Who is Odysseus? by Odysseus Bostick

As a namesake for the hero of the Odyssey, I frequently am asked
1) have you read the book and 2) what does your name mean? As I was named by a father who passed away fairly soon after, I cannot really give a specific answer. So I ask:

Who is Odysseus? I do not ask you to retell me the events of the story but I do want to know what this character means to you? Who is he in your mind?

Your insight is invaluable. As devotees to this amazing book, you have clearly defined opinions and a personal association to him so your answers, in a manner, can tell me more about this name my father chose for me.

The first thing that comes to mind is the Homeric epithet "resourceful". Odysseus is the one that comes up with clever tricks and schemes to attain his goals. In the fashionable language of today, people might say he had the ability to "think outside the box". As a corollary, Odysseus is often dishonest and manipulative.

If you haven't read the Odyssey yet, you really should. It's probably the single work that gives the most insight into the character of Odysseus, and it's probably the single work that most influenced everybody's opinion of Odysseus. Some other works that would give insight into his character are Homer's Iliad, and the tragedies Philoctetes and Ajax by Sophocles.

I hope this helps.

What an interesting question!

Would you then liken the Odysseus character to Tom Sawyer?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by odysseusbostick

Would you then liken the Odysseus character to Tom Sawyer?

---

Hey, that is an interesting comparison. Never thought about it that way.

It might be interesting to compare Odysseus to Tom Sawyer, but I'm not very familiar with Tom Sawyer. My impression of Odysseus, however, is very unlike my impression of Tom Sawyer.

When I said Odysseus is resourceful, clever, etc., I guess I only meant that those are the characteristics that set Odysseus apart from the rest of the heros in Homer's epics. Fundamentally, however, Odysseus was a noble hero.

The glaring difference that I see between Odysseus and (my impression of) Tom Sawyer is that Tom Sawyer was a youth in an adult world, outside the establishment. Odysseus, on the other hand, was an acknowledged leader, and well established and respected in his community. This difference seems to me to be more fundamental than the fact that they both had clever schemes.

I'm very interested in what others think, though, since I haven't read Mark Twain for many years.

When I think of Odysseus, I think of a sneaky, crafty, and intelligent man, but also a man whose love for his wife is almost Gatsby'ish.

Ah, Odysseus. In Greece (well in Greece thousands of years ago) there were two main heroes:

Hercules
and
Odysseus

Hercules was strong and he was a half god.

Odysseus was 100% Human. He was pretty strong, but what really got him attention was his mind. He had to make tough decisions and most of the time he made the right one. He sometimes was wrong though, because he was human[I]. Odysseus was the main hero for Athens because Athens was a big city in which the strength of the mind is valued over the physical strength. His name was derived from the Greek word "ego" which means self and Odysseus reflected the best person. His courage, wisdom, intelligence and endurance enable him to come through each and every difficulty and bring him home safely.

From the greek


Ὀλυσσεύς, Λαερτιάδης


possibly meaning 'he who's hated' or 'cursed one,' son of Laërtes.