The Odyssey essay question?

I have one major issue with the above: it relies entirely on the assumption that Odysseus is a virtuous character. The only Classical hero that I can think of who is genuinely virtuous is 'pious' Aeneas from Vergil's Aeneid. Though Odysseus may be preferable to the Suitors, you only have to look at his treatment of them over the course of books 23 and 24, killing suppliants and deliberately finding their priest to kill him, to see that he is far from virtuous.

When duplicity fails and Eurycleia notices his scar, he reacts by grabbing her by the throat and threatening to kill her. To me at least, Odysseus' cunning and duplicity arise from necessity, not virtue. Compare the story of the cyclops Polyphemus: Odysseus has to use his cunning to escape a situation brought about by his own greed for guest gifts, against the wishes of his own men, and brings about Polyphemus' curse through his own arrogant stupidity.

You could write a good enough essay with that introduction, which itself is undoubtedly well written; it is just that it would lack the depth of analysis of the poem to make it better than simply good.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.