Confidence In The Odyssey

Mark Twain once said, “All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.” This quote illustrates the idea that the hero’s achievements and journeys are largely based on their personal confidence level. The main character Odysseus from the epic poem The Odyssey, David Dunn from the movie Unbreakable, and Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games are all heroes that showed different confidence levels, which greatly influenced their achievements and journeys. Through the analysis of Odysseus, Katniss, and David, it becomes evident that a hero's path and ultimately the final outcome can be greatly affected by the strength of their confidence; having just the right amount of confidence is paramount when traveling

Too much confidence can cause a sense of arrogance, much like Odysseus. Not enough confidence can make you uninspiring and weak as a leader, much like David. People who live their own monomyth everyday, and have the right amount of confidence, achieve great things. Odysseus from the Odyssey had confidence in spades but did not have enough ignorance which had a major effect on not only his journey, but also that of those traveling with him. Although Odysseus achieved great things, he displayed too much confidence which put many people in harm’s way. In book 22 of the Odyssey, Death in the Great Hall, Odysseus massacred all of Penelope’s suitors just to make a statement that he was the best and no one was going to take his land or his beautiful wife away from him. Odysseus, overly confident, planned to destroy all of the suitors , “ Odysseus’ arrow hit him under the chin and punched up to the feathers through his throat”( Homer, 1256). He was so confident in his skills, that he had no second thought about killing these men who were acting upon Penelope’s request for a new husband, based on her misconception that Odysseus was dead. Instead of just announcing to the whole village that he was alive, his overconfidence dominated which

In these three stories, the hero's undergo different confidence levels. This can also pose the question, “did time and society have anything to do with this?” Yes, time has shaped the views and opinions that society has about confidence and how it affects the hero's journey. The storyline dating back the longest is the Odyssey. In this epic poem, Odysseus sets out on a quest in order to retake his homeland and return with his crew and himself still alive. This all took place after the fighting of the Trojan war. At this time, (about 1,180 B.C.), the people that held the higher power could basically do whatever they wanted. This led way to Odysseus becoming over confident and taking many men's lives just to show he was the most powerful. In comparison, the movie Unbreakable was set in a more present day plot.The main character David Dunn was told that he had the power to be unbreakable. After denying this proposal, David missed out on many opportunities he could have been helping society with his powers. Although he had some very big achievements, he could have done much more. Even though he has what some would say are “super human powers”, the story is set in a present day era. In this time, society was more nonchalant and really was in no rush to complete any task or help any of the people around them. The people in this time seemed to come to the conclusion that life was based more