Odysseus

Title: Homer Assignment II

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Date: 7/7/2016

For this reading assignment I focused more on Book I, Book VIII and Book XXI. I chose to analyze the character of Odysseus.

Odysseus a protagonist in the Odyssey is the King of Ithaca, Who left his kingdom for the battle of Troy but unfortunately didn’t return and was instead imprisoned by the goddess Calypso who captured him intending for him to be her husband keeping him imprisoned for 17 years. He longs to return home to his wife Penelope and son Telemachus. He eventually succeeds to escape Calypso but has again go through hurdles to reach home and be reinstated to his King position. Odysseus serves as an interesting, engaging and thrilling character for this character analysis.

In my analysis I found out that Odysseus displayed some unique traits that I shall now attempt to discuss further.

At the beginning of Book 1 and throughout the odyssey, Odysseus is portrayed as the ingenious hero who fought many wars among the Greek heroes. He fought to protect his honor and that of his people He did all in his power to return to his family and his Kingdom. All these traits portrays a classic Homer Hero.

Odysseus is a Strong and Mighty King. In Book VIII at the games of the Phaiakians; even though he was in a weakened state from his long voyage at sea he was still able to throw a heavier, larger and more massive disc used by the Phaeacians when disc-throwing among themselves. With his brawny hand he was still able to throw it further than any athlete had thrown. Thereafter In Book XIII when his wife Penelope was fetching the Bow for the test of the suitors, we are reminded of how Odysseus came to possess the bow. The bow given to his young self by Iphitus. This clearly exhibits that Odysseus started his quests when he was relatively young revealing his strength and might. “In quest of these Odysseus took a long journey while still quite young, for his father and the other chieftains sent him on a mission to recover them.”(Book XIII). Later in the book he was the sole winner of the bow test amongst all the suitors who had tried, not that the Bow was made from any unique materials. The bow was only meant to be strung by the strongest of them all, not even his son Telemachus could strung it. This once again exhibits his unmatched strength and might.

Odysseus is one very patient man some might say even cunning. He takes his time to carefully plan and come up with the best solution to any issue at hand. This is revealed of him when he was trapped by the goddess Calypso. He carefully planned so that things would come out the best way. To get the perfect escape strategy. This trait is also revealed later in Book VII when he successfully disguises himself as a beggar in Ithaca once more portraying himself as selfless man. He endured the mockery and insults from the suitors, he didn’t immediately react to this. Instead he chose to await the perfect opportunity to lay waste to them. The opportunity avails itself in the form of the bow test. He patiently and carefully planned with his servants Eumaeus and Philoetius on how he would get a hold of the bow for he knew the suitors wouldn’t let him, he also crafted his plans so that the women couldn’t be affected. Such a caring leader he was. After he successfully got a hold of the Bow he passed the test great ease. “He strung it as easily as a skilled bard strings a new peg of his lyre and makes the twisted gut fast at both ends the bow to the surprise of the suitors.”(Book XIII He then perfectly executes his well laid out plans destroying the suitors while being all stoic about it.