A Reminder of Manhood in The Odyssey

A Reminder of Manhood Throughout Homer's epic work, The Odyssey, Odysseus encounters temptations of beautiful women and the promise of immortality. Under the price of having to sacrifice his manhood, Odysseus is willing to abandon his homeland, one of the ways in which manhood was defined in the ancient world, to live in eternal bliss. Calypso, Circe, and the Sirens are all examples of the beautiful women whom Odysseus must face and overcome in order …

…cunning temptresses. In order to force him in the right direction, Odysseus seems to need an extra push or a little nudge from some outside source. If the involvements of divine beings, his crew, and Circe were not acting as a driving force, a force that pushed him to regain his identity as a man, Odysseus would have lost sight of ever returning home, due to his susceptibility, his human fault, to succumb to temptation.