The Odyssey Moral Values Essay Example (2024)

The Odyssey Moral Values The Odyssey by Homer uses Odysseus’ 10-year journey home from the Trojan War to illustrate some of the most important moral values of book. The moral values in the story include loyalty, compassion, self-control and perseverance. Each one has a tale or two associated with it. Loyalty is an important moral value in The Odyssey because Odysseus is devoted to his family. He is determined to return home to his wife despite all of the obstacles in his way. Odysseus stayed seven years with the beautiful nymph Calypso on her island.

She bribes him with immortality and happiness but he refuses her offer because he loves his wife and wants to go home to her. Penelope remains faithful and loyal to Odysseus despite temptations from the suitors in her house. She refuses the suitors’ proposal of marriage and does not have any affairs. The suitors do not leave Penelope in peace and, “every suitor swore to lie beside her” (Book 1) but “Spurn them she dare not” (Book 1) because she does not want to destroy her home and family.

She constantly weeps for Odysseus and never gives up hope that he is still alive will return someday. Telemachus is another example of loyalty because he stands by his father against the suitors. Eurycleia, the old nurse, remains loyal to both Penelope and her Odysseus, who has been gone for 20 years. Eumaeus, the swineherd, and Philoetius, the cowherd, are both loyal to Odysseus. Eumaeus is most hospitable to Odysseus, when he is disguised as a beggar. Eumaeus speaks about the royal family in a respectful manner and hates the suitors.

Compassion is moral value that Homer writes about in The Odyssey. Odysseus is a compassionate man despite his aggressive and violent behavior during the war and the fights he has against the monsters on his journey. He displays his soft side when Demodocus sings about the Trojan War. Odysseus remembers his comrades who died in the war and starts to cry: “Odysseus clutched at his long purple cloak with his great hands, and dragged it over his head to hide his handsome face, ashamed lest the Phaecians see the tears pouring from his eyes. (Book 8) Self-control is a strong moral value that Odysseus displays in Book 12 when he passes the island of the Sirens. Circe tells Odysseus that no man has ever heard the song of the Sirens and lived to tell the tale. But Odysseus can if he simply puts wax in his crew’s ears and ties himself to the mast as to not be lured by them. Odysseus also shows self-control when he holds himself back from killing Polyphemus, the Cyclops. He waits until the right moment when he can poke out his eye to blind him and escape.

Although some of his men were eaten and killed by Polyphemus, Odysseus’ self-control helps keep the remainder of his crew from being eaten. Homer’s book, The Odyssey' is a story of perseverance. Odysseus never gives up even when he is faced with obstacles that seem so difficult, such as escaping the Cyclops. Odysseus devises a plan to escape from the cave by riding under the bellies of sheep. Odysseus's perseverance is based on strength, intelligence, courage and determination. Penelope also has erseverance against the suitors in her house. For three full years, Penelope would weave a shroud for her father-in-law's eventual funeral. She claimed that she would make a decision as soon as the shroud was finished. By day she worked on it, but at night she unraveled what she had done. There are many moral values in The Odyssey. Each one has a few stories to tell and each one lets the reader know a little more about the characters’ personality. The choices and action that he/she makes describes the moral values.