Examples Of Heroism In The Odyssey

In his epic, Odyssey, Homer reveals the monomyth of the hero named Odysseus faces by retelling his call to adventure, the many trials he must face, and his return to his family.
In order to brave the monomyth, or hero’s journey, one must become a hero by giving their all to the greater good at all costs. According to George Roche, “Real heroism requires courage. It entails peril or pain. Plainly, heroism also has a selfless quality. The hero's deed is ennobled not by courage alone, but by the call to duty or by service to others.” Jennifer Mcclinton-Temple states, “Being a hero is also a mental feat. It is the ability to be mentally tough and commit selfless acts toward others.” To complete a task a hero must have the willingness and mental capacity to do so. The departure, trials, and return of a hero on his journey are not only driven by the sheer force of heroic will to go on, but by a hero’s mental toughness as well.
Notably, the Odyssey is an epic that reveals heroic qualities in Odysseus as he fights off mythical creatures and his own countrymen on his return home from the Trojan War. According to Mark Dickson, “In the spiritual sense, Odysseus is a hero because he remains faithful and loyal to his wife and household. Although he

has been wandering away from home for almost twenty years, the only thing that keeps him alive is the thought of his wife and son that are back at home waiting for him.” Odysseus is a hero because he has strong morals. It is also believed that “The hero of the Odyssey, Odysseus, shows a consistent will to focus on his purpose and subordinate other aims or impulses to it. He is single-minded in the sense that he keeps his main purpose in mind and thinks back from that final goal through a complex network of means (and obstacles) to achieve it” (Barnouw 1). In order to achieve heroism, Odysseus must have the drive and intelligence to complete his journey. The combination of these traits in Odysseus represents his heroic qualities.
It is important to realize, the first step in the monomyth is the call to adventure the hero receives. According to Joseph Campbell, “Something shakes up the situation, either from external pressures or from something rising up from deep within, so the hero must face the beginnings of change.” This can be brought upon by a powerful influence like a vision or even something as small as a minor intuition, and it is vital that the hero listens to his feelings so that he may accept the call, and not lose in battle. According to Gordon Napier, the call to adventure is also seen as “some information, presented in the form of a problem, a challenge or a request, which is received by the hero and will require some form of action which takes him off into the unknown.” A hero is presented with a choice to accept a challenge and whether the hero accepts that challenge is up to him. The action required to embark on the quest is more often than not seen as the first payment and can be very difficult. In many cases it seems that the hero does not have a choice in the matter, as if everything is controlled by fate, but each time a hero is tasked with something, his decision alone can propel him forward or that much further backwards.
The second step in the monomyth is the road of trials, or the initiation the hero must face on his journey. According to Joseph Campbell, “the hero is tested and sorts out allegiances in the Special World” and “ confronts death or faces his or her greatest fear.” In this phase, the hero has engaged in his first battle, has reached the point of no return, and must face a new challenge each greater than the last. The trials are designed to imitate a heroes greatest moves, prey on your greatest fears, and outsmart you in every way. Gordon Napier explains that “the hero has to prove himself worthy and earn the right to achieve transformation” and the trials “are designed to expose the Hero’s vulnerabilities and prepare him for greater ordeals yet to come.” The hero’s journey is not just about getting home and conquering the enemies, but about proving himself worthy of even continuing at all. The trials are impossible, but that is what defines the hero, doing the impossible.
The third step in the monomyth is the return with elixir. Joseph Campbell states that a full return is achieved when “the hero returns home or continues the journey, bearing some element of the treasure that has the power to transform the world as the hero has been transformed.” The elixir that the hero returns with is way of saying that the hero must have achieved something from his journey either mental or physical. This prize that is achieved is not only beneficial to the hero, but to everyone around him because it can be used to teach others the same knowledge the hero has received. Gordon Napier defines the final return as freedom to live which means “freedom from negative emotions which pull the hero away from living in the moment. Negative emotions such frustration, sadness, shame, fear, depression, doubt, and despair are banished and instead he is able to celebrate the victory.” This stage in the return the is the very last feeling the hero experiences and this is what was fighting for, not just a return home, but a return to inner peace. This is also experienced on small scale during the hero’s trials to be glimmer of hope for all. The journey ends with a large wave of euphoria and provides humanity a taste of what is to come after a just life on Earth.
Odysseus’ call to adventure, long awaited for in Ogygia, gives him the opportunity to escape the island and return home.

Homer writes about, “How Odysseus is first very angry with his captor Calypso, because when she says he can leave he thinks she is playing a trick and that the raft given will sink at sea” (Homer 5. 173-178). Odysseus has been captive for a while so he initially has trouble accepting the truth. Homer tells how, “Odysseus’ heart sang as he spread to the wind, as he spread to the wind, and he steered with the rudder, a mariner aboard his craft” (Homer 5. 269-271). Finally, Odysseus is free to start his adventure and his vigor and purpose are back up to full strength. Nothing will stop Odysseus from returning home

now.
Odysseus’ first trial is his unexpected encounter with the Polyphemus the Cyclops while resting island on their way home. Homer conveys that, “Having failed to move the large boulder that Polyphemus put at the mouth of the cave, Odysseus moaned with sorrow until the morning” (Homer 9. 297-299) Polyphemus captured Odysseus and his men when he returned to his cave and intends to eat them. This first significant test of Odysseus and his men and it has already taxed them beyond their limits and they are forced to have the courage to wait it out. Homer transmits how, “The cunning Odysseus graciously offered Polyphemus all the wine in the ship’s hold, and then smooth talked Polyphemus into drinking more and more until he was drunk. As soon as the Cyclops passed out he thrust an olive wood stake deep into the fire, setting it ablaze, and he and his men stabbed him in the eye causing him to run screaming” (Homer 9. 369-381). Odysseus is very calm and collected in the heat of the moment and the victory over Polyphemus allows him to keep on going.
When Odysseus returns he must free his wife from lovesick suitors and regain his throne. Homer describes how “Odysseus returns to find some suitors attempting to court his wife, because of this he becomes furious, and he will hunt them down” (Homer 22. 38-44). Here comes Odysseus hoping for a hero’s welcome and low and behold he comes home to some suitors trying to take his wife on date. Odysseus did not cross an ocean, and fight monsters to come home to this, so he slays them all, just doing his heroic duty of rescuing a damsel in distress. Lastly, Homer writes about, “Odysseus’ guardian, Athena, who has been watching Odysseus closely, steps in to stop the Ithacans from revolting against Odysseus. She reminds them that he was the true king and has come to reclaim his throne” (Homer 24. 565-572). If Athena wouldn’t have helped, Odysseus would have to fight a lot longer to regain his throne. This last push finally gave Odysseus the homecoming he fought so hard to get. The elixir Odysseus brought back came in the form of vigor and affluence in the eyes of the gods when he quickly regained his wife and throne.
So what paragraph What goes around comes around. Odysseus followed everything on the monomyth to a tee, despite the rocky start. Surviving multiple trials of the magnitude seen in the Odyssey shows far courage can carry the hero. In the end, Athena helped grant him his kingship because he had made it so far.
Conclusion Odysseus demonstrated how true heroism and all the characteristics that follow, helped him complete his adventure, face many trials, and return home.