Odyssey

John C. Maxwell once said, “There are two kinds of pride, both good and bad. 'Good pride' represents our dignity and self-respect. 'Bad pride' is the deadly sin of superiority that reeks of conceit and arrogance.” In the Odyssey, Odysseus, the protagonist, embarks on a long and eventful journey back to his homeland. He comes across a Cyclops, the wrath of Poseidon, and being played tricks on by a witch-Goddess. Odysseus is very smart, brave, and strong and it is because of these qualities that he eventually makes it home through all of his trials and tribulations. Even though Odysseus has such great qualities, it is because of his hubris ways that his journey was so elongated and difficult.

There was no better example of Odysseus’s hubris than when he encountered the Cyclops Polyphemus. Odysseus and his men made many stops, one of which was to the land of the Cyclops. While there, they come across a cave that has many valuables and goods such as sheep, cheese, and milk. Instead of grabbing some goods and quickly leaving, Odysseus decides to stick around in the cave and take his time while in the cave. Things quickly go bad for Odysseus and his men as the Cyclops who lives in this cave is in fact Polyphemus, son of Poseidon. When Polyphemus arrives, he is hungry and eats two of Odysseus’s men and decides to keep them there as food for future meals. Odysseus refuses to stay there and be eaten. So the next day he gets Polyphemus drunk and tells him his name was Nobody. Polyphemus falls out and that is when Odysseus stabs him in the eye. Polyphemus begins losing it and begins yelling. The neighbor Cyclops here’s the yelling and comes to the cave and ask Polyphemus, “What is is brother? Is someone harming you?” Polyphemus responds, “It’s Nobody!,” so no one takes him serious and the other Cyclops leave. Odysseus and his men eventually escape hugging to the stomachs of the sheep. Once Odysseus has finally escaped and are back on there ships, his hubris ways take over him and he begins bloating about how he is the great Odysseus and how he has defeated a Cyclops and says, “If someone asks who did this, the name is Odysseus!” Polyphemus responds by throwing a boulder at the Odysseus’s ships, and prays to his father Poseidon that Odysseus suffers for what he has done. This is a prime example of Odysseus’s being hubris and derails his journey home. All he had to do was get on his boat, keep his mouth shut and sail away, but instead he decided to act all “big and bad” and in turn it back fired and made his so much more harder than it had to be.

Saint Augustine said, “It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.” Every man and woman has a fatal flaw, even the greatest of men and women. Odysseus flaw was his hubris and sometimes it worked in his favor, but for the most part it usually work against him. His journey home could have gone much smoother