History YMMV / TheOdyssey

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Some old sources and poems see Odysseus as a low coward who tricks his way out of fighting [[ARealManIsAKiller violently like a real man.]] The ''Edda'' even shows or posits the transformation of the Greek gods and heroes into the Norse ones -- and Odysseus transforms into the trickster, Loki, 'Lie-smith.'

* MartyTzu: Odysseus

** Also a bit of WritersCannotDoMath, given that a dog is extremely unlikely to live that long in an era without veterinarians.

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: When Telemachus asks Odysseus what kind of help they have for taking down the suitors, Odysseus basically says, "[[DivineIntervention We've got Zeus and Athena on our side.]] [[SarcasmMode Are you sure that'll be enough?]]"

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Odysseus effortlessly strings his bow after all the suitors have tried and failed, then passes Penelope's test by shooting an arrow through twelve axe handles, all while disguised as a beggar. He then reveals himself to the stunned suitors and proceeds to slaughter them like the dogs they are.
** ...with the help of [[BadassFamily his son]]. It's implied that if Odysseus didn't come back to clear them out, Telemachus would have done it on his own.
** Not to mention the help of Athena...
** Ah, the real crowner is what happens right after: Penelope tricking the world's greatest trickster into revealing his identity, and proving her fidelity to him at the same time.
** Also the story of how Penelope fooled the suitors for ''three years straight''. Truly she and Odysseus are a match made in Olympus.

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: When Penelope and Odysseus embrace, it's described in terms of a swimmer who comes crawling back onto the warm shore, "in joy, in joy, leaving the abyss behind."
** Made somehow even more poignant in that you would have every reason expect the shipwrecked sailor of the simile would be Odysseus, whose fate has literally been this, but the shipwrecked sailor it's talking about? Penelope.

** Also, nowadays the killing of the handmaidens who slept with the suitors and the goatherd who allied himself with them seems rather...unneccesary, and are cut from most retellings.

* MartyTzu: [[YourMileageMayVary Odysseus]]

** Also, nowadays the killing of the handmaidens who slept with the suitors and the goatherd who allied himself with them seems rather...unneccesary.

* TheWoobie:Odysseus he has to spend 20 years away from his family,many of which he's the last of his crew.

** [[ThePowerOfLove Argos is a ''very'' special dog.]]

* DesignatedHero: it's hard to see Odysseus as a hero

** Furthermore, Zachary Mason's ''TheLostBooksOfTheOdyssey'' is ''full'' of AlternativeCharacterInterpretation, such as the story from the POV of a solitary, gentle Cyclops, one where Odysseus [[UnreliableNarrator actually crafted most of the story up in his life as a bard,]] and one that posits that [[WildMassGuessing both]] ''[[WildMassGuessing The Iliad]]'' [[WildMassGuessing and]] ''[[WildMassGuessing The Odyssey]]'' [[WildMassGuessing are an extremely elaborate description of a chess game.]]

** Furthermore, Zachary Mason's ''The Lost Books of the Odyssey'' is ''full'' of AlternativeCharacterInterpretation, such as the story from the POV of a solitary, gentle Cyclops, one where Odysseus [[UnreliableNarrator actually crafted most of the story up in his life as a bard,]] and one that posits that [[WildMassGuessing both]] ''[[WildMassGuessing The Iliad]]'' [[WildMassGuessing and]] ''[[WildMassGuessing The Odyssey]]'' [[WildMassGuessing are an extremely elaborate description of a chess game.]]

* DesignatedHero: {{YMMV}}, but it's hard to see Odysseus as a hero
* IdiotPlot[=/=]PlotInducedStupidity[=/=]IdiotBall: {{YMMV}}, but it seems that a good deal of Odysseus's problems either come from his own stupidity, or at the very least his crew's. But he's already been stated to be a master tactician, and he worships frickin' Athena, patron goddess of [[TheSmartGuy Smart Guys]]. It's like every time they land on an island, Odysseus gets pegged in the face with [[IdiotBall the idiot ball]].

** Odysseus also suffers from this in places. Like when he and his men have successfully escaped the Cyclops, he turns around and starts insulting him. Fair enough, except he also told the Cyclops his name, his father's name, and where he lives. This is
a bit like slapping a gangster in the face and then giving him your wallet.

* MartyTzu: [[YourMileageMayVary Odysseus]]

** Odysseus also suffers from this in places. Like when he and his men have successfully escaped the Cyclops, he turns around and starts insulting him. Fair enough, except he also told the Cyclops his name, his father's name, and where he lives. This is a bit like slapping a gangster in the face and then giving him your wallet.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Some old sources and poems see Odysseus as a low coward who tricks his way out of fighting [[ARealManIsAKiller violently like a real man.]] The ''Edda'' even shows or posits the transformation of the Greek gods and heroes into the Norse ones -- and Odysseus transforms into the ChaoticEvil trickster, Loki, 'Lie-smith.'

** Odysseus also suffers from this in places. Like when he and his men have successfully escaped the Cyclops, he turns around and starts insulting him. Fair enough, except he also told the Cyclops his name, his father's name, and where he lives. This is a bit like slapping a gangster in the face and then giving him your wallet.

* IdiotPlot/ PlotInducedStupidity/ IdiotBall: {{YMMV}}, but it seems that a good deal of Odysseus's problems either come from his own stupidity, or at the very least his crew's. But he's already been stated to be a master tactician, and he worships frickin' Athena, patron goddess of [[TheSmartGuy Smart Guys]]. It's like every time they land on an island, Odysseus gets pegged in the face with [[IdiotBall the idiot ball]].

** Bit inaccurate, too: dogs seldom live for 20 years, even with modern veterinary care, and certainly ''not'' while living in their own filth.
*** [[ThePowerOfLove Argos is a ''very'' special dog.]]

** Bit of a WallBanger, too: dogs seldom live for 20 years, even with modern veterinary care, and certainly ''not'' while living in their own filth.