The Odyssey is an epic poem written by a man called Homer who is said to have lived hundreds of years ago. In his 12,000-line story, he tells the adventure of a man named Odyssey who tries to return home after the war to his wife and son. He faces several forms of problems and deterrents that encompass everything from monsters to gods to humans. The reader can examine these events, symbols, motifs and relationships in the story between the different characters in the story to determine the theme of the story. Each part plays a role in shaping the themes, although it can sometimes be difficult for the reader to effectively analyze each part of the story. One of the most important parts, but also one of the hardest to understand, are the events. They may all have a different moral and a different lesson as they all come together to form a completely different central idea. One of the earliest, and most influential, events in the story is Odysseus' encounter with the cyclops named Polyphemus. This is an important event because it is the first event in which Odysseus loses several of his men and his life is also in danger of being lost. His cunning and intelligence are revealed through his trickery with the Cyclops, although the reader is also exposed to his hubris. Odysseus is a great warrior because of his ability to plan and think, which the reader saw when he devised the plan that allowed them to harm the giant and then escape his harmful rule and return to their ship. Once they are a safe distance from the enraged and aggravated brute, Odysseus makes a grave mistake. He leans overboard and shouts to the island his name and where he comes from because until then Polyphe...... middle of paper ......ide, it was when he faced the Cyclops. He was so absorbed in the moment that he threw caution to the wind and shouted his name to Polyphemus. Aside from this situation, there haven't been many other times where it was Odysseus who got carried away by pride; normally it was his team. These two themes are pretty good representations of the poem, although they would be nothing without the events, motifs, and events that support them. They all combine to tell a sweeping, epic story that has stood the tests of time and still remains a stunning and astonishing tale of good and evil. It's amazing to think that someone from hundreds of years ago could sum up almost all the pitfalls and highlights of human life in a single poem. It was, however, achieved, and all in a single literary work of 12,000 lines written in 8 B.C...