Temptations Of Odysseus Essay -- essays research papers

Temptations of OdysseusOdysseus a hero in both charge. He is a real man, consummate in the sports, handy with a sword and spear, and a master of war strategy. Most of the challenges and adventures in his return voyage from Troy show us this level if we had no idea of his great heroic stature and accomplishments in the Trojan war. I found in my reading of the Odyssey that most of the trials the gods place upon him ar quickly faced with heroic means. These challenges are notnecessarily welcomed by Odysseus but accepted as part of his role. He is the hero, its his lot to wield sword and fortress and bravely face the next army or monster. Then we begin to see more of the challenges do not require our hero to fight his way out(p). These threats are the most difficult problems for Odysseus to overcome. The tests like the isle of the lotus eaters, Circes island, and Calypsos island were the hardest challenges for Odysseus. His encounter with Polyphemus the Cyclops, the Laestrygonia ns, Charybdis and Scyylla, and the kingdom of the dead these dangers were on his level, heroic battles where he could fight valiantly and if it was his fate, go valiantly. The challenges where heroic means were not a solution to overcome the danger were the most formidable tasks that could easily destroy Odysseus. Odysseus and crew are finally on their way home after the war, after nine days on the rough sea, they arrive at the isle of the lotus eaters. The lotus eaters are a group of people who have a lot of fun, thanks to their consumption of the lotus flower. This confrontation provides Odysseus and his crew with the first of their challenges (Odyssey 91-103). This threat is definitely unrivalled that a heroic confrontation is unlikely. This danger is not any physical threat to him or his men. The lotus eaters create a situation where Odysseus and his crew are tempted by a gift. This gift of immediate gratification threatens to take away several their basic heroic element. By e ating the lotus flower they would pass off immediate happiness, however they would never make it home. They would died old men on that island without their families, they would be broken in a sense. Without the memories of their homes, wives, and children they would be just a font of who they were. Odysseus would sooner die than to never see Penelope again and be ... ...n or ever see his son. If he couldnt ever get back indeed there would have been no reason to ever leave. All of his heroic deed would have been in vain and no one would have still remembered him. He couldnot have fought the suitors and proved himself . The act of returning was always the ultimate goal for Odysseus and the temptations of happiness, beauty, immortality, and eternal youth were much harder for him to pass up every time he had to put his life on the line and fight an army or evade a monster. He could have given in to any of the temptations at any time and never had toendure the pain and strife that c ame from his homeward journey. Without his heroic resources to help him escape the temptations by battling his way out or using his wit to escape he holds on and endures and finally returns. Dying on the battlefield would be a fantastic ending for a hero such as Odysseus. Dying alone without a fight or giving in and living without ever returning to his home or Penelope would be a fate no hero could accept. He would have been forgotten and others would claim what was his. Odysseus does endure and returns, escaping danger and great temptation to be the hero and claim his own.