Similar to Thea's recent post and from what we discussed in class, I also agree that Odysseus's fatal flaw, or his "kryptonite," is his pride. He tries to push the Gods help to make him seem more heroic, however Homer brings him down to earth, showing he is merely a man trying to find his way home.
Throughout the poem, we see the Gods foreshadow the fate of Odysseus and his men, instructing him exactly what to do to overcome the numerous obstacles he faces on his journey home. Without the help of the Gods instructing him exactly what to do, there is no way of knowing if he would have survived or made it home. In fact if Athena hadn't sent Hermes to Calypso's Island in the first place, he would probably still be there crying in the corner instead of taking initiative of his own life. So can Odysseus really be considered a hero for merely following someone else's orders through out his whole journey?
Not only do the Gods instruct him exactly what he needs to do, but he uses this information to defy the Gods for his own benefit. For example when Circe warns Odysseus and his men about the Sirens, Odysseus insists on having his crew tie him up so he can hear the song of the Sirens while his men have beeswax in their ears to block out the song. Ultimately by testing the Gods orders to try and survive where no humans had before, Odysseus is driven crazy with desire to from the Sirens song and nearly breaks free.
Another example of Odysseus's pride getting in the way is after he defeats the Cyclopes and yells out his name to taunt him. While escaping the Cyclopes shows how clever Odysseus can be, yelling out his real name to the Cyclopes after he already escaped confirms that he must take credit for everything he does. And in this case taking credit for his clever escape did more harm than good, angering Poseidon and making his journey home even more difficult.
While Odysseus can act very prideful and heroic, we also see him crying numerous times throughout the poem. Despite his efforts to seem like a God, Homer shows us he is only human and ultimately misses his home.
I definitely agree that Odysseus owes a lot of his success to guidance from the gods. Furthermore, I agree that Odysseus definitely has a problem with excessive pride. I wouldn't however attribute his flaws to the assistance of the gods. I would guess that his excessive pride came from his success in the Trojan war.
ReplyDeleteNot only his success in the Trojan War, but also many things he did before that, and most certainly, nearly everything he does afterwards. When he wants to be the only one to listen to the sirens, it's because of his excessive pride. His taunts to the Cyclops is because of his excessive pride. His "fights" with Posiedon are because of his excessive pride. But most importantly, he has Athena on his side, EVERY FREAKING STEP OF THE WAY, and he knows that whatever happens, she is on his side and that although he will endure (haha Dark Knight Returns), he won't die or be mistreated (and when he is, the person/people who mistreat him shall suffer, as in the case of the suitors).
ReplyDeleteIt's true that Athena is helping him out a lot (and there is the sense that he's *earned* this help, with his trials and tribulations and suffering), but he still needs to be the one who carries out the heroic acts on his own--he has to maintain his disguise, despite his emotional turmoil, endure the insults of the suitors, and actually do the fighting when the time comes. (Although, yeah, Athena is making all the suitors' salvos of arrows go astray . . .) But note the moment where Odysseus's knees start quivering, when the suitors come in all armed--this is still war, and he gets that same fear and adrenaline. There's no sense in which Athena's aid makes him feel untouchable. She sets him up, but he needs to be the one to do the slaying.
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