Cunning over Strength Essay

Odysseus faces temptation with the help of Circe . She describes the obstacles he will face with his men while at sea. When approaching the islands of the Sirens he takes the advice he was given and plugs his men's ear with beeswax, and orders them to tie him up to the ship. He hears the Sirens beautiful song alone, hoping to have the future revealed to him . The song is so seductive and tempting he begs for his men to untie him , but his loyal men bind him up tighter. Odysseus , unlike Sir Gawain has help fighting the temptation, he receives both advice and help from his men who tie him up, restraining him from falling into the temptation. Sir Gawain must face a moral battle alone, does he follow the rules of courtesy and give lady bertilak what she wants or does he continue to turn her down due to honor and respect for the king and himself.

In the first passage it describes how Odysseus got the beeswax for his men to cover their ears. To prevent Odysseus from escaping while hearing the song, his men tied him to a post on the ship. The passage describes just how difficult it is to resist the voices of the Sirens by using figurative language such as personification. The passage stated, “Never has any sailor passed our shores in his black craft until he has heard the honeyed voices pouring from our lips and once he hears to his heart's content sails on, a wiser man.” This is an example of personification

"The Sirens", taunt and tease Odysseus as him and his crew sail towards the, “Land of the Dead". Crossing the bumpy ocean in order to reach the Land of The Dead, Odysseus and his man sailed into trouble. Sirens were on the horizon and Odysseus had to think quickly. As his mind raced he finally came up with a solution, he grabbed a handful of wax and rolled it in his hands. “Going forward I carried wax along the line, and laid it thick on their ears.” (Lines 712-713 The Odyssey). Whilst finishing this tedious task, Odysseus was tied down to the mast and left with his thoughts. The men continued to row while the Sirens flew in and sang

Odysseus’s escape from the Cyclops is one of great intelligence. A Cyclops is a giant one eyed monster. Homer said, “The booming voice and the very sight of the monster filled us with panic” (IX, 256). From the first moment Odysseus and his men set eyes on the Cyclops they know they are in trouble and will not be able to get out easily. The Cyclops, Polyphemus, eats two of Odysseus’ men from the start. As soon as this happens, Odysseus

In another part of the story, Odysseus and his crew have to sail past the sirens. Odysseus decides that instead of plugging his ears like his crew does he want to listen to the sirens song. He then has his crew tie him to the mast of the ship with orders to not untie him until they have past the sirens. Odysseus seems to have done this out of pride and curiosity. He most likely does it out of pride. To show his crew how strong and brave he is. He is probably also curious about the sirens song, wondering what could be so beautiful that it could lure so many people to their death. Doing this could lead to respect from his crew, and satisfying his

If the men stab Polyphemus in the eye, then he is incapable of seeing, which will allow them to escape the cave. If he is unable to see them he will not notice them escaping, when he lets the sheep out. Odysseus could have had his men attack the cyclopes to try and stab his eye, but that would have resulted in a lot of lives lost, and would have had a lower chance of success. He also could have attempted to use brawn and force the rock, blocking the opening, to move. When thinking that idea through, it would have become obvious that, him

When Odysseus becomes trapped in the Cyclops, Polyphemus’s, cave, he realizes that now is the time to use his strategy rather than strength. It all starts with his ‘libations’ to the Cyclops. Odysseus consistently gives Polyphemus wine “to top off the banquet of human flesh [he has] bolted down!” which is the crew members that Cyclops has eaten ( 9. 222). The most crucial part of Odysseus’s plan is when he tells Polyphemus his name is “Nobody- so my mother and father call me” (9. 223). This particular name that he tells Cyclops helps him escape the other cyclops on the island. Once they stab Polyphemus’s eye with a burning hot stick, the other cyclops wake up to ask him if anyone else is in there with him. Polyphemus, thinking that Odysseus’s name is actually ‘Nobody’, tells them that ‘Nobody’ is in there with him, While escaping death from the cyclops, Odysseus also blinds the cyclops, and saves the rest of his crew. Odysseus chose to use his strategy in place of trying to use his strength which would not have helped him escape. In this situation, strength is no use, seeing as the cyclops is ten times as strong as him.

B. After the escape from Scylla and Charybdis, the remainder of Odysseus’s men go hungry on the island of Helios. They remember Odysseus’s warning about not eating Helios’s cattle but proceed anyway because of their need for food. Even though they give offerings to the cattle they still eat them and Zeus punishes them with a lightning bolt destroying all the men besides Odysseus. Instead of listening to Odysseus’s orders and obeying Helios’s command, his men act in a selfish manner and consume the food.

Odysseus and his men land on the shore of cyclops island. They get trapped in a cave by Polyphemus, the cyclops son of Poseidon. Odysseus tells the cyclops

First, Odysseus and his men must sail past the Sirens, however, hearing their song leads any sailor to his doom. Circe herself tells Odysseus that “the Sirens will sing his mind away on that sweet meadow lolling.” (678 ll. 666-667) How does Odysseus overcome this adversary? He simply follows Circe’s orders to “plug your oars men's ears with beeswax….” (678 ll. 670-671) Although, she urges Odysseus to listen to the song of the Sirens alone. So, to prevent himself from becoming an issue, he orders his men to tie him up “plumb, amidships, back to the mast, lashed to the mast….” (681 ll. 746-747) This solution was also given to Odysseus via word of Circe. Thus, if Odysseus had not clearly followed Circe’s instructions, from plugging his men’s ears with beeswax to ordering his men to tie him to the mast, he and his crew would have met a fatal end. Much like soldiers in real life, Odysseus and his crew had to comply and obey orders in order to guarantee success on a mission. Circe’s advice allowed Odysseus to overcome the deadly Sirens without any loss, however, his whole journey did not go as smoothly.

Odysseus might’ve been a very strong mortal, but throughout the story he learns that cunning overpowers physical strength. In some parts of the story Odysseus knew that with his strength, he wouldn’t be able to defeat the obstacles by with his physical strength so he used his cunning powers and outsmarted his opponent. Just like in the passage The Cyclops, Odysseus states, “Cyclops, try some wine, there is some liquor to wash down your scraps of men,” (Line 296-297.) That explains that Odysseus knew that he couldn't out strengthen the cyclops with his physical strength, so what he did was that he gave the cyclops some wine to get Polyphemus drunk and stabbed his eye so then Polyphemus wouldn’t be able to see and they could escape with the sheep with no problem. Also in the story, The Challenge, the narrator says, “Penelope says she will marry the man who can string Odysseus’ bow… the suitors try and fail.

As Odysseus continues on his journey homeward, he meets the Sirens. The Sirens are a group of three bird-like creatures that sing to lure men to their death. Their song is “... irresistible: / The song that forces men / to leap overboard in squadrons / even though they see the bleached skulls” (Wood Ln. 3-7). The men that hear the Sirens’ song want to meet these Sirens and cause the men, like Odysseus, to lose their self-control.

Once the men are drawn to the Sirens, they are stuck and there is no way for them to escape. Additionally, Homer explains Odysseus’ encounter with the Sirens from Odysseus’ point of view. The Sirens try to attract Odysseus by singing compliments to “famous Odysseus,” so he will assume he is the object of their desire (14). The Sirens are intelligent, and therefore determine what Odysseus’ true weaknesses: flattery and the desire for recognition. His faults are similar to other men; however no other men share Odysseus’ unique wish. When Odysseus sails by, they attack his weaknesses, just as they do to the other ships, but Odysseus already is prepared. The Sirens sing to him and promise he will be able to “[sail] on a wiser man” if Odysseus listens to their song (18). His plan almost fails because the song captivates Odysseus and, thus, attempts to join the Sirens, risking his life to gain the knowledge that the Sirens guarantee. Odysseus navigates himself through the sea with hopes of becoming more intelligent. Homer describes the Sirens as beautiful yet cunning because of their ability to identify men’s weaknesses easily. Their beauty attracts men and thus draws them toward their death. Homer’s view of the relationship between Odysseus and the Sirens prove that the Sirens are extremely tempting and the men cannot help but fall for them.

This indicates that the sirens know that they are irresistible and are confident that odysseus will not make it out alive, in turn, they try to intimidate

            Odysseus is no god.  He is man, and with that comes the mistakes and errors in all of us.  In many situations Odysseus' mortal side is seen.  An example of the power of Odysseus coinciding with his human flaws is his battle with Polyphemous the Cyclops (son of Poseidon).  After escaping the lure of the lotus-eaters and their island, Odysseus and his men find themselves on another island, rich with food and shelter.  After feasting, the men grab a large container of potent wine and go off exploring the new island.  Later in their search they stumble across a large cave filled with food.  Curious where the owner's whereabouts are the men encourage Odysseus to steal the food.  Odysseus (showing his hospitable and genuine character) decides to instead wait for the