Protagonist 6t5t3g

Protagonist Odysseus Odysseus is our hands-down protagonist. For starters, the book is called the Odyssey. Homer also makes it explicit that Odysseus is handsome, brave, smart, and an allaround nice guy. Typical classical hero. We also spend the majority of our time following his plotline. We sympathize with him, hate Poseidon for making his life so difficult, and want him to get home already and so he can get rid of all those suitors. However, Odysseus, like any man (or god, given what we’ve seen in the Odyssey), has flaws – one in particular: hubris, or excessive pride. It is this flaw that gets Odysseus into trouble several times with both mortals and immortals, imperils his journey, and complicates his difficulties – but it also makes him human and, in short, an ideal protagonist. Antagonist The Suitors (especially Antinoös and Eurymachos) Throughout the entire epic, the suitors are in the process of eating poor Penelope and Telemachos out of house and home. They transgress all traditional ideas of honor by proposing marriage to a woman still waiting and grieving for her husband. They don’t show any respect to the man of the house, Telemachos. They also beat up beggars. Antagonist Poseidon Poseidon is a more conventional antagonist; he has a lot more power than the mortal Odysseus and uses it against him for purposes of vengeance (over that whole Cyclops thing). Poseidon is a more distant villain than the suitors, working his magic from afar and never confronting Odysseus face-to-face for any sort of showdown. Of course, this makes it difficult for Odysseus to best or beat Poseidon in any sort of traditional way; instead, he must make peace with his enemy after suffering the hardship of his punishment. Guide/Mentor Athene Did you notice how Athene takes the disguise of a man named Mentor? No, this wasn’t Homer being blatantly obvious – the word "mentor" actually comes from the Odyssey. Props to Homer. That means that Athene and the role she plays largely defines what we think if as the Guide or Mentor role – the goddess is counselor, champion, cheerleader, and beautician for the mortals she favors.

Foil Klytaimestra, Aphrodite, and Penelope These first two women listed are unfaithful wives. We sort of understand Aphrodite's situation because she’s the goddess of love. Klytaimestra, on the other hand, is really bad news, as she not only cheated on her husband Agamemnon but killed him when he got back from war. Penelope, however, is a beacon of fidelity. These two adulteresses serve to highlight Penelope’s incredible virtue, which makes this a clear foil. Foil Odysseus/Telemachos and Agamemnon/Orestes The foil here is between these two father-son pairs. Agamemnon, as you all know, was killed by his wife and her lover and subsequently avenged by his son Orestes. Odysseus, while not killed, is dishonored and therefore similarly wronged, but in his case only by the suitors (the potential lovers of his wife). Telemachos struggles so much throughout the Odyssey because of his inability to avenge his father the way Orestes did his. He wants to pay the suitors back for disrespecting the name and property of Odysseus, but finds himself incapable of doing so. The parallel (if minor) story of Agamemnon’s death makes palpable for us Telemachos’s feelings of obligation.