Odysseus' Character Traits

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2/19/06

Odyssey Essay

Homer's Odyssey is a vivid illustration of the values and traditions of the ancient Greeks. By reading these stories of the ancients, we "live" what they lived, and experience what they experienced. Our culture gains a more profound understanding of their culture and what their lives were like. Through the ordeals of Odysseus, Telemachus and Penelope, Homer captures the essence of Greek culture. The ancient Greek culture, similar to many other ancient cultures, carefully constructed a hero, Odysseus, and imbued him with the ideal traits of their own society. Male heroes typically displayed traits such as strength, honor and mental prowess. In The Odyssey, the hero Odysseus epitomizes the esteemed traits of the ancient Greeks by exemplifying the characteristics of cunning and physical fitness.

Homer gives the reader a sense that of all the traits admired by the Greeks, a person's mental prowess and cunning is the most valued. Although the ancient Greeks appreciated a man for his physical traits, they realized that without strength of mind, a man will not truly succeed. The Odyssey underscores this concept by entertaining the reader with the untimely deaths of a few beautiful men. The death of Achilles is the most noteworthy example of this belief. Having been given the choice of living a long life without the hope of ever achieving kleos (glory), or being glorified and dying young, Achilles chose the latter. With definitely more brawn than brain, Achilles fulfilled his destiny when he was struck down with an arrow in his heel and was banished to the world of Hades. On his journey to the underworld, Achilles mentions to Odysseus, "I'd rather slave on earth for another man - /...than rule down here over all the breathless dead" (11.556-558).
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Odysseus possesses the mental ability that Achilles lacks. His cunning is mentioned numerous times, a testimony to the esteem in which the Greeks held this trait. Perhaps Odysseus' cleverest ploy is on the island of the Cyclops, in the cave of Poseidon's son, Polyphemus. When rudely asked his name, Odysseus cleverly responds; "Nobody - that's my name. Nobody - / so my mother and father call me, all my friends'" (9.410-411). Cunningly using deceit to deceive the one-eyed giant, Odysseus manages to escape the Cyclops' lair without incurring the wrath of the entire island. Odysseus' clever mind plays ...

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