Is Odysseus really the hero in the Odyssey? The book is named after him so he must be, right? As the book progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that Odysseus, even though he experiences a Hero’s Journey, is not a good hero. At his best, he cleverly docked his ship separate from his crewmen, but at his worst, he literally made a God vow revenge on him.
One of his most unrevealing traits, is his narcissism, a hero should not be someone who goes around bragging about his achievements, but instead going out and achieving more. In book 8 Odysseus asks the bard to sing him the story of the Trojan horse and sack of Troy, and then once confronted with his own great heroism, Odysseus is moved to tears, “Great Odysseus was moved to tears, running down from his eyes to wet his cheeks” (8.586-587). Not only does he ask bards to sing about him, Odysseus goes on and on about his own life and brags about how great he is, like in book fourteen when Odysseus brags about his journey to the swineherd.
In addition to his narcissism, Odysseus is extremely selfish in his journey. First, he does not really fight to keep his crew alive. Odysseus doesn’t warn them to shore their ships away from the harbor and does not provide them with food when he decides that he wants to sleep with Circe for a year. While he sleeps with Circe he does not think about Penelope and what she must be facing back home, “there is no more hope of my father’s homecoming. I believe no messages any more, even should there be one, nor pay attention to any prophecy, those times my mother calls some diviner into the house and asks him questions” (1.413-416). Odysseus only thinks about the fact that he is having fun and so he delays his trip some more.
Odysseus’ most unheroic, but very characteristic trait, is impulsive. Odysseus seems to never be able to control his emotions or actions. For example, after already outwitting the cyclops and escaping, decides as the ultimate end note that he will reveal his real name to the Cyclops, delaying his trip another seven years. The cyclops, Poseidon's son, angrily tells his father, “Hear me, Poseidon who circle the earth, dark-haired. If truly I am your son, and you acknowledge yourself as my father, grant that Odysseus, sacker of cities, son of Laertes, who makes his home in Ithaka, may never reach that home” (9.528-536).
All in all, Odysseus does not turn out to be the best hero, he has all the outer characteristics of a hero--pretty, strong, brave, clever--but he knows of his greatness and tends to brag about it, he lacks any sort of motivation to make life better for his comrades, and he does not think before acting a lot of the time.
I agree with you in that Odysseus seemed pretty selfish and narcissistic to me. Though I wonder if some of his more selfish actions were supposed to make him seem more heroic. For example, though he didn't really fight to keep his crew alive, the narrator tries to show us that it wasn't his fault that they all died. Also, though his impulsiveness seems unheroic to us, it's one of the qualities that I think Athena likes most about him, as he makes up lies and tricks on the spot. It's kind of interesting how these traits seem so unheroic to us, as a more modern audience, as the narrator of the poem seemed to be trying to portray him so heroically to an Ancient Greek audience.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Annemarie that, although Odysseus is narcissistic and impulsive, his character speaks volumes about Ancient Greek culture. Looking through the Odyssey, one is hard-pressed to find any character that fits our description of a classic hero. Eumaeus comes the closest in my opinion, but his cynicism runs counter to the usual conception of the idealistic hero. Penelope, Menelaus, and Nestor seem purely good, but that may just be because they don't get enough "screen time" for us to see their bad sides. Even the gods are portrayed as petty and disturbingly uncaring about the fates of mortals. If the Odyssey is representative of Ancient Greek culture, it seems that they don't have many (or perhaps any) figures that we would think of as simply heroic today.
DeleteA prime example of Odysseus exhibiting his non-heroic characteristics is when he trash talks the cyclops Polyphemus after tricking him. Immediately after we see Odysseus masterfully trick the cyclops, enabling the crew to escape from his cave, Odysseus acts impulsive in an attempt to achieve glory, shouting his name to the world to brag about how he tricked Polyphemus. This action on the part of Odysseus causes him great trouble down the road (or more appropriately down the sea), when Poseidon decides to impede his journey home.
ReplyDeleteWhile I completely understand why his pride creates scenarios -- like with the cyclops-- where it puts him in danger, I also see why Homer portrays him in this light. It is common for heroes to take responsibility for their actions. It is part of maintaining a reputation, and to continue to be seen as a hero you have to continue to do heroic things or you will be forgotten.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post Sarah! It really shows how Odysseus let's his impulsive pride get the best of him while on the island of cyclops and taunting Polyphemus after leaving. While on the island, he also seems impulsive in the way that he barges into the cyclop's home and eats instead of waiting for Polyphemus to return.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I thought that Odysseus wasn't the best. He seemed very short sighted, which sort of undoes his tricks. Part of the trick with Polyphemus was that the cyclops couldn't call out for help because "nobody was killing him." Odysseus then reveals himself to Polyphemus which negates the entire point of trying to make sure Polyphemus didn't know who he was.
ReplyDeleteIt is a very interesting way of thinking about it. It is a really big contrast to some of our modern day "superheroes" who are perfect in abilities and mentality. I think that in this case, all of Odysseus' flaws actually help make it more interesting. Without his taunting, Poseidon would not have cursed him and we wouldn't be reading the Odyssey.
ReplyDelete