Free Essay The Odyssey

Pau Wau · Uploaded by **Pau Wau** on Jan 1, 2006

The Odyssey - Overview

In the Odyssey there were three main characters. Odysseus is the hero of the epic. He is the son of Laertes and is the king of Ithaca and a very respected warrior . He enjoys life, even while struggling to get home. He is restless, clever, and even tricky and is able to invent lies easily. After the Trojan War, the gods and goddess were mad that his plan helped the Greeks defended the Trojans. So they made Odysseus� journey home as hard as possible. In the Odyssey, Odysseus is very brave, overcomes many superhuman forces and is clever. For instance, in The Land of the Cyclopes Odysseus makes up a plan that ends with him and his men, that were not eaten by the monster, escaping and with him being the one that stuck the giant in the eye. People think of Odysseus as a man that is clever and a great warrior. They believe this because in the Trojan War he had an idea to present a wooden horse to the Trojans. The Trojans brought the horse into their town, when they fell asleep the soldiers hiding inside the horse arose and attacked the people of Troy, and that won the war for the Greeks.

Eurylochus is one of Odysseus� crewmen. He leads the men into the forest were they were turned into animals by Circe, the enchantress. Before they would led into the forest Odysseus made Eurylochus the leader of one of the two groups of six men. When Odysseus came back with the men and then said he wanted to go back to Circe, Eurylochus said that it was Odysseus� fault that the men on the Land of the Cyclopes died because of his foolishness. Odysseus called Eurylochus his kinsmen but was going to kill him anyways. Eurylochus ended up going with the rest of the men to the home of Circe. From what was said about him when the men first encountered Circe he is very cautious and careful.

Lady Circe is an enchantress. She has turned many of the men that wash up on her island into animals that are under her control. The found her in her quiet house while she was singing in a low tone. Circe turned Odysseus� men into pigs. Once Odysseus and Circe became lovers the men stayed on her island for several years, but once she found out that Odysseus wanted to get back home is let them go peacefully. Circe advised Odysseus on how to get pass the Sirens she and she also told him that many bad years come between him and his homeland.

The Odyssey is set in many places. In The Sirens Odysseus fills that ears of the crew with beeswax, so they maybe safe from the hailing call of the Sirens. The men tied Odysseus up and rowed within hailing distance of the Sirens. Once near the Sirens Odysseus tried to escape his from where he was tied up because the Sirens� singing was appealing to him. When they had rowed a safe distance from the Sirens the crew untied Odysseus and cleared that wax from their ears. The mood that is displayed in this book is one of terror and uneasiness. All the men were worried about the Sirens and Odysseus escaping and trying to go to the Sirens. The atmosphere is a cautious one and one in which all the men are worried about their and their captain�s safety.