Can Odysseus be called a hero? Odysseus - King of Ithaca, representative of humanity

The image itself central character reflected belonging different eras ideas about what should be, about the human ideal. The hero of an epic is always the perfection of physical and moral qualities, but if in the Iliad central characters distinguished primarily by physical strength and military talents, then Odysseus- the first hero of world literature in whom bodily perfection is combined with a high mind.

The roots of the image of Odysseus go back to ancient times. Mythological Odysseus is the great-grandson of the god Hermes, the patron of trade and thieves, from whom he inherited intelligence, dexterity, and practicality. His grandfather Autolycus is the “great oathbreaker and thief,” his parents are Laertes and Anticlea. But the poem no longer emphasizes the divine origin of the hero, although he, as is typical of an epic hero, is a brave warrior, a master of hand-to-hand combat and archery. But many people surpass him in military prowess and physical strength. Odysseus has no equal in intelligence, cunning, initiative, patience, and in the art of advice and words. In the Odyssey, for the first time, strength is forced to give way to intelligence. Intelligence itself is an ethically neutral quality. It manifests itself in Odysseus in a wide range: from selfish cunning to sublime wisdom. "Many minds" and a bright mind are the main advantages of Odysseus. Homer also depicts his will, enterprise, his greedy curiosity, interest in new lands, life, love for family, homeland, but the “godlike” Odysseus is endowed with human weaknesses: he is arrogant, boastful, subject to momentary fear and despair.

All researchers emphasize the amazing breadth of the image of Odysseus, his openness. Odysseus, with his rush into the unknown and at the same time his desire to go home, arousing the envy of the gods, experiences the fullness of life. He is the most controversial and therefore the most modern of all the heroes. ancient epic. T. G. Malchukova lists: “Odysseus is a king, a leader, a guest, a beggar wanderer. He is peace-loving, but in other circumstances he can be cruel. He has an inventive mind, practical and contemplative, and dexterous hands, capable of any work. He is a warrior, spearman, archer, first in hand-to-hand combat, husband of the council, eloquent speaker and diplomat, sailor, helmsman, merchant, sometimes pirate, athlete, plowman, reaper, carpenter, mason, saddler."

Such completeness of disclosure of the image makes it classic in the above sense. Odysseus embodies the ancient requirement of balance, rejection of extremes. This is a holistic image presented in all life situations that may befall a man. Only Homer depicted man in all his fullness: Odysseus is a wise king, loving husband and the father, the brave warrior, the eloquent and inventive politician, the brave wanderer, the lover of the goddess, the suffering exile, the legislator, the triumphant avenger, the favorite of Athena. Odysseus, according to the classic of twentieth-century literature J. Joyce, is the most “rounded”, complete image in the entire history of world literature, and Joyce creates his own, modern version Odyssey is Leopold Bloom, the hero of his novel Ulysses.

It is important to emphasize that Homer’s Odysseus is the architect of his own happiness, and at the same time he rids society of arbitrariness and anarchy, restoring justice. Odysseus's successes grow out of his patience, which allows him to overcome difficult troubles and obstacles on his way home.

The Canadian scientist N. Fry speaks about wise balance in the Odyssey: “The Odyssey is the story of the adventures of a hero who safely avoided incredible dangers and returned to last moment to get his wife back and punish the villains. But the moral satisfaction experienced by the reader is based on our complete acceptance of the picture of nature, society, and law created by the author: the rightful owner returns to himself everything that rightfully belongs to him.”

The universal, archetypal meaning of the image is revealed by the words of T.G. Malchukova: “The Odyssey is a myth that is created anew at all times, and Odysseus is a prototype, an eternally repeating archetype, like Plato’s idea. That's why modern man- this is Odysseus dressed differently and named, and life modern hero or even one episode of it is an allegory of the Odyssey.” That's why this image belongs completely unique place in subsequent literary history. His history includes incarnations in ancient tragedies Aeschylus and Euripides, Cicero and Seneca, in " Divine Comedy"(1307-1321) by Dante ("Hell", circle VIII), in "Troilus and Cressida" (1602) by W. Shakespeare, in the unfinished play by I.V. Goethe about Odysseus and Nausicaa and in the works of many others authors. In the 20th century, images comparable in significance to Homer’s were created in the novels of the Irishman J. Joyce “Ulysses” (1922) and the Greek “Odyssey” by N. Kazantzakis (1938). Various episodes of the story of Odysseus inspired artists and composers of all times. , so we can say that each cultural era offers his own interpretation of the image of Odysseus, more and more distant from the Homeric epic hero.

For analysis epic heroes we compiled two tables: in the image of Odysseus, in the image of Digenis Akritos.

The main criteria for analyzing the images of Odysseus and Digenis were the following: biographical facts, character traits and properties of nature, techniques and means of creating an image.

The image of Odysseus as an epic hero

Not much is said about the pedigree of Odysseus in the text of the Odyssey. Odysseus gains fame thanks to his participation in Trojan War and thanks to his wanderings, although even before the Trojan War, Odysseus was known as “cunning” and “experienced,” which is reflected in the level constant epithets. Odysseus was known to many and became famous throughout Hellas.

As a child, Odysseus received a scar from a boar, which became his special mark by which he could always be recognized. This also shows that the hero is vulnerable and is portrayed as a mere mortal man, although the author often calls him “god-like.” This is also indicated by cases when Odysseus was close to death and only survived with the help of divine intervention. The hero's strength is also not so exaggerated: as soon as Odysseus gets tired, he becomes less strong.

Odysseus is usually careful and always controls his actions, but there is still an exception: when Odysseus and his companions entered the cave of Polyphemus and ate, his companions suggested that they take the herds and quickly leave the cave, but Odysseus told them to stay, hoping that he would receive gifts from the owner.

Odysseus was very cunning, which is repeated several times in the text. Before the start of the battle, Odysseus always made a well-thought-out, best plan, and only after that he used his strength.

Despite his “iron” heart and courage, Odysseus, seeing an insurmountable obstacle on his path, becomes despondent. Odysseus characterizes himself as an unhappy man, tired of his travels.

Odysseus mainly experiences some external trials, internal ones include the death of his companions and a protracted return to his homeland, but the emphasis is still placed on the hero’s wanderings. When describing the feelings of Odysseus, the external symptoms of the hero are usually used; not much is said about his heartache.

Odysseus takes the position of basileus in Ithaca. He rules the people and treats them “like a father with his sons.” That is, despite his position, he remains equally kind to everyone, which, as Penelope says, is not typical for ordinary rulers who have favorite and unloved subjects. The people respected Odysseus and obeyed him.

Odysseus was also attached to his people and their fates were not indifferent to him: he tried to save his comrades, very bitterly mourned the death of each of them.

Odysseus was hospitable and visited many places himself, and not only on the occasion of military campaigns, sometimes he simply visited.

In “The Odyssey,” as mentioned above, the emphasis is on the hero’s exploits, love fades into the background, although the text more than once mentions Odysseus’s attachment to his homeland, wife, and son.

Odysseus loves Penelope very much and she remains his only beloved, irreplaceable by beautiful goddesses. Odysseus believed that love and harmony between spouses is real happiness.

All the gods, except Poseidon, treated Odysseus favorably because he often honored them and presented them with sacrifices. The gods control the fate of Odysseus, which is already predetermined. Special role In the life of Odysseus, Athena was occupied: she patronized the hero and in every possible way helped him return to Ithaca.

Odysseus had beautiful appearance, according to the author and characters.

When we hear or read about ancient greek heroes, then we represent strong, physically developed athletes striving for glory and challenging fate. But was Odysseus like that - one of the most famous characters Homer's poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey"? How did he glorify and immortalize his name? What feats did you accomplish?

Myths and poems of Homer

From century to century ancient greek myths they talked about the origin and structure of the world, the deeds of heroes and Olympian gods. Wonderful world mythologies fascinated and frightened, explained and prescribed; it reflected the value system Ancient Greece and the connection of times. Hellenic myths had a huge influence on the formation of European and world culture, and the names of many heroes, gods and monsters became common nouns, symbols of some qualities and properties. For example, a chimera is a symbol of something non-existent that can give rise to dangerous illusions and misconceptions.

With the development of social, economic and other public relations, mythological consciousness began to collapse, and the poems of the legendary Homer “Iliad” and “Odyssey” served as a kind of bridge between folklore and literature.

The heroic epic of Homer is the peak of the development of Hellenic mythology, but at the same time its artistic comprehension. Moreover, as has been proven archaeological excavations Heinrich Schliemann, Homer's poems to some extent reflect the reality of the 11th-9th centuries BC. and can serve historical source. Homer is the first ancient Greek poet was, according to legend, blind and lived in the 8th century BC. However, there is no reliable information confirming the fact of its existence yet. But there are wonderful epic poems that recreate a magnificent world ancient greek mythology and, at the same time, had a huge influence on the development of all European culture.

The cross-cutting character of both Homer's poems is Odysseus, king of Ithaca, participant in the Trojan War.

If in the Iliad he is one of the minor (albeit key) characters the siege of Troy, then in the Odyssey - main character.

Biography of Odysseus

The name "Odysseus" in ancient Greek means "angry" or "wrathful." The Romans called him Ulysses. The name Odysseus now has a common meaning: an odyssey is a long, dangerous journey filled with adventures.

Odysseus is the son of Argonaut Laertes and Artemis's companion Anticlea. According to legend, Odysseus's grandfather was Zeus, supreme Olympian god.

Odysseus's wife - Penelope, her name became a symbol of marital fidelity. Long She waited twenty years for her husband to return from the military campaign, deceiving numerous suitors with inventive cunning.

A major role in the poem “Odyssey” is played by the son of the main character, Telemachus.

Turning to the Homeric epic, we can identify the fateful events in the life of the legendary hero:

participation in matchmaking with Helen the Beautiful, where Odysseus meets his future wife Penelope;
participation, albeit reluctantly, in the Trojan War;
protection of the body of Achilles;
creation of the Trojan horse;
a ten-year journey by sea and numerous adventures in which Odysseus loses all his companions;
returning to Ithaca in the guise of an old beggar;
the brutal extermination of Penelope's numerous suitors;
happy family reunion.

All these events create a unique portrait of Odysseus, a characteristic of his personality.

Hero's personality

The main feature of Odysseus’ personality is its universality and cosmic nature. The genius of Homer created the image of a comprehensively developed person. Odysseus appears not only as a brave hero and winner on the battlefield, he also performs feats among monsters and wizards.

He is cunning and reasonable, cruel, but devoted to his homeland, family and friends, inquisitive and cunning. Odysseus is an excellent speaker and wise adviser, a brave sailor and a skilled carpenter and trader. He refused eternal youth and love, offered by the nymph Calypso, who is in love with him, for the sake of returning to his homeland, to his family.

Thanks to his cunning and resourcefulness, Odysseus overcame numerous dangers:

on the island of the Cyclops he blinded the giant Polyphemus and thereby escaped death and saved his comrades;
defeated the sorceress Circe;
heard the sirens singing, but did not die;
passed on a ship between Scylla and Charybdis;
defeated Penelope's suitors.

In essence, Odysseus's voyage is a path into the unknown, comprehension and mastery of the unknown, a road to oneself and the acquisition of one's own personality.

The legendary hero appears in Homer's poems as representative of all humanity, discovering and learning the world. All wealth was embodied in the image of Odysseus human nature, its weaknesses and vastness. It is no coincidence that many famous writers and poets turned to this image: Sophocles, Ovid, Dante, Shakespeare, Lope de Vega, P. Corneille, L. Feuchtwanger, D. Joyce, T. Pratchett and others.

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Odyssey. Epic poem(VIII-VII centuries BC)

The Trojan War was started by the gods so that the time of heroes would end and the present, human, iron age. He who did not die at the walls of Troy must die at way back.

Most of the surviving Greek leaders sailed to their homeland, as they sailed to Troy, with a common fleet across the Aegean Sea. When they were halfway, the sea god Poseidon struck with a storm, the ships were scattered, people drowned in the waves and crashed against the rocks. Only the chosen ones were destined to be saved. But it wasn’t easy for them either. Perhaps only the wise old Nestor managed to calmly reach his kingdom in the city of Pylos.

The supreme king Agamemnon overcame the storm, but only to die even more terrible death- in his native Argos she killed him own wife and her avenging lover; The poet Aeschylus will later write a tragedy about this. Menelaus, with Helen returned to him, was carried by the winds far into Egypt, and it took him a very long time to get to his Sparta. But the longest and most difficult path of all was the path of the cunning king Odysseus, whom the sea carried around the world for ten years. Homer composed his second poem about his fate: “Muse, tell me about that experienced man who, / Wandering for a long time since the day when Saint Ilion was destroyed by him, / Visited many people, cities and saw customs, / Endured a lot of grief seas, caring about salvation...” “The Iliad” is a heroic poem, its action takes place on a battlefield and in a military camp. “Odyssey” is a fairy-tale and everyday poem, its action takes place, on the one hand, in magical lands giants and monsters, where Odysseus wandered, on the other hand, in his small kingdom on the island of Ithaca and its environs, where his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus were waiting for Odysseus. Just as in the Iliad, only one episode was chosen for the narrative, “the wrath of Achilles,” so in the Odyssey - only the very end of his wanderings, the last two stages, from a distance western edge lands to his native Ithaca. Odysseus will tell about everything that happened before at the feast in the middle of the poem, and he will tell it very concisely: all these fabulous adventures in the poem account for fifty pages out of three hundred. In the Odyssey, the fairy tale sets off everyday life, and not vice versa, although readers, both ancient and modern, were more willing to reread and remember the fairy tale.

In the Trojan War, Odysseus did a lot for the Greeks - especially where it was not strength that was needed, but intelligence. It was he who guessed to bind Elena’s suitors with an oath to jointly help her chosen one against any offender, and without this the army would never have gathered for a campaign.

It was he who attracted young Achilles to the campaign, and without this victory would have been impossible.

It was he who, when at the beginning of the Iliad, the Greek army, after a general meeting, almost rushed back from Troy, managed to stop him. It was he who persuaded Achilles, when he quarreled with Agamemnon, to return to battle. When, after the death of Achilles, the best warrior of the Greek camp was supposed to receive the armor of the slain man, Odysseus received it, not Ajax. When Troy failed to be taken by siege, it was Odysseus who came up with the idea of building a wooden horse, in which the bravest Greek leaders hid and thus penetrated into Troy - and he was among them. The goddess Athena, the patroness of the Greeks, loved Odysseus most of all and helped him at every step. But the god Poseidon hated him - we will soon find out why - and it was Poseidon who, with his storms, prevented him from reaching his homeland for ten years. Ten years at Troy, ten years in wanderings, and only in the twentieth year of his trials does the action of the Odyssey begin.

It begins, as in the Iliad, with “Zeus’ will.” The gods hold a council, and Athena intercedes with Zeus on behalf of Odysseus. He is captured by the nymph Calypso, who is in love with him, on an island in the very middle of the wide sea, and languishes, in vain wanting to “see even the smoke rising from the thousand shores in the distance.” And in his kingdom, on the island of Ithaca, everyone already considers him dead, and the surrounding nobles demand that Queen Penelope choose a new husband from among them, and a new king for the island.

There are more than a hundred of them, they live in Odysseus’s palace, riotously feast and drink, ruining Odysseus’s household, and have fun with Odysseus’s slaves. Penelope tried to deceive them: she said that she had made a vow to announce her decision no earlier than weaving a shroud for old Laertes, Odysseus’s father, who was about to die.

During the day she wove in full view of everyone, and at night she secretly unraveled what she had woven. But the maids betrayed her cunning, and it became more difficult for her to resist the insistence of the suitors.

With her is her son Telemachus, whom Odysseus left as an infant; but he is young and is not taken into account.

And so an unfamiliar wanderer comes to Telemachus, calls himself an old friend of Odysseus and gives him advice: “Fit out a ship, go around the surrounding lands, collect news about the missing Odysseus; if you hear that he is alive, you will tell the suitors to wait another year; if you hear that you are dead, you will say that you will hold a wake and persuade your mother to marry.” He advised and disappeared, for Athena herself appeared in his image.

This is what Telemachus did. The suitors resisted, but Telemachus managed to escape and board the ship unnoticed, for Athena helped him in this too.

Telemachus sails to the mainland - first to Pylos to the decrepit Nestor, then to Sparta to the newly returned Menelaus and Helen. The talkative Nestor tells how the heroes sailed from Troy and drowned in a storm, how Agamemnon later died in Argos and how his son Orestes took revenge on the murderer; but he knows nothing about the fate of Odysseus. The hospitable Menelaus tells how he, Menelaus, got lost in his wanderings, and on the Egyptian shore waylaid the prophetic old man of the sea, the seal shepherd Proteus, who knew how to transform himself into a lion, and into a boar, and into a leopard, and into a snake, and into water, and into tree; how he fought with Proteus, and defeated him, and learned from him the way back, and at the same time learned that Odysseus was alive and suffering in the middle of the wide sea on the island of the nymph Calypso. Delighted by this news, Telemachus is about to return to Ithaca, but then Homer interrupts his story about him and turns to the fate of Odysseus.

The intercession of Athena helped: Zeus sends the messenger of the gods Hermes to Calypso: the time has come, it’s time to let Odysseus go. The nymph grieves: “Did I save him from the sea for this reason, did I want to bestow him with immortality?” - but he doesn’t dare disobey. Odysseus doesn't have a ship - he needs to put together a raft. For four days he works with an ax and a drill; on the fifth, the raft is lowered. He sails for seventeen days, steering by the stars, and on the eighteenth a storm breaks out. It was Poseidon, seeing the hero eluding him, who swept up the abyss with four winds, the logs scattered like straw.

“Oh, why didn’t I die at Troy!” - Odysseus cried. Two goddesses helped Odysseus: a kind sea nymph threw him a magic blanket that saved him from drowning, and Athena, faithful to him, calmed three winds, leaving the fourth to carry him and swim to the nearest shore. He sailed for two days and two nights without closing his eyes, and on the third the waves throw him onto land. Naked, tired, helpless, he buries himself in a pile of leaves and falls asleep. dead asleep.

It was the land of the blessed Phaeacians, ruled by the good king Alcinous in a high palace: copper walls, golden doors, sewn fabrics on the benches, ripe fruits on the branches, eternal summer over the garden. The king had a young daughter, Nausicaa; At night Athena appeared to her and said: “You will soon be married, but your clothes have not been washed; gather the maids, take the chariot, go to the sea, wash the dresses.” We went out, washed, dried, and started playing ball; the ball flew into the sea, the girls screamed loudly, their scream woke up Odysseus. He rises from the bushes, scary, covered with sea-dried mud, and prays: “Whether you are a nymph or a mortal, help: let me cover my nakedness, show me the way to people, and may the gods send you good husband" He washes himself, anoints himself, dresses, and Nausicaä, admiring him, thinks: “Oh, if only the gods would give me such a husband.” He goes to the city, enters King Alcinous, tells him about his misfortune, but does not identify himself; touched by Alcinous, he promises that the Phaeacian ships will take him wherever he asks.

Odysseus sits at the Alcinous feast, and the wise singer Demodocus entertains the feasters with songs. “Sing about the Trojan War!” - Odysseus asks; and Demodocus sings about Odysseus’ wooden horse and the capture of Troy. Odysseus has tears in his eyes. “Why are you crying?” says Aya-kina. “That’s why the gods send death to heroes, so that their descendants will sing their glory. Is it true that someone close to you fell at Troy?” And then Odysseus reveals: “I am Odysseus, son of Laertes, king of Ithaca, small, rocky, but dear to the heart...” - and begins the story of his wanderings. There are nine adventures in this story.

The first adventure is with the lotophages. The storm carried Odysseus' ships from near Troy to the far south, where the lotus grows - a magical fruit, having tasted which a person forgets about everything and wants nothing in life except the lotus. The lotophages treated Odseus's companions to the lotus, and forgot about their native Ithaca and refused to sail further. By their strength, the crying ones were taken to the ship and set off on their journey.

The second adventure is with the Cyclopes (Cyclopes). They were monstrous giants with one eye in the middle; They; they tended sheep and goats and knew no wine. Chief among them was Polyphemus, the son of the sea god Poseidon. Odysseus and a dozen comrades wandered into his empty cave. In the evening Polyphemus came, huge as a mountain, drove the herd into the cave, blocked the exit with a block, and asked: “Who are you?” - “Wanderers.” “Zeus is our guardian, we ask you to help us,” “I am not afraid of Zeus!” And the Cyclops grabbed two of them, smashed them against the wall, devoured them with bones and began to snore. In the morning he left with the herd, again blocking the entrance; and then Odysseus came up with a trick; He and his comrades took a Cyclops club, as large as a mast, sharpened it, burned it on fire, and hid it; and when the villain came and devoured two more comrades, he brought him wine to put him to sleep; The monster liked the wine.” “What is your name?” he asked. "Nobody!" - Odysseus replied, “For such a treat, I, Nobody, will eat you last!”

The intoxicated Cyclops began to snore. Then Odysseus and his companions took a club, approached, swung it and stabbed it into the giants’ only eye. The blinded ogre roared, other Cyclopes came running: “Who offended you, Polyphemus?” “Nobody!” - “Well,” if no one, then there’s nothing to make noise,” - and they went their separate ways. And in order to get out of the cave, Odysseus tied his comrades under the belly of the Cyclops rams so that the Cyclops wouldn’t grope them, and so they left with the herd cave in the morning.

But, already sailing, Odysseus could not stand it and shouted: “For insulting the guests, execution from me, Odyseus from Ithaca!” And the Cyclops furiously prayed to his father Poseidon: “Don’t let Odysseus sail to Ithaca - and if he is destined to do so, then let him not sail soon, alone, on someone else’s ship!” And God heard his prayer.

The third adventure is on the island of the wind god Eol. God sent them a fair wind, and tied the rest in a leather bag and gave it to Odysseus: “When you get there, let them go.” But when Ithaca was already visible, tired Odysseus fell asleep, and his companions untied the bag ahead of time; a hurricane arose and they were washed back to Aeolus. That means the gods are against you!” Eol said angrily and refused to help the disobedient man.

The fourth adventure is with the Laestrygonians, wild cannibal giants. They ran to the shore and brought down huge rocks on the Odysseus ships; out of twelve ships, eleven died; Odysseus and a few comrades escaped on the last one.

The fifth adventure is that of the sorceress Circe (Kirka), the Queen of the West, who turned all aliens into animals. She brought wine, honey, cheese and flour with a poisonous potion to the Odyssean envoys - and they turned into pigs, and she drove them into a stable. He escaped alone and in horror told Odysseus about it; he took the bow and went to help his comrades, not hoping for anything. But Hermes, the messenger of the gods, gave him a divine plant: a black root, a white flower - and the spell was powerless against Odysseus. Threatening with a sword, he forced the sorceress to return human form to his friends and demanded: “Bring us back to Ithaca!” “Ask the way from the prophetic Tiresias, the prophet of the prophets,” said the sorceress. “But he died!” - “Ask the dead!” And she told me how to do it.

The sixth adventure is the most terrible: the descent into the kingdom of the dead. The entrance to it is at the edge of the world, in the land of eternal night. The souls of the dead in it are disembodied, insensitive and thoughtless, but after drinking the sacrificial blood, they acquire speech and reason. On the threshold of the kingdom of the dead, Odysseus slaughtered a black ram and a black sheep; souls of the dead They flocked to the smell of blood, but Odysseus drove them away with his sword until the prophetic Tiresias appeared before him. Having drunk the blood, he said: “Your troubles are for offending Poseidon; your salvation is if you do not also offend the Sun-Helios; if you offend, you will return to Ithaca, but alone, on someone else’s ship, and not soon. Penelope's suitors are ruining your house; but you will master them, and there will be a long reign and a peaceful old age.”

After this, Odysseus allowed other ghosts to participate in the sacrificial blood. The shadow of his mother told how she died of longing for her son; he wanted to hug her, but there was only empty air under his hands. Agamemnon told how he died from his wife: “Be careful, Odysseus, it is dangerous to rely on wives.”

Achilles said to him: “It is better for me to be a farm laborer on earth than a king among the dead.”

Only Ajax did not say anything, not forgiving that Odysseus, and not he, got the armor of Achilles. From afar Odysseus saw the hellish judge Minos, and the Eternally Executed proud Tantalus, the cunning Sisyphus, the insolent Tityus; but then horror seized him, and he hurried away, to white light.

The seventh adventure was the Sirens - predators who lure sailors to their death with seductive singing.

Odysseus outwitted them: he sealed the ears of his companions with wax, and ordered himself to be tied to the mast and not let go, no matter what. So they sailed past, unharmed, and Odysseus also heard singing, the sweetest of which could not be heard.

The eighth adventure was the strait between the monsters Scylla (Skylla) and Charybdis: Scylla - about six heads, each with three rows of teeth, and twelve paws; Charybdis is about one larynx, but one that swallows a whole ship in one gulp. Odysseus preferred Scylla to Charybdis - and he was right: she grabbed six of his comrades from the ship and devoured six of his comrades with six mouths, but the ship remained intact.

The ninth adventure was the island of the Sun-Helios, where his sacred herds grazed - seven herds of red bulls, seven herds of white rams. Odysseus, remembering the covenant of Tiresias, took a terrible oath from his comrades not to touch them, but contrary winds were blowing, the ship was standing still, the companions were hungry and, when Odysseus fell asleep, they slaughtered and ate the best bulls. It was scary: the flayed skins were moving and the meat on the skewers was mooing. The Sun-Helios, who sees everything, hears everything, knows everything, prayed to Zeus: “Punish the offenders, otherwise I will go to hell.” underground kingdom and I will shine among the dead.” And when the winds died down and the ship sailed from the shore, Zeus raised a storm, struck with lightning, the ship crumbled, the companions drowned in a whirlpool, and Odysseus, alone on a piece of log, rushed across the sea for nine days until he was thrown ashore on the island of Calypso.

This is how Odysseus ends his story.

King Alcinous fulfilled his promise: Odysseus boarded the Phaeacian ship, fell into an enchanted sleep, and woke up on the foggy shore of Ithaca. Here he is met by his patroness Athena.

“The time has come for your cunning,” she says, “hide, beware of the suitors and wait for your son Telemachus!” She touches him, and he becomes unrecognizable: old, bald, poor, with a staff and bag. In this form, he goes deep into the island to ask for shelter from the good old swineherd Bvmey. He tells Bvmei that he was from Crete, fought at Troy, knew Odysseus, sailed to Egypt, fell into slavery, was among pirates and barely escaped. Eumaeus calls him to the hut, sits him by the fireplace, treats him, grieves about the missing Odysseus, complains about the violent suitors, feels sorry for Queen Penelope and Prince Telemachus. The next day, Telemachus himself arrives, returning from his journey - of course, Athena herself also sent him here. In front of him, Athena returns Odysseus to his true appearance, powerful and proud. "Aren't you god?" - asks Telemachus.

“No, I am your father,” Odysseus replies, and they embrace, crying with happiness.

The end is near. Telemachus goes to the city, to the palace; Eumaeus and Odysseus wander behind him, again in the guise of a beggar. At the palace threshold the first recognition takes place: the decrepit Odyssean dog, who for twenty years has not forgotten the voice of his master, raises his ears, last bit of strength crawls up to him and dies at his feet. Odysseus enters the house, walks around the upper room, begs for alms from the suitors, and endures ridicule and beatings.

The suitors pit him against another beggar, younger and stronger; Odysseus, unexpectedly for everyone, knocks him over with one blow. The suitors laugh: “May Zeus give you what you want for this!” - and they don’t know that Odysseus wishes them quick death. Penelope calls the stranger to her: has he heard news about Odysseus? “I heard,” says Odysseus, “he is in a nearby region and will arrive soon.”

Penelope can't believe it, but she is grateful to the guest. She tells the old maid to wash the wanderer's dusty feet before going to bed, and invites him to be at the palace for tomorrow's feast. And here the second recognition takes place: the maid brings in a basin, touches the guest’s feet and feels the scar on his shin that Odysseus had after hunting a boar in his youth. Her hands trembled, her leg slipped: “You are Odysseus!” Odysseus covers her mouth: “Yes, it’s me, but keep quiet - otherwise you’ll ruin the whole thing!” The last day is coming.

Penelope calls the suitors to the banquet room: “Here is the bow of my dead Odysseus; whoever pulls it and shoots an arrow through twelve rings on twelve axes in a row will become my husband!” One after another, one hundred and twenty suitors try on the bow - not a single one is able to even pull the string. They already want to postpone the competition until tomorrow - but then Odysseus stands up in his beggarly form: “Let me try too: after all, I was once strong!” The suitors are indignant, but Telemachus stands up for the guest: “I am the heir of this bow; I give it to whomever I want; and you, mother, go to yours women's affairs" Odysseus takes the bow, bends it easily, rings the string, the arrow flies through twelve rings and pierces the wall. Zeus thunders over the house, Odysseus straightens up to his full heroic height, next to him is Telemachus with a sword and spear. “No, I haven’t forgotten how to shoot: now I’ll try another target!” And the second arrow strikes the most arrogant and violent of the suitors. “Oh, you thought Odysseus was dead? No, he is alive for truth and retribution! The suitors grab their swords, Odysseus strikes them with arrows, and when the arrows run out, with spears, which the faithful Eumaeus offers. The suitors rush around the chamber, the invisible Athena darkens their minds and deflects their blows from Odysseus, they fall one after another. pile dead bodies piled up in the middle of the house, faithful male and female slaves crowd around and rejoice at the sight of the master.

Penelope did not hear anything: Athena sent it to her in her chamber deep dream. The old maid runs to her with good news: Odysseus has returned, Odysseus has punished the suitors! She doesn’t believe: no, yesterday’s beggar is not at all like Odysseus as he was twenty years ago; and the suitors were probably punished by the angry gods. “Well,” says Odysseus, “if the queen has such an unkind heart, let them make my bed alone.” And here the third, main recognition takes place. “Okay,” Penelope says to the maid, “bring the guest’s bed from the royal bedroom to his rest.” “What are you saying, woman? - Odysseus exclaims. “This bed cannot be moved from its place, instead of legs it has an olive tree stump, I myself once knocked it together on it and fitted it.” And in response, Penelope cries with joy and rushes to her husband: it was a secret sign, known only to them.

This is a victory, but this is not peace yet. The fallen suitors still have relatives, and they are ready to take revenge. They march toward Odysseus in an armed crowd; he comes out to meet them with Telemachus and several henchmen. The first blows are already thundering, the first blood is being shed, but Zeus’s will puts an end to the brewing discord. Lightning flashes, striking the ground between the fighters, thunder rumbles, Athena appears with a loud cry: “... Do not shed blood in vain and stop the evil enmity!” - and the frightened avengers retreat.

And then: “The light daughter of the Thunderer, the goddess Pallas Athena, sealed the alliance between the king and the people with a sacrifice and an oath.”

The Odyssey ends with these words.

Alcinous is a character in the Odyssey (songs 6-13), king of the Phaeacians, husband of Aretha and father of Nausicaä. After Odysseus arrives on the island of the Phaeacians, Scheriya A. cordially welcomes the stranger into his home, treating him to a feast, and promises a safe return to his homeland. He arranges games during which the Phaeacian youths challenge Odysseus to compete with them. Odysseus wins in throwing and volunteers to compete in any of the martial arts, but A. stops the dispute that has barely begun, offering to turn to singing and dancing, and then orders his nobles to give gifts to the wanderer, especially encouraging the young man Euryalus, who insulted Odysseus with a daring challenge. After the gifts are presented to Odysseus, the singing resumes, and Odysseus cannot hold back his tears to the song of the capture of Troy. A. asks him to finally reveal his name, and the hero identifies himself and tells about his previous wanderings. After the end of the story, A. orders his subjects to multiply the gifts to Odysseus and the next day sends him by ship to Ithaca.

On the way back, this ship is turned into a rock by Poseidon, angry that, contrary to his will, Odysseus nevertheless reached his homeland. At the sight of this miracle, A. prays to the gods to limit themselves to this and not to send other disasters to the land of the Phaeacians.

In the Odyssey A. appears wise ruler and the owner of the house, taking care of the peace in it and observing the divine laws of hospitality. This is precisely what dictates his concern for Odysseus: A. twice interrupts his singer Demodocus, seeing that the memories of the events he describes cause pain to the stranger. Likewise, he seeks to prevent the guest's perceived offense by giving him the opportunity to prove himself in competitions with the youths, but then stopping them, and subsequently forcing Euryalus to apologize for challenging Odysseus. The respect that the Phaeacians have for their king, among whom he is “first among equals,” is constantly emphasized.

Athena is a goddess, the daughter of Zeus, a character in the Odyssey and the Iliad. In the Iliad, A. invariably takes the side greek heroes besieging Troy. In the Odyssey, A. is the main active deity. At the beginning of the Odyssey, it is she who reminds Zeus of the misadventures of Odysseus and persuades her father to allow the hero to return to Ithaca. When Odysseus finally arrives at home and fights with the daring suitors, Athena helps him deal with them, after which she prevents a feud between Odysseus and the relatives of the suitors he killed. The goddess also patronizes the son of Odysseus, Telemachus, protecting him from suitors who are trying to kill the young man after he publicly condemned their unworthy behavior.:, Nausicaa is the princess of the Phaeacians, the daughter of Alcinous and Arete. In N.’s image, Beauty is emphasized first of all (Odysseus compares the slenderness of her figure to a young palm tree), modesty, befitting unmarried girl(Odysseus even prays to her, standing in the distance, for “if he touched her knees, he would anger the pure maiden”), but at the same time rationality and determination, supported by Athena. She prudently tells Odysseus not to accompany her, fearing misunderstandings (for which she is subsequently reproached by Alcinous, but Odysseus passes this off as his own decision), and also advises turning not directly to the king, but to his wife, in order to gain her support first of all. At the same time, N.’s awakened heartfelt inclination towards a stranger is emphasized, whose beauty and power force her to consider Odysseus the favorite of the gods.

Odysseus (in the Roman tradition - Ulysses) is the king of Ithaca, the main character of Homer's poem "Odyssey" and one of minor characters"Iliad". O.'s courage is combined with cunning and prudence. O. himself considers cunning to be the main feature of his character: “I am Odysseus, son of Laertes, everywhere by the invention of many / Glorious Cunnings and raised to heaven by loud rumor.” The father of Anticlea, O.'s mother, Autolycus, “the great oathbreaker and thief,” was the son of Hermes, a god who was famous for his dexterity and ingenuity. Thus, cunning is O’s hereditary trait. However, not only natural ingenuity, but also rich life experience helps O. in his many years of wanderings. Thanks to his resourcefulness and ability to deceive his enemy, O. manages to cope with the terrible cannibal Cyclops Polyphemus, and then with the sorceress Circe, who, with the help of a miraculous potion, turns his companions into pigs. Homer constantly emphasizes that not only courage and physical strength, but wisdom often helps out his hero.

Among the numerous characters of the Odyssey and the Iliad, O. is the most striking figure. It is no coincidence that many writers and poets turned to this image in their work (Lope de Vega, Calderon, I. Pindemonte, Y. V. Knyazhnin, L. Feuchtwanger, J. Joyce, etc.). Compared to other heroes (Hector, Achilles, Agamemnon, Paris, etc.), whose characters are determined by any one characteristic feature, O. is a multifaceted figure. Courage, the lack of which he cannot be blamed for, coexists with reasonable practicality, the ability to turn the most unfavorable circumstances to his advantage. O. is alien to the stubborn arrogance of those warrior heroes whose heroism lies entirely in action and who despise prudence and caution, identifying them with cowardice. O.'s weapon is not only a sword, but also a word, and with its help he often wins brilliant victories. Amazing Adventures, which O. had a chance to experience, serve Homer only as a kind of background in order to show how much his hero yearns for his native Ithaca. No force can tear out the memory of his homeland from O.’s soul, and this is the greatness of his image.

Penelope is a character in the Odyssey, the daughter of Icarius and the nymph Periboea, the wife of Odysseus and cousin Elena. In world culture, the name P., who has been waiting for the return of her beloved husband for 20 years, has become the personification faithful wife. During the absence of Odysseus, P. is besieged by numerous suitors, young men from best families Ithaca and nearby islands. But P., realizing that strength is on their side, acts with cunning: for three years she deceives the suitors, promising to make her choice after weaving a funeral shroud for her father-in-law Laertes, and at night she undoes what she managed to weave in a day. (This motif was often used by many writers and poets, for example O. Mandelstam.) Homer invariably gives his heroine the epithet “reasonable,” but P., a zealous and economical housewife, is ready to sacrifice everything she has, just not to become the wife of another. Therefore, she resigns herself to the fact that the suitors, in constant feasts, ruin her husband’s estate.

At the same time, the cunning P. offers the grooms something to bring! gifts to her and accepts them, evasively promising to someday become the wife of one of them. P.'s prudence and caution are also manifested in the fact that she does not immediately trust a person who is named after her husband, but subjects him to scrutiny. To the image of P., as, indeed, to the majority female images In Homer's poems, there is a certain passivity. Sh may be forced, but still submits to the circumstances that rule over him. However, in Homer the image of P. goes beyond those ideas about feminine character which dominated his era. The external passivity of P.'s behavior in dealing with suitors, her resigned submission to her son, young Telemachus, at whose first word she obediently retires to her chambers - all this is overshadowed by her faith and devotion. The attractiveness of P.’s image is that behind her passive expectation of her missing husband hides a more active and heroic feeling.

(Homer. “Odyssey”)

The hero of Homer's poem "Odyssey" personifies many positive traits human character - intelligence, resourcefulness, courage, justice, love for one's neighbor.

Only an intelligent and resourceful person could come up with such a path to salvation as Odysseus did. First, he persuaded the treacherous and heartless Cyclops Polyphemus to try wine, which immediately made him drunk and fell asleep. Then he came up with a plan to deprive the cannibal of his sight. To do this, Odysseus and his companions heated a large sharp pole on a fire and stuck this pole into the only eye of the Cyclops. And finally, thanks to Odysseus, a way to escape from Polyphemus’ cave was found. By order of Odysseus, three sheep were tied up, and one Greek warrior was placed under each three.

Odysseus is distinguished by justice and hospitality, and he expects the same from others. That is why he did not take the cheeses from the Cyclops without his permission. Odysseus expected that, according to the laws of hospitality, Polyphemus himself would treat the soldiers.

Odysseus is incapable of betraying others, especially his friends. This is confirmed by the escape episode. Thanks to his insight and intelligence, the main character could have saved himself alone, but he did not do this. Moreover, he came up with a way to save all the warriors and preferred that they leave the cave first.

Odysseus is noble. I really want to become like him - to be as smart, brave, resourceful and kind. I will strive for this and hopefully I will succeed.