Odysseus Loyalty In The Odyssey

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The base of a strong relationship is trust or loyalty. If there is no loyalty and trust, a relationship can not grow. In The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Robert Fagles, Odysseus has been gone due to the war in Troy for more than twenty years. Odysseus’ one desire is to make it home to his wife Penelope, and he will do whatever it takes. Odysseus’ loyalty is questionable throughout the book, because his actions are disloyal and rude to Penelope and others. Even though Odysseus’ reasoning behind his actions may indicate that he is loyal to his wife, his behaviors are inexcusable and disloyal to Penelope.
Odysseus is disloyal to Penelope when he sleeps with other women. There are a few occasions in The Odyssey when Odysseus is unloyal to Penelope. …show more content…
Sleeping with other people in a marriage is disrespectful and disloyal to the spouse. The base of a relationship is trust, so if Odysseus sleeps with other women all of the trust is lost. Another time that Odysseus sleeps with another women is when Calypso yells at Hermes about how the gods always kill or send away mortals “when goddesses sleep with [them]” (5.132) or in this case Odysseus. Odysseus just keeps sleeping with other women making it even more difficult for Penelope to forgive him if she finds out. This disloyalty is harsh and rude, and Penelope has the right to know. With that said, it is clear that--from time to time in The Odyssey--Odysseus does think fondly of Penelope. When Calypso begs Odysseus to stay with her, he says “my wise Penelope[,] she falls short of you / [. . .] [but Odysseus will] travel home” (5. 239-43). Here Odysseus is rejecting Calypso in favor of Penelope. But while he may have stood her up when he is given the option to return home, but his one kind deed does not forgive ten years of past actions. Even if he meant no harm and did these things to stay safe, but cheating on his wife is disloyal and unforgivable. Also, when Odysseus arrives at …show more content…
On Odysseus’ journey home he comes across the land of the cyclops and they make their “way to [a] cave/ [. . .] [and] explored” (9.241-44). Odysseus could have just kept going instead of stopping and searching. If he would have left right away he would have made it home a week earlier, but instead he wasted time and made his wife wait longer for his return. Odysseus wastes time many other times throughout the book like when Aeolus gave Odysseus a sack of wind Odysseus kept what was in the sack a secret making the crew curious, so “they loosed the sack and all the winds burst out” (10.52) because Odysseus did not tell them what was inside. Instead Odysseus could have been honest with his crew and instead of being blown back to sea when they could see Ithaca they could have made it home. Where Odysseus could have proceeded his life with Penelope and Telemachus. Odysseus often wastes time, but he does it to return home with wealth like in Ismarus Odysseus and his crew gains a “rich haul [that they] dragged away from the place” (9.47). Although Odysseus is already a king and is plenty wealthy from being at war and before war as well as his glory from coming up with the strategy to win. Instead of sacking cities he could have been traveling home to his wife and son. Not
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