Archetype In The Odyssey Essay

Archetypes are present in a manifold of literary works and each have a specific way of being an archetype. But an archetype that can be the most complex and common is a heroic archetype due to the fact that it has the most important role in every story that has a hero in it. From numerous criteria that a heroic archetype might have, the poem Odyssey contains the existence of a mentor to guide the hero, the characteristics that make hero which are bravery, intelligence and integrity, in this poem the hero confronts challenges that prove his toughness as hero. All these components together prove that the poem Odyssey does include heroic archetype and Odysseus in the hero. It cannot be called a must have but most of heroes have and had mentors.

Beside occasion and conflicts that make a character hero as a consequence of solving them, one of the other components of a hero is that he/she has a mentor. The reason of the mentors presence can be different but it primarily aims to show that the hero is in fact a human being not a supernatural one. It implies that also a hero might make mistake. The human nature of a hero helps the reader to make a connection with the hero. A hero goes to the right path and another responsibility of mento is to ensure that the hero pursues the right path.. In the novel Odyssey there are few characters who fulfill the criteria of mentor. The most important mentor in the Odyssey is Athena, the daughter of Zeus. She helps Odysseus and his son Telemachus. In the very first chapters of the poem we see Athena disguised as Mentes, an old friend of Odysseus, giving advice to Telemachus "Tell the suitors they must disperse to their own estates; as for your mother, supposing her heart is set on marriage, let her go back to her father's house - he is a powerful prince - and her kinsmen will prepare the wedding and charge themselves with the many gifts that go with a beloved daughter." (Homer 3) As we see Athena guides Telemachus to take care of the situation of his property and his father. But the validity of mentor is when the mentor guides the hero which is also present in the poem. For instance, in the land of Phaeacians where the wanderer Odysseus is half conscious on a

As described in the novel "… I came close to Circe's house and neared the palace of enchantress, I was met by golden-wanded Hermes … He seized my hand and spoke thus to me: "Luckless man, why are you walking thus alone over these hills, in country you do not know? Your comrades are yonder in Circe's grounds; they are turned to swine, lodged and safely penned in the sites. Is your errand here to rescue them?" (Homer 120) Odysseus has two characteristics that are implied by his action which is going to rescue his crew in an unknown and hostile land as the tone of Hermes described. These two are bravery and loyalty. Odysseus is loyal to his men because otherwise he could easily leave them with Circe and continue his journey on his own.On the other hand he is brave and his bravery is what makes him easily undergo high risks and dangers in his journey. The characteristic that Homer shows most in this poem is the intelligence of Odysseus. The best and the most memorable sign of Odysseus's intelligence is in his confrontation with Poseidon's son Polyphemus, a Cyclops. In his confrontation with Polyphemus introduces himself to the angry Polyphemus as 'nobody'. In the end of cave scenes "My name in Noman, Noman is what my mother and father call me; so likewise do all my friends." (Homer 108) we see that Odysseus introduces himself as 'no body' or 'Noman' to protect himself and his crew from being recognized by Cyclops. But the last and biggest criteria of a