Odysseus was a virtuous and heroic leader. He and many other characters showed many acts of bravery. The bravery that Odysseus possessed was extraordinary and could have changed the story line completely if he didnt use it as often then the story may have developed different. Odysseus bravery was tested in many adventures that he endured throughout the novel. This will be proven in many ways throughout the essay. Some examples of people that also showed bravery are Penelope, the herders, Tele, the suitors and even Odys crew. But the basic point im throwing across is that if no one had shown the bravery that they didnt the story line could have completely gone in to a different direction.
Some of the smaller characters that showed bravery every once and a while were Penelope, the herders, the suitors, and Odys crew. But the played a big part in the development of the story using the character trait bravery. An example of this is when Odys crew helped Ody using this trait. One example of this is when they were trapped in the Cyclopess Cave and they helped Ody build a giant six-foot long spear made out of a tree and then they helped him thrust it into the Cyclopess eye while he was sleeping. This was an example of bravery because they did this because they didnt want to be eaten by the Cyclopes so they attacked him and succeeded. Not only if they hadnt have done this then the story may have developed differently because they may have never made it out because the Cyclopes would have eaten them all. Another example of them showing bravery is when they fought Charybdis and Scylla. This is because if they hadnt listened to Ody and not freaked out then they wouldnt have made it as far as they did. Another way they showed bravery is emotionally. This is showed when The Cyclopes puts his curse on Ody and his crew asking Poseidon to destroy them that they kept going and not giving up. So they showed bravery in facing the gods. The next character that showed bravery throughout the novel are the herders. This is shown during the great battle when they stand up with ody and fight against the suitors even though they are greatly out numbered. This is also important to the development of the story because if they hadnt helped him then there was a greater chance he would have lost because of the detail of things they did in the battle. The third person(s) who showed bravery are the suitors. They showed this trait in many different ways. One of the ways is the way that they stood up to Ody and tried to fight back. The other way they showed bravery is in a sort of metaphorically way of showing this character trait. The way they do this is by staying at Odys home and waiting there for so long with the chance that the lord of the house might return. That is how they showed this trait and how they helped develop the plot of the story. But the last minor character that showed bravery was Penelope. She did this in an emotion way. What I mean by this is that she didnt do this in a physical way but how she behaved or felt in different ways. The way she did this was the way she believed in Ody and that she believed that he was going to return took enormous amounts of bravery. She Also stalled
the suitors by doing this giving Ody a longer time period to return home. She did this by telling them (the suitors) that she would choose one for a lord after she finished weaving this tapestry but at night she would unweave this thread that she had sewn early that day. But she had to finish after she was caught by the unfaithful maids as they went to the beds of the suitors to get down and funky. A quote that shows how she decided to wait to pick the suitors came from her dream. It was crucial to the development because it gave Ody more time because Penelope began to believe that Ody was going to come back. This gave her more emotional bravery than other parts of the story:
I keep twenty geese in the house, from the water through they come and peck their wheat-I love to watch them all. But down from the a mountain swooped this great hook-beaked eaglethe eagle killed my geeseThe geese were your suitors-I was the eagle but now I am your husband, back again at last, about to launch a terrible fate against them all! (Book 19, Lines 604-620).
That is how she showed bravery at the crucial parts of the story and how she held off the suitors. Those are some of the smaller characters that showed bravery throughout the novel and how they helped the story line developed. Next I will discuss how Telemachus helped develop the story along and how and where he showed bravery.
Telemachus shows bravery during different parts of the novel himself. But unlike the other characters, that were early described, he played a major part in the story and how it developed by using the character trait: Bravery. On example of this is when he sails out onto the sea towards a distant kingdom to find out where his father is or, at least if his father isnt alive, what happened to him. But when he returned he had the courage to tell his mother, Penelope, that his father is still alive and that he is coming home. This was brave alone because if one of the maidens overheard him and told the suitors then the suitors would have killed him. This also helped the story develop because when he told his mother what he did, that helped her believe in Ody even more that she did before holding of the suitors even more. The second major example I can think of is where Telemachus hides the weapons of the suitors in preparation for the battle. This took bravery because if he would be caught then he would have been questioned and he would have faced the chance of being killed. This was ultimately important to the development because if he hadnt done this the suitors stood a greater chance at succeeding in the great battle. Another part where Tele shows bravery is in the mist of the great battle when he charges into the midst of the suitors with his father and starts chopping the suitors down. This showed bravery because he risked his life in order to help his father regain control of his house. Those are the ways I feel Tele showed bravery and how they were important to the development of the story line as it proceeded throughout the novel.
Bravery isnt even the word you can use for Ody in this novel. He is like a god when using this trait throughout the book. He showed so much bravery that you could write a book on how he showed it. Unfortunately I have to squeeze it into two pages. So as the first major part he showed bravery is through his emotions and on the inside. This is because he hardly ever showed
fear. This doesnt mean he wasnt scared throughout the book it just means that he didnt show it in order to help his allies remain calm and be able to achieve different tasks that in normal cases people would run and scream for their lives. But, they didnt because of Odys influence on them. An example of this is during the battle with the Cyclopes. This is shown at two parts in this section. The first part was when he and his men constructed the spear and thrust it into the beasts eye while he was asleep. This quote from the book shows when the fear strikes the crews heart:
The Kyklops bellowed and the rock roared around him, and we fell back in fear. Clawing his face he tugged the bloody spike out of his eye, threw it away, and his wild hands went groping; the he sat up a howl for Kyklops who lived in the caves on the windy peaks nearby. (Book 9, Lines 429-434).
This shows bravery emotionally because the crew would have died because they would have been eaten or brutally torn apart by the Cyclopes because they wouldnt have been able to escape from the cave. But thankfully Ody was leading them and he used his brains t save them by outwitting the Cyclopes. He did this by telling the Cyclopes his name was, Nohbdy. Here is a quote that shows how the bravery of fooling the Cyclopes helped him and his crew but it also helped the story further progress. It stated:
Nohbdy, Nohbdys tricked me, Nohbdys ruined me! To this rough shout they made a sage reply: Ah well, if nobody has played you foul there in your lonely bed, we are no use in pain given by great Zeus. Let it be your father, Poseidon Lord, to whom you pray. So saying they trailed away...(Book 9, Lines 445-451).
This shows that if Ody hadnt done what he did they would have been killed and they would have never made it home and the story would have not progressed because the protagonist would have died. That is how they showed bravery and courage in that portion of the scene. But on the other half of the scene Ody used his bravery to trick the Cyclopes once again. This is shown in the following quote:
I drew on my wits [and courage], and ran through tactics, reasoning as a man will for dear life, until a trick cameand it pleased me well. The Kyklops rams were handsome, fat, with heavy fleeces, a dark violet. Three abreast I tied them silently together, twining cords of willow from the ogres bed; then slung a man under each middle one to ride there safely, shielded left and right.(Book 9, Lines 460-469).
That is the other way he showed bravery and courage in this part of the novel. Another portion of the novel that he some bravery emotionally is during the sailing through the crevice were Charybdis and Scylla were positioned. This is a quote pulled from the novel that shows this:
And all this time, in travail, sobbing, gaining on the current, we rowed into the straitSkylla to port and on our starboard beam Kharybdis, dire gorge of the salt sea tide. By heaven! When she vomited, all over the sea was like a cauldron seething over intense fire, when the mixture suddenly heaves and rises. (Book 12, Lines 301-308).
And when a person and his followers and his friends have an experience like that fear must strike deep within them and brutally rip out all feeling of hope and all feelings that they
were going to make it home to see their long lost friends and their dear missed families. But with Ody there to believe in and trust their lives to, they remained calm and seized the feeling of hope and locked it up so it couldnt escape their fear stricken hearts. That is another portion of this epic novel. The other major part of bravery he showed was during the great battle and what he did during the battle. In this he showed bravery by taking charge of all the people take helped him.(All four of them). This is because since there were only five faithful people battling a room full of dark deceitful suitors willing to take his and his trustful servants and friends lives, he stood up against them and fought to the death. He showed bravery during this scene by not only fighting the suitors by using a bow on them instead of a sword. This made him show even more courage because he could only get them at distances because his bow wouldnt be very affective in melee combat. So he used his bravery, tactics, and luck to make it rain arrows upon the suitors killing most of them leaving a select few and a huge mess to clean up after words. He also showed bravery by gathering the courage and doing what needed to be done and had his friends slay the unfaithful maidens. So that is how he showed bravery throughout the novel.
So in conclusion Ody and his friends and family along with the suitors showed many counts of bravery and because of this they helped develop the story line in many, many ways. So If they didnt do what the did or believe in the people they loved and that they held close then the outcome of the story may have been completely different. So in term that would have made the novel not be so action-packed, perilous and filled with wondrous tales of bravery and courage like it had throughout its glorious pages.
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