Introduction
Homer, a Greek Mythology writer explores so many themes using various characters in his works. One of his popular epics, ‘The Odyssey’ presents a protagonist, Odysseus who shapes the events that take place in the poem. A man who challenges the universe with solutions that he comes up with, often depicted as a hero. He however has shortcomings that challenge his decision-making (GreekMythology.com). He is one of Hellen of Troy’s suitors but ends up with Penelope. He was separated from the woman he loved when he was forced to join the Trojan expedition he did not want to join. This expedition takes him thirty years away from his family and on his return, he finds a number of his wife’s suitors. All these events expose his traits as a man. He is the one who ingeniously devised the Trojan Horse, a scheme that saw the Trojan journey a success. His return journey throws a heap of challenges that require him to use his wit to overcome them. Odysseus therefore stands out as a hero, cunning, courageous and intelligent at the same time being proud, reckless, and loves glory. This mixture of traits puts him as a hero and dangerous person at the same time. In this paper, we are going to discuss Odysseus in his character traits and contributions to the society of Ithaca (Flow Pyschology).
Odysseus’ Positive Traits
Being the protagonist, Odysseus shapes the plot and events in the epic. His traits portray strengths and weaknesses evident in a man. First of all, he is extremely cunning, just like his epithetic name implies. He is a man who employs clever tricks to get out of trouble (Frey). In his voyage back to Troy, he tricks Polyphemus and escapes from his cave by saying his name is ‘no-man’. During the Trojan war, he cunningly led his team to victory by giving a Trojan horse to the Trojans. The horse was hollow on the inside and soldiers hid in it. Later, when the Trojans were drunk and asleep, Odysseus and his men attacked and defeated them. His wit led into recruiting Achilles, a man prophesied to be a lucky charm in winning the Trojan war if he joined. Achilles refused to join the Greek army and Odysseus tricks him by laying a spear near Achilles who was disguised as a woman peddling clothes. His love for weapons betrayed him as he showed interest in the spear and picked. He had no choice but join the army, s plus on Odysseus’ side. His wit immensely contributes to winning of the Trojan war and reclaiming their land of Troy.
Another trait that puts him above the rest is his intelligence and determination to achieve what he wants. In his journey, he comes across Sirens who use songs to trap unsuspecting sailors. He is intelligent enough to follow the wise counsel of Circe by asking his crewmates to tie him to the ship’s mast, and they to plug their ears with wax. He further instructs them not to untie him from the mast no matter how much he begs them. The beautiful Siren songs are so good that he begs the fellow sailors who not only cannot hear the songs and his cries well, but also refuse to untie him thus safely passing that dangerous section. This is attributed to his employing intelligence of following instructions given to him by the goddess. In the island of Ogygia where Calypso, a witch who has fallen in love with him and promises immortality, he emerges as one who is determined to achieve his goal-to return whom. He remains a sex slave to the goddess for seven years and in all that time, he dreams of Ithaca, his land where he wants to go back to and eventually, Calypso releases him.
He also possesses courage that sees him traverse the otherwise dangerous seas and enduring the battle of Trojan. During the attacks, his fellow soldier Diomedes is wounded by an arrow from Paris. Odysseus defends him, even with his own injuries and his nearly being killed by the enemies and this led to their escape from death (Flow Pyschology). In their sea voyages, he again saves his men from Cyclops that attacked them by gorging off their eyes rendering them blind and unable to harm the men. His other act of courage is that of conquering the wrath of the sea and the god Poseidon, who does not rules the sea. Lastly, he single-handedly defeats the suitors of his wife and kills them all regaining is rightful position as husband in his home.
The Weaknesses
Odysseus does not pass without weaknesses as a mortal man. His first shortcoming is his excessive pride. This puts him at loggerheads with both his fellow mortals and the gods. First, he refuses to heed to Circe’s advice not to take the cattle of Helio with him as it will endanger their lives. He also enrages the gods by cruising the dangerous seas, a trait that makes his journey difficult for the gods have to work against him even though he gets some assistance from a goddess who likes him. His pride of reclaiming his family glory drives him across seas for ten years and to fight off the suitors who have taken over his home.
Odysseus is presented as one who is cruel. His cruelty is depicted in his unreasonable treatment of his enemies, a trait that caused fear amongst his enemies. His height of cruelty is seen when is said to have killed Hector, Astyanax’s son by throwing him from the walls of Troy. It is seen as gross for the boy was only an infant. Claims are also made that he never forgot grudges especially that one he had against Palamedes. Faking a letter that condemned Palamedes a traitor, he, together with Diomedes stone him to death, for a crime he possibly did not commit (GreekMythology.com).
Lastly, Odysseus is a stubborn man. On his travel, he is given directions by Circe on how he can safely reach home but he decides to use his own directions and instincts. He in his stubbornness lands his crew in trouble, he first loses some men to the Cyclopes, stirring the anger of Poseidon, he gets entrapped with Calypso and this delays his arrival. He takes ten years on sea as he encounters challenges from one island to the other. He almost loses his wife to suitors because of being away for too long.
Conclusion
To sum up, Odysseus has been revealed as a multi-faceted individual who at one point is a hero to the Greeks and at another, a liability. His double character works to his advantage and disadvantage of his people. His intelligence, wit and courage brings about victory to the Greek army against the Trojans, they hence regain control of Troy that had been captured by the enemy. On the other hand, his pride, stubbornness and cruelty almost undoes all the good he has done. It leads to lose of men that are fighting or travelling with him, he nearly loses his life before accomplishing the mission he was on and he even angers some of the immortals that are to guide him on his safe journey back home. His weaknesses almost blot out his heroic deeds.
