Character Traits in The Odyssey

Ancient Greeks were undeniably masters in all kinds of arts, including music, sculpturing, and literature. The Greeks loved to compose tales and share them with each other. In an effort to make their stories appeal to a wider audience (literally), they would add qualities to their main character(s) that were seen as ideal (i.e. perfect people have these qualities). These qualities are often tied to their own religious beliefs, as they thought that certain traits would please the gods. One major Greek author that would make his tales' characters embody these traits was Homer. When composing the Iliad and the Odyssey, Homer added favourable qualities to the main characters like Achilles. In the Odyssey, Homer used both favourable and unfavourable traits to render certain people as immoral and others honourable. The most crucial ones used are courage, cunning, hospitality, and loyalty.

Courage is often honoured as a remarkable characteristic among the Greeks. It is the ability to take actions despite the perils and/or fear. Homer granted it to the protagonists of the Iliad and the Odyssey, Achilles and Odysseus. Throughout the epic, Odysseus shows numerous acts of bravery. The two most notable ones are when he faced the Cyclops, and his descent to the underworld. When Posiedon's son Polyphemus holds Odysseus and his crew hostage, Odysseus hatches a plan to blind Polyphemus and escape from his cave. The plan however involved great risk, yet Odysseus was prepared to execute it to rescue his crew. If Odysseus had lacked courage, he and his crew would have met their demise at the hands of the Cyclops. When the sorceress Circe instructed Odysseus to go to the underworld to consult the blind prophet on his journey, Odysseus agreed to go even when he and his crew didn't want to. The underworld is not a safe place and they might face many hazards, but if they do not go, their journey will be much more troublesome if not impossible. Odysseus placed his and his crew's fear aside in order to ensure that their voyage home will go well. Odysseus's courage led him to be able to reach his home safely.

Cunningness, the power of the mind, is seen less often in Greek literature than courage, but it is just as effective (if not more effective) than courage. In addition to being strenuous, powerful, and courageous, Odysseus is also incredibly cunning, boasting great ability to deceive, plan, and think. Odysseus can be seen as the same as Achilles, but "molded" differently. Achilles boasts unmatched physical power, while Odysseus boasts his mental power. Odysseus uses his cunningness on many occasions. When Odysseus was trapped in Polyphemus's cave, he devised an ingenious plan to make Polyphemus open the cave's entrance and escape. Odysseus hides his true identity from people he meets (such as the king Alcinous, Athena disguised as a boy, Eumaeus, suitors, and his wife) until he is sure that thay can be trusted; this deception is one of the reasons why he was able to sneak into Ithaca, take his revenge, and succeed. When Odysseus was planning to slaughter the suitors, he knew that he was no match for them, so he decided to restrict their main source of combat strength: the weapons and armor. Hiding the armor and the weapons but leaving only some for him allowed him to reverse the tide and be much more than a match for the relatively young suitors. Odysseus isn't the only character with great mind power. His wife, Penelope, is also as deceptive and cunning as her husband. Her deception of the suitors with the web weaving and her test of beggar Odysseus's claims are just a few of the cunning acts she did. Cunningness allows people to be able to succeed and win without needing to be powerful. There are times where without brain power, there is no way to win. Such example is the Trojan war. The only reason Troy fell was because of Odysseus's plan. Without him (or his intellect), the war would have been a stalemate. Using his cunningness, Odysseus was able to overcome all the hardships and return to Ithaca.

Greek literature shows ancient Greeks as kindhearted to friends, strangers, and beggars. This is due to their belief that the gods would send these beggars and strangers to them, and they have to be benevolent hosts to these guests. This act of hospitality is commonly known as Xenia, and is possessed by almost all the characters in the Odyssey. Penelope shows hospitality to her guests even though she can't bear them. Menelaus and Nestor both welcome Telemachus and treat him well, offering him food, a place to sleep, and washing him. Alcinous, the king of Scheria, accepts Odysseus as his guest and promises to give him treasure and sail him to Ithaca safely. Eumaeus accepts beggar Odysseus into his home. All these acts of hospitality show how kind hearted they all are. However, not everyone is kindhearted in the world. Polyphemus greets Odysseus and his crew as guests but later eats many of them. The suitor Antinous mocks beggar Odysseus when he comes to beg at the palace. These people were immoral, and their actions have caused them to be punished (Antinous killed, Polyphemus blinded). In ancient Greece, hospitality was not just a choice to be friendly and a good host to guests, it was a command. Being hospitable is just one characteristic of being a pure person, and the Greeks valued it deeply.

Lastly, loyalty is often regarded as one of the most (if not the most) heroic trait someone can possess, in the past and the modern days. Loyalty is the faithfulness or devotion to someone, something, a place, or an idea. Loyalty plays a very important role in the Odyssey, as it is the driving force for Odysseus's return. Odysseus's longing for his home, and his loyalty to Penelope is why he left the island of Circe and tried his best to escape from Calypso. It could be argued that Odysseus isn't loyal to Penelope due to him living and sleeping with Calypso for 10 years; however, he didn't consent to this and in his heart, remained loyal to Penelope, who also remained loyal to him. She tried her best to deceive the suitors and elongate the process of choosing a new husband, even stating that she would rather die than marry someone else. Her loyalty is the reason why she is greatly respected among their people. Loyalty makes people dependable, respectable, and mentally more powerful.

No one in this world is impeccable, and the Greeks knew that well. They pondered the idea of being perfect, and laid down qualities that they thought are ideal for a person to have. The literary authors have experimented with these ideal traits and added them to their characters. In the Odyssey, Homer used the qualities of courage, loyalty, hospitality, and cunningness to create powerful and deep characters who are respected and loved by the ancient Greeks and the modern people.