Odyssey Response Paper - 1240 Words

True wisdom is an understanding or insight into human nature, and knowing how we should act based on our nature. The Odyssey is a story that has many examples of true wisdom in it. The story does this by following the progression of Odysseus, a Greek war hero, growing in wisdom over the course of his journey. Odysseus undergoes many hardships and struggles, and through these he grows in wisdom. At the end of his journey Odysseus has many problems at his home, where he hasn’t been in twenty years, and there he uses his wisdom to solve these problems correctly. Homer’s first line in the Odyssey introduces Odysseus as a man who is never at a loss. â€Å"This is the story of a man, one who was never at a loss† (p. 1). This line is ironic because throughout the story Odysseus is in fact at a loss. The reason this is the case is because Odysseus, who is a very clever man, lacks wisdom. This is evident through the many poor decisions he made, showing that he hadnâ€℠¢t truly understood human nature, until he learned from the mistakes of him and his friends. â€Å"Next they wanted to make haste and drive the kids and lambs out of the pens and get under sail. But I would not listen-indeed it would have been much better if I had† (p. 110). Here, Odysseus is too rash and he makes a bad decision which results in death, but he learns from it and recognizes the danger of pride on fallen human nature. However he was a very cunning man, which is shown in many of his travels, by his ability he is able toShow MoreRelatedThe Odyssey Response Paper1880 Words   |  8 PagesTrue wisdom, according to the Odyssey, is having the ability to reflect on your experiences and tradition, and then doing what ought to be done in similar situations based on the virtues you learned and gained through these insights. 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