Preview

Deceit And Irony In Homer's Odyssey

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1027 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Deceit And Irony In Homer's Odyssey
While many may argue that Odysseus is using lies for a good reason it seems obvious that he is not using lies to help anyone but himself and that his lies are putting others in danger. Odysseus’s deceit and lying caused negative outcomes, which can be seen when Odysseus decides to tell his crew about the fact that they would die and when Odysseus and his crew encounter the Cyclops.
Odysseus utilizes deceit and dishonesty in a wrongful manner when he decides to hide the truth from his crew that if they continued in his lead, that they would all be dead except for Odysseus. Odysseus went on to the underworld to find Teiresias so that he can see if his desires to go home to his wife and son will be fulfilled. Teiresias told Odysseus that his
…show more content…
However, it can be clearly seen that his goal is just to satisfy himself and throughout his journey his deceit and dishonesty resulted in many misdemeanors. Odysseus caused his crew a great amount of trouble in many situations. Even though in difficult times, Odysseus was wise, those times would not have had to come if he had been honest and thoughtful with his actions. Odysseus lead his crew to the island of Aeolia. There the wind king gave Odysseus a bag which had all the stormy winds that would have been in their path in it. Odysseus did not tell his crew what was in the bag, so they remained suspicious about it. They then grow “curious and suspicious [and then the] sailors open the bag, thinking it contains treasure…” which results in the whole ship being blown all the way back to the island of Aeolia(Holt 673). As the reader can see Odysseus could have just told his crew what was in the bag and what was in it, instead he decides to be deceitful and not tell them. This makes his crew very curious so they open it which blows them back to the island. The author displays that Odysseus was not a very good leader because it seems that he doesn't know how to be honest and trustful or to at least use his deceit and dishonesty for a beneficial reason. Later on in the story, Odysseus leads his crew to the home of Circe, the Enchantress. After facing much

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Aeolus and the Aeolian Bag could have been avoided if Odysseus has inspired a shared vision and encourage the heart. Like the text mentions, leaders cannot expect commitment if you are not putting in the effort to encourage it. (Kouzes and Posner 2014, p. 17) If Odysseus had been more transparent about his decisions, his crew would have been committed to him and probably trusted the fact that he would not save treasures for himself. Odysseus must have not been good about recognizing his crew’s contributions for them to distrust him and open the bag full of wind. Odysseus should have done better at showing his appreciation and recognizing individual successes. (Kouzes and Posner 2014, p. 22)…

    • 288 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I also did this question. Odysseus definitely lies to avoid conflict. The Cyclops proved to Odysseus that if Odysseus revealed his identity conflict would arise. Once Odysseus told the Cyclops who he was the Cyclops told Poseidon. Odysseus knew he could not trust anyone, which is exactly why Odysseus was disguised as a beggar. Good response,…

    • 57 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    the result had any effect on Odysseus himself, or his friends. The hero notoriety of doing…

    • 1541 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Deception, or the act of deceiving or defrauding, is a prominent theme in the Odyssey. Though inherently dishonest, deception can be used to gain information and knowledge. Different characters (and people) use it different ways. This essay will establish that, whereas Odysseus uses deception to help him progress from Nobody back to Odysseus, king of Ithaca, Athena does so to keep her identity secret when she disguises herself.…

    • 744 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Odysseus Loyalty Quotes

    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Odysseus has been doing this through the whole book to his crew. The first major time was when he and his crew went into the cave of the cyclops. This next quote was right before Odysseus and his crew were going to stab the cyclopes in the eye. “‘Courage- no panic, no one hang back now!’”(9.422) Even thought they knew that they had to get out of that situation but yet he wanted to seem heroic but really he almost got everyone killed. This is also showing that he is just a guy that wants to to be know for saving everyone and not known for a good leader. My next quote comes from when Odysseus asks his crew to go into the woods to find Circe’s halls. None of the men want to go into the woods because they just got done with rowing a ship for days on days. Odysseus talks them into going into the woods finally but they don't want to. “And so, numbering off my band men-at-arms into two platoons...” (10.222-23) Odysseus had no clue what was going to be on the island but he sent out two groups of men to find out who lived on the island and if they could stay there. He has no clue of who lives here if they are nice or not so really he just a whole bunch of men into war empty handed. My finally quote is when he had to be the only man to live through the sirens. So he plugged ears of his crew members and had them tie him to then mass of the boat. “...I stopped the ears of my comrades one by one.”(12.193) Odysseus could have whent around the island but Odysseus had to be the greatest man alive to hear the Sirens and still be able to tell the…

    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After hastefully evicting the wrath of the Cyclops monster, Odysseus revealed his identity to him to fulfil his pride and ego, which subsequently endangered himself and his crew’s voyage due to being cursed. This shows…

    • 327 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How Is Odysseus Prideful

    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Odysseus is very prideful when it comes to his family and his battles. Odysseus and his men blind Polythemus the cyclopes and escpae safetly onto the boats. When Odysseus escapes Polythemus he becomes very proud and yells out that he his Odysseus. Odysseus shows his after deceiving Polythemus by telling him his name is nobody. Further on in Odysseus’s journey he encounters the Sirens. Odysseus puts wax in the ears of his men to save them from falling into the trap of the Sirens. Odysseus…

    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cunning is a human characteristic that is hard to come by. It can be used to evade and deceive to get to an end goal. In the “Odyssey”, Odysseus leaves Troy to get back home to Ithaca. This journey takes ten years, and he uses his cunning to fight many obstacles placed by the gods. Odysseus’ cunning was portrayed by Homer as his greatest trait because it let him evade death, and deceive people.…

    • 448 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A common theme used throughout the poem, “The Odyssey” by Homer, is deception. Deception is the action of deceiving someone by false appearance or statement. Lies and disguises are used by characters of “The Odyssey” to support their own causes such as assisting others, gathering information, or plotting revenge.…

    • 49 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Leadership In The Odyssey

    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Similar to most Homeric heroes, Odysseus wants to obtain glory and recognition for his courageous deeds. Though he would often take it too far and become arrogant, confidence is hugely important in leadership. At certain times, however, he would pompously ignore someone’s advice or act how he wanted, regardless of the consequences of his choices. The best example of this is when he intentionally hollered back to the Cyclops who he was as he was leaving. The result of this is that he brought calamity on himself as well as his men due to the relationship that Poseidon and the Cyclops had. However, once he reaches Ithaca, the way he bides his time and disguises himself as a beggar shows how he has developed and changed. Instead, he could have simply rushed home and declared himself before the extremely hostile suitors (“change”). “He is not the same glory-hungry individual who often committed rash and rather vacuous actions in order to gain kudos(“change”).” More recently, the texts have proved that Odysseus has come a long way, learned a lot from past mistakes, and developed accordingly during the route of these…

    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Odyssey, Homer gives Odysseus qualities of cleverness and skill while he overcomes his obstacles. Odysseus and his men face these challenges when Poseidon’s son, Polyphemus, curses Odysseus and his men when Odysseus tells Polyphemus who blinded him. Polyphemus then prays to Poseidon who asks for chaos on Odysseus’ voyage home, and he would rather have him dead than return home hurt. Because of this, Odysseus faces many decisive tasks ahead of his embarkment back home. When he lands at the island of the Lotus-Eaters, he saves his men and he forces them to stay on the ship. He decides to tie himself to a pole because he wants to hear the sirens, but he doesn't want his ship to go towards them. He decides between Scylla and Charybdis, and Odysseus makes a decision because he wants his men to stay alive. When Odysseus arrives home to Ithaca, he is sneaky when learning about the suitors in his palace. Odysseus uses his…

    • 373 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    His need to win Kleos gets in the way, and puts his and his men’s lives at risk (Sparknotes editors). When they entered the Cyclops cave, he refused to leave when his men asked him. He wanted to be known for meeting and fighting a Cyclops. By staying he lost the lives of 6 men and risked the possibility of being eaten alive. After attacking the Cyclops his pride gets in the way when he informs Polyphemus the name of his attacker, which led to Poseidon thwarting his every move to get home. Penelope was deceived into thinking her husband was loyal and had spent many years suffering trying to get home. Instead Odysseus is unfaithful and is even offered marriage. He stayed with Circe many months and only left until his men asked him to leave. “What possesses you to stay here? Its time you thought of Ithica” (Homer, 137). He might be self-controlled, but his curiosity brings him trouble sometimes. His ego and arrogance was the root of his problems. He would refuse to be wrong and was full of himself. (Abbit. M, Malek. K.)…

    • 571 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Odysseus As A Hero Essay

    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages

    From this point on in the journey Odysseus learned all of the skills from the past events. He learned to think about consequences, To stand up and take charge, He has to be vigilant and never be distracted or careless,and to keep priorities straight and think through decisions before making them. It’s easy to see that from each obstacle he faced he learned and changed. Until he was a better leader than he was before. Not too headstrong but not to slow. He had to make good decisions. And it was those skills that got him home and gained his wife and son back, and become a better king for his…

    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    So as you can see Odysseus let down a lot of people. For example he let his own mother die. Odysseus even killed innocent people that did no harm to…

    • 398 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Odysseus Epic Hero

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages

    When Odysseus arrives at the land of the Cyclopes, his men advise him to snatch some of the food and leave, but to his and his crew’s detriment, he decides to stay, “Yet I refused. I wished/to see the caveman, what he had to offer-/no pretty sight, it turned out for my friends” (9. 130-132). Though he knew it wasn’t the right thing to do, Odysseus decided to stay. It is a very human-like characteristic to make mistakes. Humans do the things they want sometimes; even if they know it’s not the right thing to do. It shows he can be very much like a normal person at times and though he is trusted to always do the right things, he messes up…

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics