vand In Zachary Mason's Lost Books Of The Odyssey, he explores the many different sides of Odysseus. He dives deep not only into his heroic qualities such as his cunning and his leadership skills, but his unheroic traits as well such as his cowardice and arrogance. Odysseus isn't a typical Greek hero like Perseus and Theseus. Odysseus has glaring flaws that are easy to spot, setting him apart from other heroes. With all of his many flaws, at the end of the day, Odysseus is still a hero with heroic traits. Odysseus is smart. very smart, though sometimes it doesn't seem like it. He has many cleaver ideas through out the Odyssey. He told the cyclops Polyphemus that his name was Nobody, so when Odysseus and his men attacked him and the cyclops said " Nobody is attacking me" the other cyclopes never ran to help him. Odysseus also came up with the brilliant idea of the Trojan Horse, that lead to Greece's victory over Troy. However smart Odysseus is, it can't overshadow all of his unheroic traits. His most glaring and obvious flaw is his arrogance. His arrogance put the lives of himself and his crew on may different occasions. On the Island with Polyphemus and the cyclops, Him and his crew were trapped in a cave with a hungry cyclops. Odysseus outsmarted him and escaped by saying his name was nobody. But as his crew sailed away, Odysseus's arrogance got in the way and he said " my name is Odysseus, not nobody!" Odysseus wanted to take credit for his victory and didn't want someone who wasn't real to get the credit. In doing this however, Polyphemus now knew his name and was able to place a curse on Odysseus. Poseidon, god of the ocean and father of all cyclopes, heard his sons call, and sent a massive wave for Odysseus. This wave hit his ship and killed all of his crewmates. (Odysseus and his men escaping Polyphemus) Odysseus is also very selfish. He often puts his wants and life above the members of his crew. When it came to the sirens, sea monsters who lure sailors to their deaths with their song, Odysseus wanted to listen. He made his crew tie him to the mast so he could hear their song. While he was tied, his crew plugged their ears so they wouldn't be temped to sail towards the monsters. In Odysseus doing this, he endangered all of his crew lives so he could hear the song.
Odysseus's motive throughout the book was to get home to his kingdom and wife. But while on his "noble quest" to return home, he cheated on his wife twice. Odysseus and his crew landed on an Island inhabited by the sorceress Circe. After she turned all his men into pigs, Odysseus and her became lovers. He ended up staying on that island for a year, way longer than he needed, with Circe. He also was stranded alone on a different island with the goddess Calypso. She tried to seduce him many times and Odysseus gave in to the goddess. All of this happened while his wife waited for his return. Odysseus may have been the hero of the story, but he had many traits that don't fit the mold of a hero.
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AuthorZach Knackstedt Archives
November 2021
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