In all honesty my view of Odysseus had changed throughout this play/epic. As the play started off, I felt deeply for Odysseus being kept away from his family through a string of mishaps and unfortunate events. But as the play went on, and the more Homer revealed the mindset of Odysseus and his infamous “polytropos” outlook, the more I began to doubt Odysseus’s true intentions. Odysseus has had continuously given in to desires with Calypso, Nausicaa and Circe and time and time again he had stretched out his stay at the islands.
But one might say that going against the Cyclopes and Scylla and many such monsters do showcase his intentions and desire to get back home. Instead, I believe this is just a part of his polytropos. He more often runs into such predicaments because of his own fault, i.e. leading his men on to kill the Sacred cattle of the Sun. Secondly, I believe his true concern is his own thrown/kingdom, I don’t really believe he cares much about his family but it is more of a concern to him that he was being dethroned by the suitors. This is where his true intentions really lie, his own greed for sexual desires, his hubris and his desire for power and wealth that are rooted back home.
As for Homer, I believe I asked this question in class too. It seems that though Homer writes and portrays Odysseus making poor decisions and or giving in to his desire for women, Homer actually wants to emphasize on the hardships that Odysseus actually endures to return back home. One monster after the other, storms hitting his ship and his crew that continuously slowed him down, but yet Odysseus manages a way out. Thus in doing so, Homer builds up Odysseus’ loyalty and true desire to get back home to his family.
I agree, my outlook on Odysseus, such as your’s, changed as the story went on. And what started out as sympathy, soon changed to distrust, as I saw him frolicking about seducing every women in sight and voluntarily staying with Circe for a year. This alone shows no indication that Odysseus was yearning to get back home. But, the same could be said for Homer, who wrote that Odysseus didn’t recognize his own kingdom, showing that Homer really didn’t believe Odysseus wanted to get home. Going so far as to write that Odysseus had to be reminded that he made it home and only then did he remember he what he was seeking and drop down on his knees to give thanks to the Gods.