ANYOG, Rona Graziela Pauline B.

3LM1
LITERATURE
Dr. Ronel Harino-Balistoy
November 10, 2014
Adventures of Odyssey

1) Whats your reflection towards Odysseus wandering story? Any part in the story attracts the
most of your attention?

In the great epic, the protagonist, Odysseus, had been wandering for ten years
on an island, and when he starts his voyage home, he gets shipwrecked on to a land
unknown to him. Odysseus does not know anything about the type of people that live on
the land and they are the people who are violent and savage, and without justice nor are
they hospitable to strangers. So it was very important to Odysseus to be hospitable to those
strangers, to somehow get them to help him on his way back home. Poseidon's wrath
towards Odysseus, caused by Odysseus blinding his son Polyphemus, Poseidon's one-eyed
Cyclops son, added to his burden because this prevented him even more from travelling
back home.
The blinding of Poseidons son was only done by Odysseus to save his men from
further harm. At this point of the story, he was still thinking of other peoples safety before
his own by dueling face to face with a monster like Polyphemus. He had risked his life for
the betterment of his men.
The part of the story which attracted me the most was when Odysseus didn't
spare killing the suitor that didn't want to murder Telemachus. In some ways I think that the
suitor deserved it, but in another, I still felt sorry for the cruelty that took part at that point
of the story. The ending of the book is another story, though, because for a long time, it
seemed to me like all of these Greek stories have the usual predictable gory and war-like
endings; this epic proved me wrong. It surprised me that a god interfered and brought

peace, because gods don't usually dont interfere directly. It was also ironic that the goddess
of war was the one who brought peace.
Lastly, another very interesting part of the story for me was when Odyssues disguised
himself as a peasant and the readers, myself in particular, got tto see how a peasant was
treated in Greek society that time and that is with disgust and discrimination.

2) Please describe Odysseus character in terms of the good choices and the poor choices he made.

The Odyssey, by Homer, is about Odysseus, the king of Ithaca. Odysseus fights in
the Trojan War and wins. He travels towards Ithaca but does not reach it because he is not
in favor of Poseidon, god of the sea, who prevents his return. For many years, Odysseus
wanders the seas and has many adventures. Meanwhile, suitors attempt to marry Penelope,
Odysseus' wife, but she remains faithful to her husband. The gods pity Odysseus and assist
in his safe return to Ithaca. Odysseus' personal qualities of bravery, self-discipline, and
intelligence also help him to survive. Though Odysseus has the help of the gods, his personal
qualities contribute to his survival in the seas and the return to his family in Ithaca.

Bravery is one of Odysseus' qualities that enable him to survive his adventures.
Odysseus could be clearly admired because of his intelligence and cunning personality. He is
a hero in every way. He is a real man, skilled in the sports, handy with a sword and spear,
and a master of war strategy. Odysseus is courageous, has great strength and ability, and
exhibits noble qualities. Most of the challenges and adventures in his return voyage from
Troy show us this even if we had no idea of his great heroic stature and accomplishments in
the Trojan War. Most of the trials the gods place upon him are readily faced with heroic
means. These challenges are not.

He is the hero, its his lot to wield sword and shield and bravely face the next
army or monster. Then we begin to see more of the challenges do not require our hero to
fight his way out. These threats are the most difficult problems for Odysseus to overcome.
The tests like the isle of the lotus eaters, Circe's island, and Calypso's island were the
hardest challenges for Odysseus. His encounter with Polyphemus the Cyclops, the
Laestrygonians, Charybdis and Scyylla, and the kingdom of the dead: these dangers were on

his level, heroic battles where he could fight valiantly and if it was his fate, die valiantly. The
challenges where heroic means were not a solution to overcome the danger were the most
formidable tasks that could easily destroy Odysseus.

He further showed his courage earlier on in the Epic by agreeing to go and fight
in the Trojan War where he was needed. He knew he was risking never seeing his family
again but he was willing to fight.

Moreover, the greatest proof of Odysseus being a true hero with his intelligence
was during the war when he showed his smarts. He devised the wooden horse plan, where a
bunch of soldier packed into a huge wooden horse and were brought into the city of Troy
then came out during the night and burned and attacked the people and the city. The smart
thinking of Odysseus ended the 10 year long war.

Lastly, his strength was showcased when Penelope held the contest to win her
hand. The contest was a simple as; whoever could string Odysseus' bow and shoot the
arrow through 12 ax heads would be Penelope's husband. Penelope knew Odysseus was the
only person who could perform such a feat. This event showed how strong Odysseus was.
After the contest when Odysseus made his presence clear he has the courage and strength
to give the suitors 4 reasons for to die. It took guts to say that after being gone for 20 years.
He shows his strength by proceeding killing all of the suitors without any outside help.

However, some of Odysseus qualities are not considered heroic today are his
impulsiveness, arrogance, and curiosity. He struggled with these weak points of his and
these led him to be in undesirable circumstances where he found himself in that would not
have happened if he only kept these negative qualities of his at bay.

An instance is when Odysseus went to Cyclops cave because he was curious but
didnt think of what may happen next. When Odysseus was able to escape from Cyclops
cave, he yelled to Cyclops identifying himself because of his pride. That made Cyclops so
angry that he prayed to his father Poseidon to destroy Odysseus. The result of that is

Odysseus companions all died before Odysseus could return home. This happening caused
the wrath of Poseidon which delayed Odysseus travel back home.
Despite these good and bad characteristics of Odysseus, everything contributed
to the originality and unique plot of the story which makes this literary work deserve its title
as an epic.