Michael Boveda
Period 6
5/12/10
Odyssey Essay
Can you imagine having the Greek gods pushing you away from your friends and family because of something you did? One man had to go through just that. In the epic The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is constantly pushed away from his home by the Greek gods just to be shown that he is but one person in this world. But even with this, he is still determined and a fearless leader throughout his journey.
Odysseus is very strong willed and a fearless leader. When he was trapped in the cave of the Cyclops, he had his men make a pointed stake and hide it. When he got the chance, he gathered up four of his men and, “rammed [the stake] deep in [the Cyclops’s] crater eye.” (332-333).
Where most men would cower in fear, Odysseus gathered up his courage and rallied up his men to fight so that they could escape later on. Odysseus had also been really thrown around by the gods but, “after twenty years, [he was] back again.”(1051-1052).
He was delayed for twenty years and still did not give up? This shows some definite determination from him. Most people would just give up in his situation, but he powered through and never gave up. Even with the gods pretty much playing with him, Odysseus still powered through and got home.
The gods seemed to think Odysseus was a little bloated, so they brought him down to size. When he arrives at the Cyclops’ cave, he explains his odd predicament to the Cyclops but adds, “So the will of Zeus would have it.”(207).
The Essay on Greek 2 Odysseus Men Gods
... very brave man. There were also many times when Odysseus showed how brave he was. In this next example involving the Cyclops Odysseus shows ... without a blessing from the gods. Throughout the whole story Odysseus showed that he was in the god's favor, and that he had ... the Greek ideal of leadership, bravery, and devotion to the gods. Odysseus was a great leader and showed his leadership abilities many ...
With the havoc Odysseus caused in troy, Zeus made sure none of that would go unpunished. Zeus made the winds change against Odysseus’ favor push him farther back. When Odysseus was sailing, the gods made him pass by the sirens. The gods were testing Odysseus to see if he would be lured in by the sirens and fail his journey home. Odysseus was smart and, “carried wax along the line and laid it thick on their ears. Then they tied [him] up.”().
The gods wanted Odysseus to be lured in to his doom and be destroyed. Odysseus ignores the pressure and saved himself and his crew. But still, he was begging his crew to let him go and go to the island, making him realize that he does not have as much power as he thought he did and was weak compared to other things in his world. The gods threw everything they had at Odysseus and made him firmly believe that he is but one man in this world, no more, no less.
Odysseus just wants to get home and see his family, but the gods delay him by twenty years and really bring him down to size. But with his determination and fearlessness, he makes it home with a valuable lesson learned the hard way. I think The Odyssey can really teach us to never be too full of ourselves. We have to remember that the world does not revolve around us. If you let your ego get out of control bad things will happen.
