Odysseus: The Hero In Homer's The Odyssey

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Throughout the Odyssey, an epic written by Homer, the hero is embodied by someone who uses their cunning intelligence and strategic ability to succeed and survive instead of utilizing only their brute strength to accomplish their goals. As Odysseus meets the cyclops Polyphemus he shows that his strategy is much mightier than any amount of force sent his way in multiple instances. Odysseus had been on his way home from Troy to Ithaca, in need of supplies, he wanders into the cave of the cyclops Polyphemus and is then trapped with no obvious way to escape the treacherous cave. He is almost upon killing the giant when his strategic mind realizes the opportunities available to him with Polyphemus still alive and begins his plan to blind the cyclops.…show more content…
As Odysseus is battling for his life in the cave of Polyphemus, he is given the perfect opportunity to deliver a fatal blow, using his well-earned strength as his weapon. While he readies for the single swipe of his blade, Odysseus thinks to himself “there at a stroke we’d finish off ourselves as well” and he decides against the rash decision (Homer 221). Instead of acting rashly and killing off the only chance of getting out of the cave, Odysseus manages to think intelligently even in the heat of the battle and stays his blade for the night. As the next day comes, Odysseus and his men had been laying out a strategic plan unseen by any cyclops before, to deprive Polyphemus of his vision. While Odysseus’s men put the olive stake “straight into the monster’s eye” he was on top of the stake driving it in as hard as he could possibly manage (Homer 223). Since Polyphemus was a cyclops, the most logical thing to do was to blind him thoroughly. But to blind the eye of a massive giant is to take on a feat unlike any other, success seeming far out of reach, and accomplished through only the most cunning guidance and planning of Odysseus the great tactician. Although this strategy was used as an attack mechanism, Odysseus also covered his back while executing his magnificent…show more content…
As Odysseus was feeding the cyclops wine, he agreed to give Polyphemus his name in exchange for a guest-gift. Odysseus states “Nobody-thats my name, Nobody-so my mother and father call me” in order to keep his name a secret but to still advance the cyclops’s actions (Homer 223). Odysseus’s safeguard had been meticulously thought out in order to cover the escape of his men. As Polyphemus bellowed in pain from his eye, he called out to his fellow cyclopes in an attempt to capture the fleeing Odysseus and his men. Having been told his only name was Nobody, Polyphemus cried out “Nobody’s killing me now by fraud and not by force!” confusing his comrades greatly, them having not known the assailants to have ever been on the island (Homer 224). With only a reference to Nobody attacking Polyphemus, the other cyclopes were slowed down by their own confusion, giving Odysseus and his men to escape. With a carefully thought-out plan, Odysseus managed to delay the hunt of his deadly aggressors enough to allow for the rest of his escape plan to be
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