Foils for Odysseus Essay

The Odyssey is the epic that has been read term and time again, by varying ages, jab its way into our hearts, proper an instant classic. Odysseus and the adventures of his riposte create a much una give cargon tale than Homers new(prenominal) work, the Iliad, provided. The epic is not about bloodthirsty men savoring to get their turn everyplace on kleos allto a greater extent it is about the regaining of a cosmos who physical exercises his body fluids, not his weapon. In the Odyssey, the percentages balance Homer provides contrasting characters to acquaint the readers the traits that Odysseus holds and how it builds his character development and even those who are foils to him. Odysseus own discussion, Trojan War companions, and married wo va wholeow create the man that is called Odysseus, highlighting the versatile facets of his per male childality byout the epic. Odysseus son Telemachos matured since the very first book of the Odyssey, becoming more self-con fident in his capabilities, more powerful in the speeches he unclutters, and more importantly, more determined to rule the demesne that forget cardinal day die his. The harvest-tide that Odysseus undergoes in his travels, such as growth in intellect, maturity and attitude, his son goes through as well.The emotional growth in the paralleling stories of Telemachos and Odysseus holds a key take time come to to the storylines. When Telemachos travels to Sparta he meets Menelaus, Odysseus friend from the Trojan War. When Menelaus mentions Odysseus, the offspring Telemachos first tries to stay strong and rest to hide who he is but breaks dash off and cries, showing he bland has a lot to learn. Odysseus is known for his tricks, especially in the Odyssey where he specializes in not macrocosm who he says he is for ninety-five part of the epic. As Telemachos tries to accomplish being a trickster equivalent his father he shows he has potential but it is not the right time yet to be as tricky as Odysseus is. In book 21 of the Odyssey Telemachos treateds up the audition of the twelve axes perfectly for the suitors, even though he was never taught how only Odysseus knows how to set them up so flawlessly. When it came time for Telemachos to try his progress to at stringing his fathers god-like bow that only he could string, he came very close. If it were not for Odysseus signal the boy would reserve strung the bow and won.He had the potential to be conscionable like Odysseus, stringing the bow that only Odysseus could string, proving that Telemachos has matured to the pointedness that he could al or so take his fathers place. He yields the contest to the suitors, stating Shame on me. I must be then a coward and weakling, or else I am still young, and my hands have yet no confidence to defend myself against a man who has started a quarrel. Come then, you who in your strength are greater than I am, sterilize your attempts on the bow, and let us closing curtain the contest (Book 21,131-135). As the suitors witness his failure, Telemachos starts to use and perfect the use of clever responses just like his father, making the suitors feel safer than they genuinely are, not letting them rede through his ruse. After the Trojan War stop and time for the legal residencecoming of the soldiers came about, the men who were feature in Homers Iliad journeyed on their merry way, nates to their homes they left underside for twenty years. Agamemnon, Nestor and Menelaos all had distinct homecomings, but each of them creates a adeptly knit foil for Odysseus.As Agamemnon stepped at bottom his own home after(prenominal) twenty years of being away, his wife Clytemnestra and her newfound lover Aegisthus, who was Agamemnons cousin, greeted him with a nice bath. Before Agamemnon arrived, Clytemnestra was plotting the death of her husband collectible to the sacrifice of their daughter, Iphigenia. Agamemnon was stab merchantman to death by t he spiteful tag-team. Agamemnons son, Orestes, unleashed vengeance upon his mother and her lover. Agamemnons family is a foil for Odysseus family life. Odysseus family loves him very dear and has done no wrong as he was away. genus genus Penelope, unlike Clytemnestra, stays hardcore to Odysseus and even creates an ingenious plan to hang on the suitors off her back. Telemachos on the other hand has to deal with the suitors who are trying to draw his mother and have been dishonoring his father, Odysseus, eating their read since they sat their butts on the stools they deem as weapons. Telemachos fannyt even hold out up to the suitors as Agamemnons son took revenge on the community who killed his father. This shows how Telemachos should be as a son and will soon be as he grows up to be more like his father. Menelaos had a long homecoming collectible to the gods, just as Odysseus had. Menelaos angered the Egyptian gods, payable to the lack of knowledge of Egyptian customs.He wa s able to get home with all of his crew, unlike Odysseus, who was a lonely(prenominal) survivor. Although Menelaos had an easier homecoming than Odysseus, he did not have a faithful wife, just like Agamemnon. Helen was the reason for the Trojan War for Menelaos it was not easy to forgive an unfaithful wife to that degree. He cannot rejoin the present as easily due to all that was lost(p) in Troy, destined to be effective of grief for eternity. Then there is Nestor, the man whose name means Returner. Nestor was the one who had the easiest and most peaceful return home. His castle was full of peace, unlike Odysseus and the other ii men. As the three war heroes returned back to their homes, none of them had to disguise themselves as psyche else, making it obvious who they were, which was good and bad. Odysseus had to scoop pretending he was someone else, primarily from Crete, until he was certain that the people who caused the most threats were out of the picture.That was a smart race on Odysseus part. Penelope was Odysseus faithful, cunning and spectacularly beautiful wife. Penelope, just like Odysseus, tests people until she gets enough information to her liking. For example after Odysseus reveals himself to the household and asks for Penelope, Penelope does not hope the news so quickly. She was not so gullible as to be unrestrained about simple information she valued cold hard proof. Penelope shows her briskness when she wants to see Odysseus, telling Eurykleia Dear nurse, it would be hard for you to baffle the purposes of the everlasting gods, although you are very clever. Still, I will go to see my son, so that I can look on these men who courted me fable dead, and the man who killed them (Book 23, 81-84). She is not willing to let anyone know she is excited to see her husband, so she plays it off cool, saying she was just exhalation outside in order to see her son, not even mentioning Odysseus by name.Penelope constantly reconsiders and r ethinks what she should do, just like Odysseus tends to do because he never wants to be caught off guard, until Penelope, as clever as she is, starts contend the same game he does. She orders Eurykleia to make up a firm ass for him outside the well-fashioned chamber that very chouse that he himself built. Put the firm nates here outside for him, and cover it over with fleeces and blankets, and with shining coverlets (Book 23,177-180). Knowing Odysseus would get acquit with her idea, he revealed who he was by stating that the bed could not be moved due to it being made of the olive shoetree trunk that the house was built on. non one person could out wit Odysseus and yet, his own wife did so easily. Penelope was just as smart as Odysseus, making them perfect foils for one another.Odysseus was a man of wit and courage, one who was fateful enough to anger the gods. Even with his hexed fate of a long homecoming, he was blessed with a loyal and love family, a family that highlig hts the various facets of his personality. All of these characters shape Odysseus, just as he wrought them through the events of the Odyssey. They reflect his growth as a character with their own trials and tribulations. We gravel the best depiction of Odysseus growth in comparison to other characters his wife, his comrades, and his son all bring out different elements of his personality. Without any of them, Odysseus would not be the great character we all know and love.