Thursday, October 6, 2011

Court Martial

In your opinion, is Odysseus a moral man? Please respond in a comment and use at least 3 of the Chapter 5 vocabulary words in your response.

24 comments:

  1. Odysseus is not the most moral man. However, he can be benevolent, when he wants to. For example, he saves his best wine for Polyphemus when he encounters the island in book 9, with the intentions of making a good impression. On the other hand, he uses his sardonic wit against people like Polyphemus, if it means escape. An example of this would be when he tells Polyphemus that his name is Nobody. Another example of how he isn't that moral, is when he has affairs with Calypso and Circe, when he is a married man. But he does still have the decency to want to come back to Penelope, even after he went through so much. Another example of him being moral, is when he comes to Phaecia, and has no intentions of being Nausicaa's husband. He also comes with no desire to trick the king or anyone in Phaecia, since he has nothing. All in all, Odysseus can be a moral man, but only if he wants to.

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  2. Odysseus is not the quintessence of a moral man. Throughout the majority of the Odyssey we have read so far, he has been very sly, and he uses his sardonic wit woven together with his lies to manipulate people. He never is supercilious, and sometimes even becomes a benefactor in certain situations, such as when he offers wine to Polyphemus. Despite his ruse to escape, he still offered his host wine. Although sometimes acting as a humble guest, he is not loyal to Penelope throughout most of the book we have read so far. With Calypso and Circe, we see him even try to procrastinate on his journey home, staying with Calypso for seven years, and stopping his crew from leaving Circe's island so he could stay longer for his own selfish desire. His character is capricious, and the reader can never tell if he is the morally strong hero, or the sly trickster.

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  3. Odysseus is surely not the most moral man. He is when he wants to be, and when he doesn't, well, he's not. He seems like a perfect nemesis to every opponent he faces, because he is not afraid to be an iconoclast, and therefore can defeat enemies in very unorthodox ways. He definitely likes being some sort of beneficiary, because many of the times when he the guest of some host, he asks them if they will give him a gift. He is somewhat moral when he is benevolent, he shows this when he is gracious to Broadsea after Broadsea mocks Odysseus to the face. He is extremely crafty, but is definitely moral, and shows it at his will

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  5. I do not think Odysseus is that much of a moral man. He is not respectful and loyal to his wife. He cheats on Penelpe with 2 other women, first Calypso and then Circe. He is also not loyal to his men and he is a bad leader. For exmaple, when he is on the Aeaean Island and the aestrygonian Land, instead of him going with his men to see what was around and on these unknow places, he sends his men to go and he doesn't go with them. This is irresponsible of him and the men got hurt. To me he is a introvert person because most of the time is is thinking of himslef. But he does have a sardonic wit. It was very clever of him to tell Polyphmus that his name was "Nobody." This helped him get out of many situation like when he was stuck in the Polyphmus's cave. It was smart of him to make him drunk, hit him in his only eye, and hide with the sheep. He was also a capricious person because you could never guess what his next move would be.

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  6. Odysseus is not a moral civilian, but he is a moral warrior. He cheats on his wife all the time and does not feel remorse for his actions. However, when he lies it is normally for his shipmates benefit. Lying to Polyphemus saves them all from a gruesome death. He can be very supercilious and sardonic in his lies. The "I am nobody" trick is very clever, and I'm sure would have inflated his ego like a hot air balloon. All this trickery occurs while he is still in the mindset of a warrior, and cunning is required of any good soldier. As a civilian man he is an utter failure. He endangers his men by staying with Calypso, and the result is them being turned into pigs and death for one of them. He is an iconoclast of faithful marriage. The only time he declines an offer to cheat on his wife is when Alcinous offers Nausicaa as a potential wife. Odysseus is not a moral man, but there is still hope for some changes in him.

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  7. Odysseus is not a moral man. He makes an immoral decision by disrespecting Penelope's trust by cheating on her with both Calypso and Circe for at least a year each. He also does not place any trust whatsoever into his men which clearly does not work out for him very well because by the end of his journey, all of his men have died. His sardonic wit, while sometimes helping him out of sticky situations, has also gotten some of his men hurt or killed. Odysseus acted superciliously towards his men, and many of them might have even thought of him as their nemesis. He was responsible for the lives of each one of his men, and yet, somewhere along their journey, each man ended up dead. Odysseus has no morals. On Calypso's island, Odysseus slept with Calypso for around eight years, and although he cried every day, it never seemed to cross his mind to ask Calypso if he could leave. Odysseus is so self-centered, that it might even be a stretch to say that Odysseus has any morals at all. I have not read the entire book yet, but I am willing to guess that by book 24, there will be many more examples of Odysseus' immorality.

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  8. Odysseus is in the state between being a warrior and a civilian. He is still in the mindset of taking care of his men while at the same time he goes to many cities and is not the best civilian. In this in between state he is not the best morally and at times iconoclastic. We see at many times Odysseus' hubris get in the way of his men and himself. For example when he is leaving Polyphemus' cave he feels on top of the world to have outsmarted one of his many nemesis', that he goes way too far. And he upsets Poseidon. After this when he goes to Circe's island he procrastinates leaving because he wants to stay with Circe. Even though it was appropriate for this time i think it is unmoral to cheat on Penelope. I think they way Odysseus comes up with clever plans and is good at talking shows that he is an extrovert. This is not entirely moral to lie but he would be nothing without his sardonic wit. As a whole Odysseus may not seem like a moral person but i do think he posses some great qualities.

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  9. Odysseus is a man who, had he not been put in various life threatening situations, I believe would stuck to a relatively loose set of morals. However, Odysseus has had to resort to using his crafty, sardonic personality to help him on his way home to Ithaca. Odysseus is an iconoclast for using his mind and wit to get himself out of problems rather than brute force. However he is unfaithful to Penelope, having affairs with both Calypso and Circe. Here it might appear that Odysseus views his loyal wife superciliously, since she is mortal unlike the nymphs he cheats on her with.

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  10. Although Odysseus is not the most moral man, I do not think he lacks moral. I believe that Odysseus may be seen as a less moral character in our current era because he is an iconoclast to our current standards, such as when he is often sleeping with other women. This seems very scandalous to our society, but I was not looked down upon as much back then. Throughout the Odyssey Odysseus is not seen being a benefactor to his crewmates. An example of this is when he is always sending all of his cremates to explore the dangerous islands. Odysseus is also portrayed as being supercilious. Odysseus sure does have a lot pride, but I think it must be hard for him to not brag about himself, because he was probably so used to getting compliments while away at war.

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  11. Odysseus is not a moral man most of the times, but at times he is a benevolent man. Specifically he is not a very moral man when it came to dealing with Polyphemus. He had a very sardonic behavior towards Polyphemus after he stabbed him in the eye. After this incident with Polyphemus, Odysseus acts very iconoclast for using words the way he did. Odysseus is also unfaithful to his wife, Penelope with Circe and Calypso.

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  12. Odysseus is quite immoral compared to modern day standards. After all, he cheats on his wife without a second thought. Odysseus is iconoclastic to our standards, but that may have been what was expected in that time. Odysseus was actually immoral in both times when he only brought his best wine to Polyphemus as a way to get him intoxicated and easier to manipulate. Though it may seem like Odysseus was the benefactor when giving the wine to Polyphemus, he was actually the beneficiary since it ended up profiting him in the end. Odysseus may not be a moral man for our day in age, but Odysseus' behavior may have been the standard back then.

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  13. Odysseus is in no way a moral man. He is a selfish man who should not be in charge of so many others. At times he seems supercilious. When Poseidon became his nemesis he put himself and every one of his crew members in danger. Poseidon causes his journey home to be treacherous, and filled with turmoil. None of this would have happened though if Odysseus would have listened to his crew back in the cyclops cave. They wanted to leave quickly but Odysseus decided to linger. This eventually costs six of his troops their lives. Also, after blinding their attacker (which happened to be Poseidon's son) Poseidon develops a grudge against Odyssees. Odysseus is lucky to be such a beneficiary of the gods blessings. Without their blessings it would be a lot more obvious that he is an immoral character.

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  14. I don't think that Odysseus was a moral man. But one would think that all men want to be moral. Well, I doubt that Odysseus intended to be immoral. It was his actions and ways that that gave him the label that he wasn't a benefactor to most people. His actions clearly showed that he wasn't an introvert but was very extrovertly cunning when trouble or adversity arises. A very honorable example was how he tricked the cyclops in order to get out of the cave and off the island. The iconoclastic behavior shown by the cyclops while he held Odysseus and his crew captive, goes against most of all the rules of Xenia in the Greek culture. The supercilious behavior exhibited by Odysseus shows why he came back home from his odyssey with no men. These immoral qualities also show why Odysseus is stereotyped as immoral.

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  15. Odysseus is not a moral man by any standards. He is, in fact, a quintessence of an immoral man. After all, I hardly think that a moral man would cheat on his loving wise. I like to consider myself an extrovert, and I feel sorry for Penelope. All these years, she's faithfully waited for Odysseus, stalling the suitors that come to their home, and never once stops thinking about her husband. Meanwhile, Odysseus is doing what for 7 years? Cheating on her every night with the daughter of a titan, not even thinking about how his wife might feel about his lack of loyalty. Odysseus is supposed to be one of the greatest Greek heroes of mythology, yet he acts in such an unholy fashion that one wonders how strong his motivation to leave the island was at all. It seems as though Odysseus was procrastinating coming home and wanted to spend more time flirting with a sylph. Once again, this does not seem like a very heroic or moral quality to have. Morality does not seem to be something important from Odysseus. Basic ethics would stop someone from behaving as poorly as Odysseus behaved throughout the book; with his sardonic comments towards Polyphemus and overall supercilious attitude throughout the book. He can't stop boasting of his sinful feats in a braggadocio fashion. Is boasting not sinful; not immoral and unethical? Boasting is proof of excessive pride, or hubris. And would a moral man not choose a path of truth rather than spend his whole life spinning lies to please other people? This introvert; this sorry excuse for a man is in no way moral.

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  16. I do not believe that Odysseus was a moral man. He has many flaws in his character, not just as a hero but as a person as well. However, even though we see him as immoral today, things that he did in the book may not of been considered immoral during his time. Today, we see Odysseus as an iconoclast of our laws and traditions such as being married and committed to one person. Odysseus is also very witty and at some times, quite sardonic with his wit and come backs for example, he told the cyclops that his name was Nobody so the cyclops could not call for help. Odysseus also seems very capricious sometimes, even though we see him as a very strong leader. Odysseus also seems like an extrovert in someways because of his leadership and boldness throughout his odyssey.

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  17. I think Odysseus is a moral man, because he never leaves a man behind. Him and his crew were stuck on the island of Aeaea with the bewitching nymph, Circe. Circe was like an amazon. She was fierce.She turned Odysseus' crew members into pigs. Odysseus could not just leave the men who had worked so hard to survive with him this far. Odysseus, being the extrovert that he is, openly defied Circe's great powers with the herb from the giant-killer Hermes. Circe immediately knew that Odysseus was an iconoclast. No other man had ever withstood all her spells and trickery. Circe then agreed to set his crew members free and even showed them Xenia. Odysseus bravely walked into a dangerous situation to save his friends. I think this makes Odysseus a moral man.

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  18. In most cases, I would agree that Odysseus is not a moral man. Although this is true, I believe that he has a hidden benevolent side to him. When he is in a tough situation, he usually uses his sardonic wit to get of it which makes him immoral. At other times, he is willing to stand in the face of danger in order to save his men. I think that this strong headed part of him, makes him a moral man. While Odysseus spent time with Calypso, he portrayed an iconoclast. He cheated on his faithful wife when she didn't know. In many ways, in my opinion, Odysseus could be considered moral or immoral depending on the way you interpret his behavior.

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  19. In my opinion, Odysseus is usually not a moral man. He is an introvert. His only interest is in himself. He does not seem to care about his crew. His actions do not seem to be beneficial to anyone but himself. Even though Calypso did hold Odysseus and his men on the island of Ogygia, Odysseus did give into her, which only made Calypso want ti keep Odysseus and his crew longer. Eventually, they were released. Odysseus is rarely an extrovert. He barges in Polyphemus' home and steals all the food. This just proves how self-absorbed he was and how he thinks his needs are more important. He is not a mortal man, in my opinion.

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  20. Odysseus can be a moral man, but usually chooses not to be. He is beneficial to his crew, but only when he is also a benefactor, such as in the Cyclopes' cave. However, he is an extrovert when it comes to women. Practically every woman he meets promptly falls in love with him. Even though he already has a wife, he stays with them.

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  21. Odysseus is definitely not a moral man. He cheats on his wife, and when he is with Circe he procrastinates to stay with her. The gods are superciliously hating Odysseus, and making his journey home terrible. They are acting like Odysseus is their nemesis. That is why he is in all the situations with these women, but in general he has too much hubris and is really making the gods angry.

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  22. When thinking about Odysseus, I don’t immediately think of him as a moral man. One thing I would think of Odysseus is that he is an introvert, mostly thinking about himself all the time. Although he cried a lot because he missed Ithaca while on Calypso’s island, he would turn around and sleep with her. Odysseus would cheat on his wife almost every night. While Penelope would stay loyal to him in Ithaca, while at the same time dealing with many nemeses, the suitors. Odysseus was very capricious. You may think you’ve tricked him or in Circe’s case, drugged him, but he quickly goes from vulnerable to turning the trick on them. He outwits them with his cleverness when it’s unexpected. The Cyclops thought he had Odysseus and his men under control but Odysseus formulated a plan and blinded him.

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  23. I do not believe that Odysseus is a moral man. Odysseus is a nemesis to many other men. And thinks highly of himself being an introvert. He is also supercilious when he cries at the gathering. The guests at the event are also very sardonic or at least thats what Odysseys had though because the things they thought the war were all wrong. He was also iconoclast when he fought in the war.

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  24. Odysseus was not what we consider to be a moral man. He thought about himself before the rest of his men. He would only do something when he would be the benefactor. He would never think of the perils his men would face. He thought that he was above the rest of his men, making him very supercilious. When Odysseus had not announced who he was, the Phaecians were being very sardonic about Odysseus and the Trojan War. When Odysseus did not lash out at them he showed some self control that was unexpected.

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