Homer The Odyssey Essay
Odysseus is a person of strong character who knows a lot and who has a huge experience. He learns more and more about the world around him and about himself due to the numerous travelings. He showed himself as a courageous warrior who has his military tactics and who can easily find the way out of any difficult situation. He is a wise man and his wisdom helps him to deal with other people and to cope with all the difficulties which he had during his adventures (his meeting with Cyclopes, an one-eyed giant and his victory over him proves the fact that Odysseus is a real warrior and leader)
Different situations help him to know more about himself.
Odysseus as the major character of the epic poem could realized himself as not only a courageous and skilled warrior and leader who could easily handle the troops but also as an affectionate husband and as a patriot of his native land who had a great desire to return home. He arrived at self knowledge due to his terrible adventures during which he lost a lot of friends. He felt awful when he realized that he had no opportunity to help them. This fault made him appeal to Gods and ask for justice and they helped him to arrive at self knowledge.
The character’s progression of understanding is connected with all the places he visited and with all the people he met. Odysseus could get a lot of knowledge from the environment which included his wife, his friends, his enemies, pirates, giants, the Gods, severe storm at sea, war actions, and so on. All these facts contributed to the character’s progression of understanding.
The first example which shows that Odysseus learns about himself and the world around him is his visit to the kingdom of the dead where the main character could talk to the souls of ancient warriors. He met there his mother who told Odysseus about the death of his father. He learns about the world, about the evil and the good.
The second example which shows how Odysseus learns about himself is his meeting with Cyclopes. He could use his skills and his wisdom to make Cyclopes blind. He showed not only his courage but also his desire to revenge Cyclopes for his friends who were eaten by him.
The epic poem Odyssey helps us to learn a lot about the good and the evil. The main character of the poem is a true man who is not afraid of death and who can use all his skills and huge experience to achieve the major goals in his life – to return home and to live a happy life with his wife Penelope. This poem also teaches us to find the way out of any difficult situation and to believe that the Gods will help to do it.
