Odysseus's Cleverness

Have you ever wanted someone to believe what you say? In “The Odyssey”, Homer uses internal dialogue, asyndeton, divine intervention, and epic epithets to characterize Odysseus as clever. Intelligence allows Odysseus to determine a way he can appeal to Naustika and persuade her to take him to Ithaca.

Internal dialogue and asyndeton are used to characterize Odysseus as clever to make Naustika, bring Odysseus to the town. When Odysseus wakes up, all the girls except Nausicaa run away at the sight of the naked man, Odysseus is, “debating inwardly what he should do: embrace this beauty’s knees in supplication? Or stand apart, and, using honeyed speech” (Homer 103).

This presents Odysseus’s cleverness because Odysseus thinks before he acts, he considers whether he should fall and hug Nastika’s knees or use his speech to convince her that he needs some help. He decides that he should use his eloquent speech instead because he realizes if he falls to his knees, it will make him seem like a beggar, which Naustika sees as unintelligent.

Odysseus wants to get home as soon as possible, so he does not want to do the wrong thing. Odysseus also uses, “honeyed speech”, so he can sweet talk Naustika to get her to do what he wants. This shows internal dialogue because it indicates what Odysseus is thinking and what his inner voice tells him. When Odysseus is praising her beauty, he tells her his situation and says, “twenty days, yesterday, in the wine-dark sea, on the ever- lunging swell, under gale winds, getting away from the Island of Ogygia” (Homer 104).

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Homer’s use of asyndeton develops Odysseus’s cleverness because it makes him seem defenseless, while he is begging for pity. He uses multiple phrases to show his empathy. He does this so Nausika can help him go to the town. This shows asyndeton because it leaves out several conjunctions from the sentence.

Epic Epithets and Divine Intervention are used to character Godize Odysseus as clever to make Naustika, bring Odysseus to the town. When Odysseus begins his speech towards Naustika he says, “I should say great Zeus’s daughter in your grace in presence” (Homer 103).

This quote shows Odysseus’s cleverness because he sweet-talks her so he can manipulate Nastika to do what Odysseus wants, which is to go home and have food and shelter. Odysseus calls Naustika, “great Zeus’s Odysseus’s daughter” so that he can have a better chance of going home because gods are considered the most beautiful things in the world, so calling someone the daughter of a god makes them want to listen to you. This relates to Epic epithets because, “great Zeus’s Odysseus’s daughter”, portrays Nausika as powerful which characterizes her. Odysseus relates Naustika to the gods when he says, “If one of those who dwell in the heaven, you are most near Artemis” (Homer 103). This quote shows Odysseus’s intelligence and cleverness because it shows that he knows about the gods and what they look like when Odysseus says that Naustika looks like Artemis. Describing someone like the daughter of god makes that person believe that they are beautiful. Odysseus deliberately does this so Nastika believes what he is saying and that she can take him home. This relates to divine intervention because it compares Nasutika to the god, Artemis.

In conclusion, Homer uses internal dialogue, asyndeton, divine intervention, and epic epithets to characterize Odysseus as clever. Intelligence allows Odysseus to determine a way he can appeal to Naustika and persuade her to take him to Ithaca.