Abraham Lincoln Epic Hero Essay

Epic heroes are in the epic poems of the Odyssey and the Iliad, but they are also in our history books. There are many epic heroes in our past but society often does not recognize them, even though they have the very same epic hero traits as Odysseus and Achilles. What is an epic hero exactly? It means the person or character has some of the epic hero traits, the traits include: a noble birth, capable of deeds of great strength and courage, being a great warrior, travels over a vast setting, national heroism, humility, and faces supernatural foes or gets supernatural help. Abraham Lincoln has earned the status of epic hero because he had national heroism, he was a great warrior, and he was capable of deeds of great strength and courage.

Having national heroism is more than just fighting for the honor of a country or a family. Abraham Lincoln was an example of this. Lincoln is considered by many as a national hero, “Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 to April 14, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States and is regarded as one of America's greatest heroes due to his role as savior of the Union and emancipator of the slaves.” “Lincoln”. Even though Abraham Lincoln was the commander and chief of the US army, he was also very kind in his reunification with the south. Abraham Lincoln not only had national

heroism he had many other epic traits.
Another of Abraham Lincoln's other traits is being a warrior for the causes he believed in.

such as fighting for the freedom of slaves. Lincoln was unafraid to use his power, “He distributed $2 million from the Treasury for war material without an appropriation from Congress; he called for 75,000 volunteers into military service without a declaration of war; and he suspended the writ of habeas corpus, arresting and imprisoning suspected Confederate sympathizers without a warrant.” “Lincoln”. He was completely ready to go war to try and reunify the nation. He turned the north into a war machine. Abraham Lincoln was a strong warrior and he had deeds to

match.
He was capable of great deeds and courage like so many heroes before him. He completely changed the purpose of the civil war from reunifying the nation to the freedom of slaves. “One of his greatest deeds was changing the goal of the civil war was to abolish slavery, “Lincoln evoked the Declaration of Independence, saying it was up to the living to ensure that the “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth,” and this Union was “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” “Lincoln”. Lincoln fought for a larger cause than just for the north and keeping the union together, he fought for the freedom of slaves. Abraham Lincoln had many great deeds completed by him by the time he was assassinated.
Lincoln definitely fits in among the great warriors like Odysseus because he had national heroism, he was a great warrior, and he was capable and completed deeds of great strength and courage. Lincoln embodies the traits of: national heroism, being a warrior, and being capable of and completing deeds of great strength and courage. When people usually say epic hero they usually think of the heroes in stories or movies, and not the ones like Abraham Lincoln and the other historical heroes so I wanted to write about how Abraham Lincoln is an epic hero too.