Themes of Loyalty, Vengeance, and Hospitality in the Odyssey Essay Sample

The Odyssey by Homer follows the journey of Odysseus, trying to get home after 20 grueling years. The Epic Poem portrays themes of loyalty, vengeance, and hospitality. Odysseus’s 10-year journey after the Trojan War observes his events along the way, including fighting magical creatures and heroic beasts. Odysseus sacrificed his men, killed all of his suitors, and was ruthless. Being a hero was the opposite of who he was towards his men. Because of his selfishness and lust, Odysseus is not a hero. 

Odysseus' acts throughout the epic poem may appear to show that he is not a hero, although he is quite the opposite at times. When he and his crew are in danger and must make a critical choice, he displays bravery and heroism. When Odysseus and his crew arrive at Kalypso's Cave, he displays bravery and also assists the others in descending and assisting them. This is shown when Odysseus chooses the best fighters from his crew to help him fight the monsters in the cave; "I told most of my good trustee crew to wait, to sit tight by the ship and guard her well while I picked out my dozen finest fighters and off I went..." Our party quickly made its way to his cave, but we failed to find our host himself inside "(Homer, 9, 220-241). Because he believes he and his crewmates are safe together, Odysseus displays absolute bravery. He knows the cave creatures would devour him and his crew in an instant, but his bravery saves them all. Book 9 contains another illustration of Odysseus' courage. Odysseus demonstrates his cunning and skill to deceive the Cyclops, Polyphemus, by claiming his name is Nobody and then continues to stab the Cyclops. “Nobody that's my name. So my mother and father call me, and all my friends "(Homer, 9, 410–411). Odysseus' wit helps him get out of difficulty in this quote, which is demonstrated by fooling the Cyclops. Being clever and having the ability to come up with ideas in the face of danger is an attribute that all heroes should have. Odysseus' ability to be cunning in the face of danger aided him several times throughout the epic poem. 

In this epic poem, there are several instances where Odysseus betrays his crew and becomes unfaithful. It becomes clear when we compare the moments when Odysseus was a hero and when he was not. When Odysseus became Circe's lover and trapped his company on Circe's island for a year, it was the first indication of his lack of valor towards his men. This was also an example of disloyalty, "So she enticed and won our battle-hardened spirits over. And there we sat at ease, day in, day out, till a year had run its course... if it really was your fate to make it back alive and reach your well-built house and native land "(Homer, 10, 515–522). This quote depicts Odysseus' actions in stranding his crew on Circe's island for a year. Odysseus became Circe's lover and completely forgot about his crew and their journey's final goal of getting back to Ithica. This portrays his non-heroic trait of Selfishness and how his temptations lead to events where his fate could be lost. Another time when Odysseus was not heroic was when Aelous gave him the sack containing the unfavorable winds. He then fell asleep just as they were approaching Ithica. While he was sleeping, his crew decided to open the bag and that is when, "Look at our captain's luck–so loved by the world, so prized at every landfall, every port of call... They loosed the sack and all the winds swept us back to sea, waving in tears, far from our own native land" (Homer, 10, 43–54). The wind set the whole ship and crew back to Aelous, who didn't help Odysseus and his crew again since they messed up the first time. When they arrived at the Land of the Laestrygonians after the land of Aeolus sent them away, Odysseus could have been responsible and not gone with the giants, but he did. Lastly, when Hermes tells him to be aware of Circe, he sleeps with her and stays there for a year. This portrays Odysseus' selfishness and lust, and his non-heroic attributes towards his crew since he was not watching over them while he had the sack of winds. All of these events are examples of Odysseus’ imperfections and that his temptations lead to his selfishness. 

Odysseus’ heroic qualities like his bravery and cleverness, and his non-heroic qualities, like his selfishness and lust, are important because the reader can then understand the differences between the characters and get a full understanding of their true character. In the epic poem, Odysseus was truly not a hero. Even today, while some people may seem smart and important, they can always have flaws in their personality like disrespect and hate towards others. We can learn from this and understand to not judge a book by its cover, whether it is an actual book or a person.