The Odyssey

In The Odyssey, Homer defines a person’s identity through linage and deeds. Odysseus introduces himself as Laertes’ son. This shows the importance of family and were you come from. This also shows that your actions don’t just affect you; they also affect your family. But identity is best defined by deeds. When Penelope address the suitors she says, “When you were boys, did your own fathers tell you nothing of what Odysseus was for them? In word and act impeccable, disinterested toward all the realm-though it is king’s justice to hold one man abhorred and love another; no man alive could say Odysseus wronged him” (Fitzgerald 73). This quote from Penelope shows that Odysseus was remembered as a great man and a good leader by the things he did. His actions are part of his identity just as his family is part of his identity.