#8217; court listening to his story. Odysseus tells the story in the book because it follows the oral tradition, as if he is talking to you directly, like in the antiquity. The use of Odysseus is also helpful to the audience because it brings the action of the story to us. The audience gets a primary source for the actions that took place, therefore the audience is more involved and the source is more credulous because it involves the primary source, Odysseus. Odysseus is a “tragic hero”, according to Aristotle in The Book of Poetics, because of certain aspects that Odysseus has. Aristotle says that a tragic hero is a relatively noble character with one fatal, tragic flaw. The hero is a common man, in between pure evil and pure goodness, and the purpose of the story is to reinforce the moral framework of the society during those ages. A strong example of Odysseus’s “tragic hero” characteristic is in the story of the Cyclopes, Polyphemus. The audience can see Odysseus’s tactile ways when he gets the Cyclopes drunk with wine and slowly he falls into a deep sleep, and he stabs in the eye with a spear, and says his name is “Nobody.” Odysseus finally escapes from the giant, hiding underneath the belly of the sheep. However, as he sails away, Odysseus’s pride overcomes him and he mocks the Cyclopes and he yells out his real name. This act leads to his misfortune and costs him several more years away from home because Polyphemus’s father, Poseiden makes Odysseus’s journey even longer. Odysseus’s tragic flaw in this episode is his pride and gloating, even though he demonstrated heroic and clever abilities escaping from the giant.A pattern among the crew and Odysseus is also evident in his story. Odysseus’s crew plays a large role in the misfortune of Odysseus and eventually their own deaths. Throughout the story, the crew perpetually disobeys the instructions of Odyss...
