The Odyssey

Brains over Brawn

For the first half of the Odyssey, what fascinated me the most about the epic poem is the persuasive rhetoric of Odysseus. There are several examples which highlight the ways in which persuasive speech is use by Odysseus. The first example can be read in book five, when Odysseus explains to Calypso why he wants to return to Ithaca. Throughout book five, Odysseus uses flattery and sympathetic pleas to ask for his release. Even though Zeus had already decreed his release, Odysseus by using his rhetoric gives no reason for Calypso to disobey Zeus's orders, and in a way he comforts her loss of him.

Another example of Odysseus's cunning and skillful speech is when he washes up on shore on Scheria and meets Princess Nausikaa. From book six, "I beseech thee, O queen, - a goddess art thou, or art thou mortal? If though art a goddess, one of those who hold broad heaven, to Artemis, the daughter of great Zeus, do I liken thee most nearly in comeliness and in statue and in form? But if thous art one of mortals who dwell upon the earth, thrice blessed then are thy father and thy honored mother, and thrice blessed thy brethren." Odysseus with this speech again demonstrates his skill rhetoric and his ability to fit his words to his audience. In order to get the confidence of the princess, Odysseus carefully constructs his speech to reassure her that he will not attack her by alluding to the virgin goddess Artemis. Unlike in the Iliad, much of the prowess attributed to the heroes in the Odyssey are more intellectual and witty. In the Odyssey a hero's wit and cunning sense is their strength, exampled by Odysseus.