The Gods put many trying situations in front of the mortals in the book, The Odyssey. This allowed us to see their faults, their bravery and their weaknesses. Odysseus, who is the King of Ithaca, has a significant flaw that appears over and over again throughout the story: temptation. Temptation is defined as “a desire to do something, especially something wrong or unwise.” Odysseus can’t resist satisfying whatever urge he has at any given moment. He cannot avoid giving in to his temptations, either because he’s too prideful or maybe because he not pious and virtuous enough or maybe because he has ADD.
In chapter 9 the cyclops has trapped Odysseus and his men into cave it a boulder double the size of all of his men combined. When the cyclops is done eating some of his mean Odysseus brilliantly tricked the cyclops into thinking is name was “Nobody, which will come into affect later. After that Odysseus sharpens a spear and stabs the cyclops into the eye when the other cyclops’s hear him roar in pain they ask him who did it and he says “Nobody” of course. But Odysseus was to tempted by his pride, he outed himself as Odysseus after he escaped the cave and was about to leave the island. He did kill him however then he did say it was him Odysseus who did it which leads to him being blown off course.
“Cyclops, if any mortal man ever asks you who it was that inflicted upon your eye this shameful blinding, tell him that you were blinded by Odysseus, sacker of cities” -Odysseus (9.500-505). I believe he did this because of his pride. His pride is very important to him and because of this he is foolish and tells the cyclops that it was him who stabbed him in the eye which leads to the cyclops’s dad making their life a living hell.
Example 2: He was tempted by Circe and gave into his temptation sleeping with her and being disloyal to his wife, Penelope. “Come sheath your sword, lets go to bed together, mount my bed and mix in the magic work of love- we’ll breed deep trust between us.”-Circe (10.370-373). This will eventually lead up to them having sex which therefore he gave into temptation again.
Example 3: When Odysseus was trying to get back home, he knew he would have to pass the Sirens to reach Ithaca. The sirens… beautiful and wanted to hear them He didn’t heed the warnings and ignored the dangers and while nothing bad happened because he was smart enough to tie himself to the boat to hear them, he still have into his own temptation to satisfy his need to hear them. “I alone was to hear the voices, so she said, but you must bind me with tight chafing ropes so I cannot move a muscle, bound to the spot, erect at the mast-block, lashed by ropes to the mast. And if I plead, commanding you to set me free, then lash me faster, rope on pressing rope.”-Odysseus (12.174-179)
Odysseus begins to overcome his flaw of temptation and use it a s a strength. This flaw ultimately enables him to make his way home to Ithaca.
