Odysseus Reflection

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A wise young man once said, “the most powerful way to impact a war is not with the sword. It is with the mind.” Not many would dispute this statement, because it is clearly put on display by the main character of The Odyssey, Odysseus. This astounding tale presents the life of a cursed man who faces many perilous trials and comes out of them victorious. Although Odysseus is portrayed as a strong and tenacious warrior, he demonstrates the power of cunning over strength when he fools the army of Troy, outsmarts multiple giants, and instinctively submits to canines. Although Odysseus is known for his incredible strength and skills with the spear, he exemplifies incredible wit in the battle of Troy. The battle is started because Paris…show more content…
Odysseus and his men are traveling home from the war and stop at the island of the cyclops. He and some of his men explore the island and find themselves cornered in one of the cyclops’ cave. The cyclops, Polyphemus, eats six of Odysseus’s men and it appears like there is no way out. The giant is too enormous to engage in a fight against, and even if they tried, they would be demolished. So Odysseus considers his options. Again, Odysseus shows his amazing intelligence and begins to offer the giant very tasty and strong wine, and the cyclops asks for more and more. He soon becomes drunk, and Odysseus deceives him saying,“Nobody- that’s my name.Nobody-/ so my mother and father call me, all my friends” (9.410-411). The giant falls asleep and the men see their chance at survival so they “seized our stake with its fiery tip/ and bored it round and round in the giant’s eye” (9.443-444). The cyclops is blinded and screams out in excruciating pain to his comrades, “Nobody, friends’-...Nobody’s killing me now by fraud and not by force ”(9.454-55). No help came to Polyphemus. Odysseus escaped from an almost certain death and helped deliver his terror-stricken crew. They would have never made it out alive if it weren’t for Odysseus. Not only did he fool one cyclops, he fooled a whole army of them. Odysseus did the impossible and overcame massive obstacles to escape the…show more content…
He, disguised as a beggar, is attempting to find a place to stay while he plots to eliminate the suitors with his son, Telemachus. Odysseus recalls the swineherd’s shelter and travels there to ask permission to bed there. As he is nearing the shack, “snarling dogs spotted Odysseus,/ charged him fast- a shatter of barks- but Odysseus/ sank to the ground at once, he knew the trick:/ the staff dropped him from his hand…”(14.32-35). The dogs stopped on a dime. Eumaeus, the faithful swineherd, shockingly exclaims, “Lucky to be alive old man” (14.40). He recognized that if he would not have dropped to the ground, the dogs would have torn him to pieces. Odysseus’ quick thinking saves him from a bloody mauling and shows his bright mind once again. It also displays his act of submission which allowed him to keep his

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