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.

They are not
heroes from the birth.

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

shore she both helps him by magical and divine helps and also guides him disguised as a girl. In the novel Odyssey there are honorable mentions of characters as mentors which another one is the blind prophet Teiresias, who Odysseus met in the underworld. As we see "Noble Odysseus, you are seeking return home, and return is very sweet, but there is a god who will make it hard for you. I mean the Earthshaker; I am sure you will not escape him unseen, … " (Homer 130) although it is not directly a command or a suggestion but it is an indirect guidance to the hero through telling his/her fate. But beside the very presence of a mentor, there other components that make a hero as well, characteristics, for instance.

The more the reader goes through the novel the more he/she sees Homer's appreciation of
intelligence, bravery and integrity. A person can show his/her integrity in countless ways which
one of them is loyalty. Not all heroes but many of them are known due their resistance in front of strong temptations that will enslave every other human being toward themselves and this is why
those heroes are distinct. When Odysseus refuses Calypso's offer of immortality and youth
exchanging with him being her husband we see an unbreakable loyalty in the character of
Odysseus, his loyalty to his wife and his home. Another occasion where Odysseus shows his
loyalty is when he goes to find and rescue his crew in Circe's island where they are turned into
swine by the witch Circe.

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

hero is that he faces challenges that make him a hero.

The poem Odyssey itself is almost made of challenges. The hero is either overcoming a
challenge or pursuing one. Challenges are in fact the main components of a heroic archetype because they are what make the hero worthy of the word 'hero'. These challenges distinguish the hero from a regular human being. The very first and the most important challenge of Odysseus which includes many other challenges is returning home or removing the obstacles between him and his homeland. Although ranking the challenges based on importance are subjective but there are two challenges that worth discussing, his several years of living with Calypso and his confrontation with Scylla ach Charybdis. When Odysseus got to the island of Calypso, Ogygia, she gave him an offer. The offer was to remain young and become an immortal one and the price was to become Calypso's husband. Odysseus, as man and as a human being, has both loyalty to his wife and temptation to become immortal and live an everlasting life with a goddess. Not every challenge in heroes journey is physical with muscles involved. Odysseus finds himself in front of a crossroad, living the immortal life with the beautiful goddess Calypso, or returning to his wife, his son, and his homeland. As we see, "The goddess welcomed me lovingly,tended me, offered me immortality and eternal youth; yet she never won the heart within me. I remained with her for seven full years, and watered with continual weeping the celestial garments that she gave me" (Homer 81) finally, Odysseus decides to return home and loyalty defeats temptation which gives a heroic face to Odysseus and distincts him from the regular man who would possibly accept the offer of Calypso. His confrontation with Scylla and Charybdis is an intellectual challenge. When he faces these two creatures together, the best option is to avoid both but he can't. So he chooses the most harmless way both for himself and his crew by letting the six headed monster Scylla eat six of his crew instead of letting Charybdis to shipwreck him. This power of making decisions shows Odysseus both as a good leader and as an admirable hero.

To sum up, there are countless traits and events in the novel Odyssey that indicate the
very presence of heroic archetype. Odysseus journey itself and the challenges that he faces in his way to his home Ithaca, Calypso's temptrous offer for instance, with the help of his heroic traits of loyalty, intelligence and bravery, make an iconic hero of Odysseus and fulfill the criteria of heroic archetype. Although we might never find out what was exactly in the creative mind of Homer, but he successfully made a hero that has no supernatural power himself neither he is a god but indeed he is a man with love, emotions, temptations and wrong deeds.