcome that the skeptical and distrusting Odysseus receives on his return to Ithaca, after the warnings from Agamemnon in Book Eleven to be cautious of disloyalty and treachery on his return. Therefore, this pure and unwavering…

    • 1038 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The story of the Odyssey, tells of a cunning hero who has gone on a journey to fight in the Trojan War, to recapture a queen named Helen, who was supposedly kidnapped. Ten years later, the war is over, but Odysseus hasn’t found his way home. Maybe it’s just an inevitable force(s) that causes him to stay away from his homeland for another ten years…who knows. Furthermore, the story shows its complexity through multiple themes its surrounded around. The most profound ones are: appearance versus reality, loyalty, and spiritual growth.…

    • 1061 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Trust is something so valuable in a relationship, platonic or romantic, that it can later show who someone is as a person, and their reputation. During the epic, The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus builds as a character and the reader can see the leader’s courageous a side, but also the selfish side of him. Along the way to Ithaca, Odysseus acquires a bag of winds as a gift from Aeolus, God of the winds. This bag creates a debacle during their trip home. Odysseus’s crew opens the bag of winds without knowing the truth about what was really inside it.…

    • 927 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    If his wife had pulled that, she probably would not be alive. Odysseus’s actions are hypocritical because Penelope herself represents the idea of “home.” Throughout his grand journey, the only goal is to return home, which is presented as the whole city and house and wife and son. Penelope is really the only important guiding factor to Odysseus—even while cheating with Circe he speaks of his love for his wife. The journey traveled in The Odyssey is both physical and mental, somehow strengthening the relationship between Odysseus and Penelope.…

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout the story of The Odyssey written by Homer and the novel To Kill a Mockingbird the theme of loyalty can be seen throughout both story lines. In ancient Greek Loyalty could be seen as establishing or having a lifetime friendship. Based on these story lines it can be argued that loyalty is epic, and a loyal person should be considered the hero. Loyalty is a strong feeling of support or allegiance. In the odyssey book 4 Prince Telemachus showed loyalty to his father even at the hands of danger, while in To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus showed loyalty to Tom Robinson even though all odds were against him.…

    • 1003 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Loyalty In King Lear

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Loyalty is a comparative term that describes different levels of commitment and support of another, depending on the circumstances. From deeply rooted to non-existent, loyalty can be witnessed in William Shakespeare’s King Lear. This idea of loyalty has numerous layers though. Yet, by the end of the play, it comes down to loyalty being temporary. It’s a scary idea that people are often only loyal because of circumstance, and when situations don’t play out as we’ve planned we turn our backs.…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Homer’s “The Odyssey”, Odysseus goes through a twenty year struggle to return back home to Ithaca. Poseidon delayed Odysseus’ homeward return from the Trojan War. Through his long journey to return to his home, his people, and Penelope and Telemachus. Odysseus reveals many virtues and vices, that he struggles with. His men also struggle with vices, which at the end costs them their lives.…

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    What makes a man? For as long as history can date back, a man has been viewed as a powerful figure in society who had to get things done, especially for his family. Loyalty, by definition, is the quality of being loyal to someone or something and perseverance, by definition is steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. In The Odyssey, Homer displays these two traits repeatedly throughout the story as the two main male characters progress and attempt to accomplish their missions. Specifically, loyalty and perseverance is demonstrated by Telemachus showing his devotion to King Odysseus himself and Odysseus displaying those traits towards his family back at home in Ithaca.…

    • 1264 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays