Tell me how Odysseus proves that he is cunning. Cunning Odysseus
The image of the “much-intelligent” and “long-suffering” Odysseus
Odysseus is the most striking figure of the Ionian epic. This is not just a diplomat and practitioner, and certainly not just a cunning hypocrite. The practical and business inclination of his nature acquires its true significance only in connection with his selfless love for his native hearth and his waiting wife, as well as his constantly difficult fate, forcing him to continuously suffer and shed tears far from his homeland.
Odysseus is primarily a sufferer. His constant epithet in the Odyssey is “long-suffering.” Athena speaks with great feeling to Zeus about his constant suffering. Poseidon is constantly angry with him, and he knows this very well. If not Poseidon, then Zeus and Helios break his ship and leave him alone in the middle of the sea. His nanny wonders why the gods are constantly indignant at him, given his constant piety and submission to the will of the gods.
His grandfather gave him the name precisely as “the man of divine wrath.” The motive of love for the homeland. In the 10th song of the Iliad, Odysseus is glorified in war. In the Iliad, he fights bravely and is even wounded, but Diomedes tries to keep him from fleeing and reproaches him for cowardice.
Cunning, fantasy of cunning. Either he gets out of the cave under the belly of a ram, grabbing its wool, and thereby deceives the vigilance of the blind Polyphemus. Then he intoxicates the Cyclops and the cannibal and gouges out his only eye. Either he slips past the sirens, where no one has ever passed alive and well, then he makes his way into his own palace and takes possession of it. He himself speaks of his subtle cunning, and Polyphemus guessed that it was not the strength, but the cunning of Odysseus that destroyed him. Odysseus is a complete adventure, resourcefulness. He lies even when there is no need for it, but his patronizing Athena praises him for this:
You would be very thieving and cunning, who could compete with you in all sorts of cunning; it would be difficult for God too. Always the same: a cunning man, insatiable in deceit! Is it really possible that even when you find yourself in your native land, you cannot stop the false speeches and deceptions that you loved from childhood?
Introducing himself to Achilles, he announces himself: I am Odysseus Laertides. I am famous among all people for my cunning inventions. My glory reaches to heaven.
Everyone praises Odysseus's love for Penelope. He was both the husband of Calypso, and, moreover, for at least seven years, and the husband of Kirka, and according to other sources, he even had children from them. However, he prefers returning to his homeland to immortality. He spent his nights with Calypso, and during the day he cried on the seashore.
Odysseus also likes to assume the appearance of a merchant and entrepreneur: he is a very prudent owner. Arriving in Ithaca, he first of all rushes to count the gifts that were left for him by the Phaeacians. Finally, let us add to all that has been said the brutal cruelty shown by this humane and sensitive person. Tracking down the suitors, he chooses an opportune moment to deal with them and their corpses fill the entire palace. The sacrificial fortuneteller Leod tries to ask him for mercy, but he blows his head off. Melantius was cut into pieces and given to dogs to eat; Telemachus, on the orders of his father, hanged his unfaithful servants on a rope. After this wild massacre, Odysseus, as if nothing had happened, hugs the maids and even sheds tears, and then has a happy meeting with his wife.
So, Homer’s Odysseus is the deepest patriot, the bravest warrior, sufferer, diplomat, merchant, entrepreneur, resourceful adventurer, woman lover, wonderful family man and cruel executioner.
The cunning Odysseus is the bearer of worldly wisdom. Belinsky about Odysseus.
Odysseus is one of the most striking characters in Homer’s epic (it’s not for nothing that the poet devotes an entire poem to him, where he talks about his adventures). Homer gave Odysseus new features. So, we see Odysseus as a worker, carpenter, builder, farmer at the beginning of the poem, but at the end he appears completely different - in the role of a brave, mighty warrior.
1) curiosity (difference from the heroes of the Iliad, it is manifested especially not in the Land of the Cyclops: he evaluates the fertility of the lands, admires the pastures. Odysseus is a colonist, he is exploring a new territory. His curiosity lures him into the cave to Polyphemus.
2) resourcefulness and foresight. (When Polyphemus asks Odysseus who he is, Odysseus replies: Nobody. And this saves him) With the help of reason, Odysseus manages to get out of the cave, reason defeated brute force.
3) Odysseus is careful (even when dealing with the gods, he trusts only his own strength and reason.) Odysseus is a man of a new era. Homer's Odysseus is an epic character. Belinsky about Odysseus: “Odysseus is the apotheosis of human wisdom.”
4) ardent love for the homeland is another characteristic feature of Odysseus (he does everything possible to return to his homeland to his homeland and his beloved wife)
5) boastfulness, Odysseus does not miss the opportunity to talk about his heroic adventures.
6) Odysseus is cruel, hangs the slaves who betrayed him around his house. He chooses an opportune moment to deal with the suitors and their corpses, which fill the entire palace.
7) Odysseus always follows his own self. Cunning and resourcefulness: he gets out of the cave under the belly of a ram, drunks the Cyclops and the cannibal and gouges out his only eye. He swims past the Sirens and remains alive; he enters his own camp unnoticed and takes possession of it.
Odysseus is a complete adventure and resourcefulness, he himself says about himself: “With cunning inventions, I am famous among all people.” Compare: Odysseus and the Iliad - a good warrior, military leader, enjoys great authority, knows how to subordinate the Thersites to military discipline, a skilled orator and diplomat. In the Odyssey, he turns into an adventurer and becomes a man who has “traveled everywhere” as a hero.
Odysseus (“the long-suffering one”) struggles with insidious traps, with suitors besieging his wife, dangers await him at every step: storms, thunderstorms, pirates, monsters, cyclops, giants. Odysseus wants to penetrate the secrets of nature and master them; he needs to subjugate nature and dominate it.
To win your share of happiness on earth. Odysseus is also fighting with his fate, in this struggle, along with courage, there is also reason, his mind has purely practical properties: the ability to use people for his own benefit, gives gifts to the Phaeacians, he knows how to win over with flattery and cunning.
(Mwhahahaha! I finally found that he wrote about Odysseus)
The constant epithet of Odysseus in the Odyssey is “long-suffering”, “many-minded”. Odysseus is very different from other heroes (including the heroes of the Iliad). The image of Odysseus depicts the highest degree of practical intelligence and cunning. He does not trust the gods, fully aware of their cunning and cunning disposition. Having found himself in yet another shipwreck, Odysseus accepts the gift of the nymph Leucotea (cloak), but does not let go of the log, because... understands that one cannot count on the gods (Like, trust in God, but don’t make a mistake yourself)
The image of Odysseus is imbued with patriotism and love for the homeland. He dreams of returning to Ithaca, to his wife Penelope, son Telemachus. The practical and business inclination of his nature acquires its true meaning only in connection with his selfless love for his homeland and his wife waiting for him, as well as his constantly difficult fate, which forces him to continuously suffer and shed tears far from their homeland. Athena speaks with great feeling to Zeus about his constant suffering at the council of the gods and asks him to return Odysseus home. Poseidon is constantly angry with him. His nanny wonders why the gods are constantly indignant at him, given his constant piety and submission to the will of the gods. His grandfather gave him the name precisely as “the man of divine wrath.”
It is not surprising that he often resorts to cunning. Either he gets out of the cave under the belly of a ram, grabbing its wool, and thereby deceives the vigilance of the blind Polyphemus. Then he intoxicates the Cyclops and the cannibal and gouges out his only eye. Either he slips past the sirens, where no one has ever passed alive and well, then he makes his way into his own palace and takes possession of it. He himself speaks of his subtle cunning, and Polyphemus guessed that it was not the strength, but the cunning of Odysseus that destroyed him.
Odysseus is very careful, in fact he does not trust anyone, he is cunning and prudent. It manifests itself in different areas of life. He is a carpenter, a plowman, and a sailor. Unites almost all the knowledge of his era. Odysseus also has traits that make him similar to other heroes. He is a fighter, extremely cruel (kills all the suitors), he is characterized by communication with the gods (Athena, Hermes). Nevertheless, his cunning, intelligence and foresight set him apart from everyone else.
Short version
V.G. Belinsky wrote: “Odysseus is the apotheosis of human wisdom; but what is his wisdom? In cunning, often crude and flat, in what in our prosaic language is called “deception.” And yet, in the eyes of the infant people, this cunning could not help but seem like the extreme degree of possible wisdom.”
Od. “long-suffering”, “many-minded”. Cunning. Resourceful. Doesn't trust the gods (accepts Leucotea's cloak, but doesn't throw the log) Patriot. Despite all the troubles, he strives for his wife and son in Ithaca. Post is angry with him. Poseidon because he blinded his son, Polyphemus. Unites all the knowledge of the era, carpenter, sailor, warrior. However, he is cruel (killing suitors), communicates with the gods (Athena)
Super brief
Odysseus is very cunning, does not trust the gods and always gets out of various situations that the gods arrange for him. And Belinsky said that he was engaged in deception.
Summary of the Odyssey:
Homer asks the Muse to tell him about the wanderings of Odysseus. At a meeting of the gods on Olympus, Zeus recalls the madness of Aegisthus, who ignored warnings from above, seduced Agamemnon’s wife, Clytemnestra, and plotted the latter’s murder. He is later killed by Agamemnon's son, Orestes.
The goddess Athena convinces Zeus that Odysseus must return home, despite the wrath of Poseidon, the god of the sea, who was angry with Odysseus because he blinded his son, the cyclops Polyphemus. Athena goes to Ithaca to give advice to Odysseus' son, Telemachus. She demands that he visit the Greek kings, Nestor and Menelaus, in search of news about Odysseus. The next day, Telemachus calls a meeting and threatens to drive out the suitors of his mother, Penelope, from the house.
BOOK 2 Telemachus complains to the assembly about the behavior of the suitors and asks the latter to return to their home. The two main suitors, Antinous and Eurymachus, accuse Penelope of not choosing a husband for herself. Antinous tells how Penelope deceived and delayed her decision by weaving clothes for Laertes, the father of Odysseus, during the day and unweaving what she had made at night. With the help of Athena, Telemachus finds a ship and sails to Pylos, the city of Nestor, one of the participants in the Trojan War.
BOOK 3 In Pylos, Telemachus is met by King Nestor, who talks about how the Greeks left Troy, the murder of Agamemnon and the return home of Menelaus. At the request of Telemachus, Nestor, in great detail, tells the story of Aegisthus and Clytemnestra, their conspiracy against Agamemnon and the revenge of Orestes. Nestor sends his son, Peisistratus, to accompany Telemachus to Sparta, to King Menelaus.
BOOK 4 Telemachus and Peisistratus arrive in Sparta. King Menelaus celebrates the weddings of his children, Hermione and Megapenthes. Menelaus greets the arrivals; Elena joins them. They remember the exploits of Odysseus in Troy. Menelaus tells of his meeting with the old sea man Proteus, who told him about the death of Ajax at sea, the murder of Menelaus' brother, Agamemnon, and the captivity of Odysseus on Ogygia, the island of the nymph Calypso. At the same time, the suitors in Ithaca learn of Telemachus's departure and plot to kill him.
BOOK 5 At the request of Athena, Zeus sends a messenger, Hermes, to the nymph Calypso demanding that Odysseus be released home. Odysseus builds a raft and sails to Scheria, the land of the Phaeacians. Poseidon, still angry with Odysseus, breaks his raft, but, with the help of Athena and the sea nymph Ino, Odysseus makes it to shore.
BOOK 6 The next morning, Nausicaä, the daughter of the king of the Phaeacians, goes to the seashore to wash her clothes, as Athena ordered her. Odysseus shows up, scaring Nausicaä and her maids. Because he asks for help, Nausicaä gives him clothes and explains how best to appear at the house of her father, Alcinous.
BOOK 7 Arrival of Odysseus at the palace of Alcinous. He is given a place at the feast. Alcinous promises that he will help Odysseus return to his homeland. Without revealing his name, Odysseus talks about his stay with Calypso and his journey to Scheria. Alcinous asks Odysseus to stay and offers him his daughter Nausicaä as his wife. However, if Odysseus wants to return home, the Phaeacians will help him.
BOOK 8 At a feast among the Phaeacians, the singer Demodocus sings about Troy; Athletic competitions are organized. Alcinous's son, Laodamas, asks Odysseus to take part in the competition. Odysseus shows his skill in throwing the discus. Demodocus sings about the love of Ares, the god of war, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and how Hephaestus, Aphrodite's husband, caught them and put them on display for all the gods. The Phaeacians give Odysseus rich gifts. At the request of the latter, Demodocus sings about the Trojan Horse. Odysseus is moved to tears; he is asked to reveal who he is and why he cries when they talk about Troy.
BOOK 9 Odysseus says his name and begins the story of his wanderings. He describes the sailing from Troy, beginning with the attack on the Ciconians, during which many of his men died, driven mad. Odysseus then talks about visiting the island of lot eaters; Having tasted their food, many of Odysseus’s men forgot about home. Odysseus also talks about the adventures in the land of the Cyclops: they were captured by Polyphemus; he ate several warriors; the rest intoxicated him, blinded him and ran away from the cave. After Odysseus boasted of his success, Polyphemus called on Poseidon, his father, to avenge him, which was the reason for Poseidon's anger at Odysseus.
BOOK 10 Odysseus tells how he and his men reached the island of Aeolus, the king who was given power over the winds by the gods. Aeolus gives Odysseus a bag containing winds, which should help Odysseus return home. Odysseus' men, however, thought that the bag contained treasure. Already off the coast of Ithaca, Odysseus’s people, while he was sleeping, opened the bag. As a result, they washed up again on the shores of the island of Eola, but he refused to help them a second time. Sailing further, the travelers reached the land of the Laestrygonians. These giants attacked them and destroyed all of Odysseus's ships except one. Then Odysseus landed on the island of the sorceress Kirka, who turned his people into pigs. With the help of Hermes, Odysseus escaped the same fate and forced Kirke to lift the spell on his men. Odysseus and his men stayed with Kirk for a whole year. Before they left, Kirk told Odysseus that he should visit the kingdom of the dead and consult with the soothsayer Tiresias.
BOOK 11 In the kingdom of the dead, Tiresias warns Odysseus not to touch the herds of Helios, the sun god. Odysseus also met his mother, Anticlea. Here Odysseus is interrupted: the queen of the Phaeacians, Arete, praises him. Alcinous asks Odysseus to continue and talk about the meeting with the shadows of the Greek heroes. Odysseus recounts his meeting with Agamemnon and Achilles and with other heroes.
BOOK 12 Odysseus tells how he and his men returned to the island of Kirke. The travelers sail past the sirens and Odysseus, tied to the mast, heard their songs. Then they passed by the whirlpool of Charybdis and the monster Scylla, which ate six of Odysseus's men. At the request of Eurylochos, one of Odysseus's comrades, they landed on Thrinacia, the island of the sun god Helios. Storms kept them here for a month and, despite Odysseus's warning, his men killed the god's herds while Odysseus slept. Zeus punished them with a storm at sea, during which only Odysseus was saved. He reached the island of Calypso and, on this, Odysseus ends the story.
BOOK 13 The Phaeacians accompany Odysseus to Ithaca and leave him sleeping on the island. On the way back, Poseidon turns their ship to stone. Athena advises Odysseus on how to defeat the suitors and turns him into an old man.
BOOK 14 Odysseus goes to the house of his old servant Eumaeus, who receives him well. Odysseus tells him a fictitious story about his life: he, a Cretan warrior, fought in Troy; then he visited Egypt, Phoenicia and other countries. BOOK 15 At the request of Athena, Telemachus leaves the palace of Menelaus in Sparta. In Ithaca, Eumaeus answers Odysseus's questions; he tells how he was kidnapped by a Phoenician servant and how Laertes ransomed him. At this time, Telemachus avoids the suitors' ambush and lands safely on Ithaca.
BOOK 16 Telemachus visits Eumaeus and sends him to inform Penelope of his arrival. Odysseus reveals himself to Telemachus and they formulate a plan for revenge on the suitors. Penelope and the suitors learn that Telemachus has returned. The suitors consult whether they should kill Telemachus. Penelope reproaches them for this.
BOOK 17 Telemachus returns home and tells Penelope about his journey. Odysseus, disguised as a beggar, goes to the palace, accompanied by Eumaeus. As they approach the house, Argos, Odysseus's old dog, recognizes him and dies. Odysseus asks the suitors for alms and tells them a fictitious story about his adventures. Antinous, the chief suitor, insults Odysseus and throws a stool at him. Eumaeus tells Penelope about the "newcomer."
BOOK 18 Penelope complains about the behavior of the suitors. The feast turns into a fight after Odysseus angers Eurymachus, one of the suitors.
BOOK 19 Odysseus and Telemachus remove weapons and armor from the hall. Penelope questions Odysseus. He tells her a fictitious story. The nurse Eurycleia washes Odysseus's feet and recognizes him by his scar. She almost gives Odysseus away. Penelope invites the suitors to have a competition with Odysseus's bow. She will marry the winner.
BOOK 20 The next day, the suitors gather at Odysseus's house. Odysseus meets Philoetius, his faithful shepherd, and predicts his own return. The suitors decide not to kill Telemachus.
BOOK 21 Penelope announces a contest, but no one can string the bow. Odysseus reveals himself to two faithful servants: Eumaeus and Philoetius. Despite the protests of the suitors, Odysseus is given a bow. He pulls it and shoots an arrow through a row of axes.
BOOK 22 Odysseus kills Antinous and reveals himself. A battle begins and, with the help of Athena, all the suitors are killed. Unfaithful maids are severely punished.
BOOK 23 Eurycleia tells Penelope that Odysseus has returned and defeated the suitors. Penelope doesn't believe it and checks Odysseus. She recognizes him because... he answers all questions correctly. A joyful meeting.
BOOK 24 The shadows of the suitors descend into the kingdom of the dead and tell the heroes about their fate. Odysseus meets his father, Laertes. The relatives of the murdered suitors decide to take revenge. After one of them is killed, Athena intervenes and brings peace.
12. Chronotope in the Homeric epic.
Homer does not have absolute space and time. In Homer's epic there is no single and uniformly current time. As B. Helwig shows, what comes to the fore is event, action,
against the background of which time and space are just beginning to become clearer. Everything that for some period of time retreats from Homer’s field of vision, as it were, leaves the framework of the world, ceases to exist and develop in time.
But at the same time there are, as it were, two space-time dimensions: one is for people, the other is for the gods. The space and time of the gods are wider than the space and time of the other heroes, and are, as it were, on a different plane. Towering above him in the Homeric epic is himself poet and his creative will, which, in fact, decides how the narrative will turn out (from a spatio-temporal point of view). By making the world of his narrative highly visual in a spatial and temporal sense, the poet actually creates it himself, ultimately proceeding not from the logic of time and space, but from logic of action and the requirements for its fullest development.
Therefore, the reflection of time is specific, far from reality, reality. This is largely due to the archaic nature of consciousness. In the poems, two events cannot occur simultaneously - the “law of chronological incompatibility” - the duel between Paris and Menelaus. The very desire to concentrate action sometimes leads to uncontrollable situations. Thus, the scenes of the 3rd book of the Iliad (the duel between Paris and Menelaus, the view from the wall) would be much more appropriate at the beginning of the siege of Troy than in the tenth year of the war, to which the action of the Iliad is dated. In the Homeric narrative it is often possible to detect remnants of earlier stages of the plot that have not been eliminated by subsequent reworking; The fairy-tale materials underlying the Odyssey have undergone, for example, significant alterations in order to soften the crudely wonderful moments, but traces of the previous form of the plot have been preserved, which are felt in the context of the current Odyssey as a “contradiction.”
Homer often resorts to retradations– delays in action at a tense moment. A cluster of comparisons. The end of the story and the transition to memories (Odysseus' scar). Reception retrospections– a longer, more detailed return to the past. For example, the rod of Agamemnon before the speech of the warriors. Or the spear of Achilles. Historical distance. Time is created through exaggeration of what is being done - a technique inaccessible to modern man. Details of ancient life + due to the closeness between heroes and gods.
Mythology is a completely definite system with its own specific perception of time. Cyclicality. Remembering the past as a struggle between individuals - history is thought organically and personified. Time does not show age. But psychologism is not typical. The Law of Divine Intervention.
Short version
There is no real time and space. There are two layers of space-time: gods and people. Plus, he’s also a poet above everyone else. The poet decides how to deal with space and time. There are a lot of problems because of this. The Paris-Menelaus battle is more logical not at the 10th year of the war, but at the beginning. But that's what the author wants. Retradition is a delay in action at a certain moment. Retrospection - going back to the past.
Super brief
Homer has no real time and space, a lot of things overlap. But everything is as Homer wants and is explained by archaic thinking.
Related information.
442 0
About a cunning, inventive person. - Who are you trying to fool? Me?.. There has never been such a cunning Odysseus who would ride around me on black(F. Gladkov. Birch Grove). - From the mythical hero of Homer’s poem “The Odyssey” », the king of the island of Ithaca, distinguished by his cunning and ingenuity of mind. Phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language. - M.: Astrel, AST A. I. Fedorov 2008
Meanings in other dictionaries
Tail pipe
Simple Express Well done, self-confident (conduct yourself). - He stopped spending the night at home. He shows up, gets dressed up and goes - tail like a pipe (N. Lyashko. Sweet hard labor). “Well, for now you live quietly. Yulia is just like a nun - she’s all at home, reading and sewing - and in the evening I polished my boots, powdered my nose and tail with a pipe (M. Zoshchenko. From letters and diary entries). Phraseological Dictionary of Russian Literary...
Tricky little thing
Outdated Express About a cunning, dexterous person. [Zvontsov:] Your sister is a cunning little thing, you can expect very serious troubles from her (M. Gorky. Egor Bulychov and others). “He will outwit us all, taken together, trick us all around his finger and get away with it.” A tricky little thing (A. Stepanov. Port Arthur). Phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language. - M.: Astrel, AST A. I. Fedorov 2008 ...
Sly as a fox
Cunning LIKE A FOX who. Razg. Express A very cunning, crafty, dexterous person. She only pretends to be like that, but she herself is as cunning as a fox (G. Matveev. Seventeen-year-olds). - You, Varvara, are a piece of cake... And this beast is like a fox. A cunning man (Yu. Bragul. New Day). Phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language. - M.: Astrel, AST A. I. Fedorov 2008 ...
Hero of the mythology of the ancient Greeks, king of the island of Ithaca, participant in the Trojan War, brave warrior and skillful speaker. In The Iliad he is present as a key character. In the poem "Odyssey" - the main character. Odysseus's peculiarity is his resourceful character, the ability to use cunning to get out of dangerous situations, saving himself and his comrades. Therefore, “cunning” became one of the hero’s constant epithets.
History of creation
The image of Odysseus became a reflection of the era of the Greeks' exploration of the sea. Situations when warriors set sail on their ships and their connection with their families was severed for a long time found their mythological embodiment in the story of Odysseus’s wanderings. Homer (“Iliad”, “Odyssey”), (“Hecuba”, “Cyclops”), (“Ajax”, “Philoctetes”) and other authors wrote about the hero’s adventures and his journey home to his wife Penelope.
Various episodes from the hero's life are captured in the form of drawings on Greek vases. Using them, you can restore the expected appearance of the hero. Odysseus is a mature, bearded man, often depicted wearing an oval cap, which was worn by Greek sailors.
Biography
Odysseus was born from the marriage of Argonaut Laertes, king of Ithaca, and the granddaughter of the god Hermes, Anticlea. The hero’s grandfather, Autolycus, bore the proud nickname “the most thieving of men,” was a clever swindler, and personally from Hermes, his father, received permission to swear in the name of this god and break oaths. Odysseus himself is married to Penelope, who gave birth to the hero’s son Telemachus.
Odysseus met his future wife Penelope in Sparta, where he arrived to woo Helen the Beautiful, among other suitors. There were many people who wanted to get married, but Elena’s father was afraid to make a choice in favor of one, so as not to incur the wrath of the others. The cunning Odysseus came up with a fresh idea - to give the girl the right to vote, so that she could choose the groom herself, and to bind the suitors with an oath that, if necessary, they would all help Elena’s future husband.
Helen chose Menelaus, the son of the Mycenaean king. Odysseus had his eye on Penelope. Penelope's father promised that he would marry his daughter to the one who wins the running competition. When Odysseus became the winner, his father tried to dissuade Penelope from this marriage and stay at home. Odysseus repeated his trick and allowed the bride to choose for herself - to stay with her father or go with him, and she, despite the persuasion of her parent, chose the hero. After the wedding, Odysseus and his young wife returned to Ithaca.
When Paris kidnapped Helen, the former suitors got ready for the Trojan War. The oracle predicted to Odysseus that if he went to Troy, he would return home 20 years later, beggars and without companions. The hero tried to avoid this event. Odysseus tried to pretend to be crazy, but was exposed.
The man began to sow the field with salt, harnessing an ox and a horse to the plow, but when his newborn son was thrown under the plow, he was forced to stop. So it became clear that Odysseus was fully aware of his actions, and the hero had to go to war. According to Homer's version, the hero was persuaded to go to Troy by King Agamemnon, who came to Ithaca for this purpose.
Odysseus comes to Troy with 12 ships. When the ships land on the shore, no one wants to get off. Another prediction promises that the first one to set foot on the land of Troy will certainly die. Nobody wants to be the first, so Odysseus jumps off the ship, and people follow him. The cunning hero makes a deceptive maneuver and throws a shield at his feet, so it turns out that it was not he who first stepped on Trojan soil, but the one who jumped after him.
During the war, Odysseus manages to settle personal scores by framing the man who threw his son under the plow as a traitor, thereby forcing the hero to go to war. A number of conditions are necessary for victory, and Odysseus fulfills them one after another. He gets a bow, which was left with Philoctetes, who was abandoned on the island at the beginning of the war and was embittered towards the others. Together with Diomedes, he steals a statue of the goddess Athena from Troy. Finally, Odysseus comes up with the idea of the famous Trojan horse, thanks to which he, along with other warriors, ends up outside the walls of the city.
After the victory at Troy, the ships turn back and Odysseus’s wanderings across the sea begin. The hero experiences many misadventures, during which he loses his ships and crew, and returns to Ithaca 10 years after sailing from the shores of Troy. In Ithaca, meanwhile, the suitors besiege Penelope, claiming that Odysseus died long ago and she should remarry, choosing one of them. The hero, turned into an old man by Athena, comes to his own palace, where no one recognizes him except the old nanny and the dog.
Penelope offers the suitors a competition for her hand - to string Odysseus's bow and shoot an arrow through 12 rings. The suitors insult Odysseus in the guise of an old man, but none of them can handle the bow. Then Odysseus himself shoots an arrow, thus revealing himself, and then, together with his grown-up son Telemachus, organizes a bloody massacre and kills the suitors.
The hero's journey, however, does not end there. The relatives of the suitors he killed are demanding trial. Odysseus, by decision of the arbitrator, is expelled from Ithaca for 10 years, where the son of the hero Telemachus remains king. In addition, God is angry with the hero, whom the hero insulted by blinding the son of the god Polyphemus, the giant Cyclops.
To appease the god, Odysseus must walk with an oar on his shoulders through the mountains to find a land where people have never heard of the sea. Odysseus finds land where his oar is mistaken for a shovel and stops there. Poseidon forgives the hero after he makes sacrifices, and Odysseus himself marries the local queen.
The further fate of the hero is described differently in different sources. Odysseus either died in foreign lands (in different versions - in Aetolia, Etruria, Arcadia, etc.) without returning home, or returned after the expiration of his exile to Ithaca, where he was mistakenly killed by his own son, born of the sorceress Circe. There is even a version according to which Odysseus was turned into a horse and died in this form from old age.
Legends
The hero’s most famous adventures happened on his way home from Troy and are described in Homer’s poem “The Odyssey.” Returning, Odysseus' ships land first at one island, then at another, inhabited by mythological creatures, and each time the hero loses some of the people. On the island of lotophages, lotuses grow, granting oblivion to those who eat them. On the island of the Cyclops lives the one-eyed cannibal giant Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon. The heroes try to find shelter for the night in Polyphemus' cave, and he eats some of Odysseus's men.
The hero and his surviving companions blind Polyphemus by gouging out the giant's only eye with a sharpened stake, and then escape with the help of sheep. The blind giant examines the sheep by touch before releasing them from the cave, but does not find the heroes clinging to the wool of the animals from below, and so they get out of the cave. However, Odysseus tells the giant his real name, and he screams for help to his father Poseidon. Since then, Poseidon has been angry with Odysseus, which does not make the hero’s journey home by sea any easier.
Having escaped from Polyphemus, the heroes find themselves on the island of the wind god Aeolus. He presents Odysseus with a fur, inside of which the winds are hidden. The hero must not untie this fur until he sees the shores of his native Ithaca. Odysseus and his crew almost reach home, but his people, thinking that there is a treasure hidden inside the fur, untie it while the hero is sleeping, release the winds, and the ship is carried far out to sea.
On the island of the sorceress Circe, Odysseus's companions turn into animals after tasting the treats, and the hero himself conceives a son with the sorceress, who, according to one version, will cause his death. The hero spends a year with Circe, and then goes further and passes the island of the sirens, who enchant and destroy sailors with their singing, and then swims between the huge whirlpool Charybdis and the six-headed monster Scylla, which devours six more crew members.
Gradually, Odysseus loses all his companions and finds himself alone on the island of the nymph Calypso. The nymph falls in love with Odysseus, and the hero spends 7 years with her, because there is not a single ship on the island to sail away. In the end, Hermes appears to the nymph and orders her to release the hero. Odysseus is finally able to build a raft and sail away.
- The hero's name has become a household name. The word "odyssey" means a long journey with many obstacles and adventures and is often found in contexts far removed from ancient Greek realities. For example, in the title of the film "2001: A Space Odyssey", filmed in 1968 based on the story by Arthur C. Clarke, or in the title of the adventure novel "Odyssey".
- In the literature of modern times one can often find the image of Odysseus - processed or taken “as is”. In the book Eric, a character named Vindrisseus appears - an ironically reimagined variation on the theme of Odysseus. In 2000, Henry Lyon Oldie’s two-volume novel “Odysseus, Son of Laertes” was published, where the narrative is told from the hero’s point of view.
- The image of Odysseus also penetrated into cinema. In 2013, the French-Italian series “Odyssey” was released, where it is not about the hero’s wanderings, but about the family that awaits his return, about the intrigues and conspiracies of the suitors who want to seize the throne, and about the events that occur after the king returns to the island. In 2008, Terry Ingram's adventure film Odysseus: Journey into the Underworld was released, where the hero was played by the actor.
- Odysseus is one of the characters in the strategy computer game Age of Mythology, released in 2002.
Cunning Odysseus About a cunning, inventive man. - Who are you trying to fool? Me?.. There has never been such a cunning Odysseus who would ride around me on black(F. Gladkov. Birch Grove). - From the mythical hero of Homer’s poem “The Odyssey” »,
the king of the island of Ithaca, distinguished by his cunning and ingenuity of mind.
Phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language. - M.: Astrel, AST. A. I. Fedorov. 2008.
See what “Cunning Odysseus” is in other dictionaries:
ODYSSEY 12 ON THE ISLAND OF THE MAGIC KIRKI“We sailed for a long time across the boundless sea, shedding tears for our fallen comrades. Finally, we reached the island of Aea (1), where the beautiful-haired sorceress Kirka, daughter of the god Helios, lived. We spent two days on the shore of a quiet bay. On the third day, having girded himself... ... Encyclopedia of Mythology
Odysseus (TV movie)- Odyssey The Odyssey Genre historical adventure Director Andrei Konchalovsky Producer Dyson Lovel ... Wikipedia
Odysseus- This page is dedicated to the ancient Greek mythological king Odysseus. To view other meanings of this name, see the article Odysseus (meanings). Odysseus (Όδυσσεύς) G ... Wikipedia
Odysseus (mythology)- This page is dedicated to the ancient Greek mythological king Odysseus. To view other meanings of this name, see the article Odysseus (meanings). Odysseus (Όδυσσεύς) Head of a marble statue of Odysseus, 2nd century BC. e. Mythology: ... ... Wikipedia
Odysseus- (Greek, Lat. Ulysses) in ancient Greek mythology, the king of Ithaca, who became famous as a participant in the Trojan War (See Trojan War), the main character of the poem “Odyssey,” which tells about long years of wandering and O.’s return to his homeland. O. was not different... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Odysseus- (lat. Odysseus and Ulixes), in Greek. mythology, the brave, “cunning” hero of the Trojan cycle of myths, the king of Ithaca, the son of Laertes (therefore called Laertis) and Anticlea. In post-Homeric mythology he was also considered the son of Sisyphus. O. prompted everyone... ... Dictionary of Antiquity
cunning- oh, oh; me, me, a lot. 1. Imbued with cunning, subtlety, and ingenuity. X plans. What an idea, an invention. X. plan. X. move. 2. Complex and skillfully made, cunningly invented. X th wood carving. X device, device. Hey... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
Odysseus- (Greek) - from “to be angry”, Ulysses (Roman) - king of Ithaca, son of Laertes and Anticlea, grandson of Autolycus, great-grandson of Hermes on the maternal side. (According to some versions of the myth, O. is considered the son of the famous deceiver Sisyphus, who seduced Anticlea before her... ... Mythological dictionary
cunning- oh, oh; me, me, a lot. see also cunning 1) Imbued with cunning, subtlety, ingenuity. X plans. What an idea, an invention. Heathrow/multi plan. Heathrow/multihod. 2) Complexly and skillfully made, cunningly invented... Dictionary of many expressions
TROY 12 THE FIRST TEN YEARS OF THE SIEGE OF TROY- The Greeks were glad that their long voyage was over. But when they sailed closer to the shores, they saw that a strong army of Trojans was already waiting for them under the leadership of Hector, the mighty son of the elderly king of Troy, Priam. How could the Greeks approach... Encyclopedia of Mythology
Books
- Odysseus. The cunning hero, Pommo Ivan. After nine years of the siege of Troy and its fall, all the Greek kings returned home. Only Odysseus, king of Ithaca, did not...
