& # 8217 ; s Challenges Essay, Research Paper

In The Odyssey, Odysseus had to confront many challenges during his travels ; a few of these troubles were a cannibalistic Cyclops, immense vortexs, determined suers, along with many adversities. Odysseus fought invariably to return to his fatherland of Ithaca, but to carry through this Odysseus had to be cagey, resourceful, and have great leading qualities.

Odysseus proved throughout the narrative that he was really cagey. When he was faced with holding to acquire out of Polyphemus & # 8217 ; s cave, Odysseus foremost told the Cyclops, & # 8220 ; My name is Nohbdy: female parent, male parent, and friends, / everyone calls me Nohbdy & # 8221 ; . ( pg. 452, 341-342 ) Odysseus told him this because he knew if the other Cyclopes would come and inquire who was with him, they would believe that & # 8220 ; Nohbdy & # 8221 ; was at that place. In another episode, Odysseus outsmarted the Sirens ; he wanted to listen to their Sweet vocal, but he knew he would seek to leap overboard. It was so he got the impression to state his crew, & # 8220 ; ? you are to bind me up, fast as a splint, / erect along the mast, lashed to the mast, / and if I shout and beg to be unfastened, / take more bends of rope to smother me. & # 8221 ; ( pg. 459, 536-539 ) This and stating the crew members to set wax in their ears ensured that Odysseus, entirely, could listen to the Sirens & # 8217 ; vocal and non decease. When Odysseus had to calculate out how he could kill the Suitors who were remaining in his house, he had Athena camouflage him as an old mendicant and so told Telemachus, his boy, to conceal all of the Suitors & # 8217 ; arms and armour. If they asked Telemachus what he was making, he was to state them he was hive awaying the arms so that none of the suers would kill each other if they got into a battle.

Many times throughout the narrative, Odysseus had to be resourceful plenty to carry through a undertaking by utilizing environing things, whatever was at manus. When he was floating back towards Charybdis, Odysseus grabbed onto a nearby fig tree and held on until a piece of driftwood shooting out of the vortex ; so he grabbed a clasp of the driftwood and soared to safety. In order to get away from the Cyclops & # 8217 ; s cave, Odysseus wanted to blin

d the Cyclops. To make this, he carved a big staff which he planned to utilize against the Cyclops and poke his oculus out. But in order to maintain this stave a secret from Polyphemus, he had to conceal it in a topographic point where Polyphemus would non surmise. It is here he hid it, “ ? under / one of the droppings hemorrhoids in profuseness there.” ( pg. 451, 303-304 ) To do this staff, Odysseus foremost had to happen a tree which he could cut down, “ ? an olive tree, felled green and left to season? ” ( pg. 451, 293 ) Odysseus besides had to happen a manner to forestall the suer from cognizing that he was back, so he prayed to Athena to mask him as a mendicant.

Odysseus had to be a good leader in order to do tough determinations about what he and his crew should make. When go throughing through the sound between Scylla and Charybdis, Odysseus chose to lose six work forces to Scylla alternatively of put on the lining losing the full ship to Charybdis. Upon the Island of the Lotus Eaters, Odysseus had to acquire the work forces who had eaten the Lotus off the island. & # 8220 ; I drove them, all three bawling, to the ships, / tied them under their rowing benches, ? & # 8221 ; ( pg. 445, 97-98 ) On the island of the Sun God, Helios, Odysseus warned his work forces non to kill the cowss which belonged to the God ; but, unluckily, his work forces disobeyed him and slaughtered the cowss, which they feasted upon. Zeus subsequently punished his work forces with decease. Trapped inside of Polyphemus & # 8217 ; undermine, Odysseus knew he had to be a good leader if he was to acquire himself and his work forces out of the cave. Originally he was traveling to kill Polyphemus when he ate two of Odysseus & # 8217 ; s work forces ; but when Odysseus was about to knife him, he realized that he should non kill him, because & # 8220 ; I had touched the topographic point / when sudden fright stayed me: if I killed him / we die at that place every bit good, for we could ne’er / travel his heavy room access slab aside. & # 8221 ; ( pg. 450-451, 273-276 )

During his escapade Odysseus proved that he was smart, and able to cover with hardship skilfully. He proved an able leader despite all the problems that he encountered on his escapade. In the terminal, Odysseus proved he could overcome the challenges which might hold prevented him from acquiring place.