Analytical Essay: Themes of a Period: “The Odyssey”
Rubric Score: 3+
This essay is an essay that refers to an epic. This essay of “The Odyssey” demonstrates the ESLR “Productive Individual” because I was able to prepare and write the essay on my own without any aid. My word usage has improved greatly from the last essay and I was successful in using it in this one. My commentary needed to be connected to the thesis and that was my weakness in the essay. A new strategy I tired was to put in better introductions and body sentences to give the essay a better flow. In my next composition, my plan is to watch out for past tense and put my concrete detail in logical order.
A Hero with Moral Corruption
“Odysseus is a commanding figure, a bold leader, able to outwit the strongest monsters, yet so weak he cowers in Calypso's chamber.” (Chris Shermon). Who ever believes this quote is acceptable is correct. Homer’s The Odyssey is set during the Greek times and has set the archetype for many monsters, heroes, and women in society. Odysseus interacts with many beings through out the epic. Through these interactions he has many human qualities that are still apparent today. Guile and deceit are the weapons that Odysseus uses to achieve his main goal to return home. Guile means deviousness and deceit means dishonesty or cheating. These attributes exemplify the standard of what a hero is depicted in Homer’s Odyssey. In the island of the Cyclopes, guile helps him during his conflict with Polyphemus, the Cyclops.
The only reason Odysseus a defeat the Cyclops is that he uses guile to fool and confuse the tyrant. Odysseus hoodwinks the Cyclops into drinking wine, “Here’s liquor to wash down your scraps of men. Taste it and see the kind of drink we carried under our planks.” (Homer, 496). Odysseus devises a plan to intoxicate Polyphemus. The intoxication of wine can make the Cyclops drunk and invulnerable. Odysseus comes to victory because of is his ability to confuse and attack Cyclops indirectly with his mind games. Odysseus and his crew members stab Polyphemus in the face and the Cyclops cries for help. When his friends arrive the Cyclops shouts out, “Nohbdy, Nohbdy’s tricked me, Nohbdy’s ruined me!” (Homer, 499). Odysseus tricks Polyphemus to drink wine until he is drunk and drowsy. He lies to the Cyclopes by stating his name is “Nohbdy”. Polyphemus cannot seek aid from his fellow Cyclopes because he screams “Nohbdy” is hurting him, which his friends hear and take in differently. Odysseus is able to use his sly and devious mind to swindle Polyphemus. Using guile to hurt others, Odysseus uses duplicity on his wife to pleasure goddesses.
Odysseus has affairs with Circe and Calypso, but he somehow is able to return home without any trouble from his wife. While in a king’s chamber’s, Odysseus recites he hero story of how he ended up in the goddess’s kingdom, “loveliest among goddesses who held me in her smooth caves, to be her heart’s delight.” (Homer, 489). Knowing this is an opportunity for him, Odysseus shares love with Calypso for seven years. Odysseus supposedly stays loyal to his wife but he has sexual affairs with a goddess. He resides at Circe’s Island and again begins to use his deceitful and dishonest abilities, Circe pleads to him, and “We two shall mingle and make love upon our bed.” (Homer, 513). The gods and goddesses do not bother to care about the dishonesty that Odysseus commits. Instead they do not bother looking over it. Even when Odysseus cheats on Penelope twice, he was still able to leave Circe’s island and return home despite the fact that he is not punished by the gods who witnesses the affair. Deceiving his wife allowed him to find a way to come home to his wife which is ironic. The model hero of Greek Mythology is illustrated as a person who is allowed to cheat if the outcome is desirable.
Odysseus is a hero who possesses the human powers of deviousness and deceitfulness, which is the model of a Greek hero. He does not need superhuman powers to defeat the monsters he faces or avoids. All he needs is loving and courage. The unlikely hero, Odysseus, who has every common attributes of a human being, can control his traits of guile and deceit to conquer his obstacles whether they are good or bad.
