Odysseus, the protagonist in Homer’s, The Odyssey, is a complicated character. He has many noble qualities but is certainly not flawless. The definition of an epic hero is a brave and noble character in an epic poem admired for great achievements or affected by grand events. By this definition Odysseus is an epic hero. He is in an epic poem, he shows intelligence in his strategic planning, is admired by his men, and many other mortals and gods, and is impacted by his interactions with the gods and other grand events. As he makes his way through one epic adventure after another Odysseus shows the reader why he is considered the archetype for all other epic heroes. Despite his character flaws, he preserves. His outstanding qualities seems …show more content…
to save him time and again and the reader can’t help but relate to his mortal failings. One of the grand events that Odysseus takes part in is his interaction with the Cyclopes. On the Cyclopes’ island our hero exhibits some of his best and worst traits. First of all, he never needed to go onto the Cyclopes’ territory. He and his men had goats to eat on the small island they were anchored at across for the Cyclopes’ main land. Odysseus, foolishly, led by his curiosity and impulsivity, takes a group of men to explore Polyphemus’ cave and eat his food. Once discovered, four of his men are eaten by the Cyclopes thanks to Odysseus’ actions. Though their capture was Odysseus’ fault he does save himself and the remaining men in the end by using some of his positive character traits like; cunning, bravery, and strategic planning skills.
Getting Polyphemus drunk and telling him that his name is “Nohbdy” is a very clever move on Odysseus’ part. The drink makes Polyphemus fall asleep and allows Odysseus and his men to gouge out his eye. When the cyclops calls out for help from his fellows they don’t come to his aid because he says, “Nohbdy, Nohbdy’s ticked me. Nohbdy’s ruined me!” (l. 320 p480 ) which the other cyclopes hear as “nobody.” Using more of his clever trickery, Odysseus then finalizes the escape by tying his men and himself underneath Polyphemus’ sheep so that they may exit the cave undetected. The getaway would have been complete at this point if one of Odysseus’ less favorable traits didn’t rear its head. When the crew is sailing away Odysseus can’t help calling back to Polyphemus and bragging about his cleverness, even giving the cyclops his true name. By doing this, the ships are almost recaptured and Polyphemus calls on his father, the god Poseidon to curse …show more content…
Odysseus. Odysseus takes part in yet another grand adventure on, Aeaea, Circe, the goddess’ island.
Here, Odysseus again exhibits both positive and negative character traits. First, he does show genuine care, concern, and bravery by going after his men and saving them from Circe. He also shows cleverness or guile when he tricks Circe by taking the antidote Hermes gives him and thus doesn’t subcome to her potion. Despite these noble actions, Odysseus next shows weakness by giving in to Circe’s request. He stays with Circe on her island eating, drinking, and conducting an affair for a whole year. This selfish decision delays the journey home that much
longer. The interactions Odysseus has with Polyphemus and Circe show that he is a man respected by his men, but can also put them in grave danger. He can be exceptionally brave, but also impulsive and selfish. Odysseus is an epic hero and goes on an amazing journey, but he, like all men is a flawed character despite all of his positive attributes. The very fact that Odysseus is flawed is why he is an archetype for other epic heroes. He is both larger than life and relatable at the same time. He may go places and meet gods and goddesses that other mortals never will, but he is far from perfect and so people can still feel a connection to him and stay engaged in his story.
There are numerous heroes throughout “The Odyssey,” but none of them are as significant as Odysseus. “The Odyssey” is a narrative poem written by Homer (around 800 and 600 BCE) to show the numerous adventures and experiences Odysseus goes through. Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus a prominent Greek epic hero is on a quest to return back to his home in Ithaca; to his wife Penelope, and his son Telemachus. Just like real life, not all heroes are picture-perfect; they all have imperfections. In this case, Odysseus is sometimes insolent, and discourteous; but he is still considered an epic hero because of the many heroic qualities he endures. Odysseus proves himself to be an outstanding hero in various ways such as showing loyalty, intelligence, bravery, strength, and courage which are all some of the most momentous qualities found in a hero. If a true hero can prove they are a true hero, makes them a true hero.
The question has been raised as to whether or not Odysseus, the hero of Homers The Odyssey, is an epic hero. An epic Hero portrays many classic properties, including being very strong and courageous. Odysseus is an epic hero, because he portrays many of these and other traits, such as having a goal that is foremost in his mind, and having descended into the underworld.
The epic poem The Odyssey, written by Homer, centers around the main protagonist Odysseus and his long journey back home. Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, returns home after defeating the Trojans in a ten year war. On his way back, he angers Poseidon, god of the sea, by blinding his son, Polyphemus the Cyclops. Due to Odysseus’ actions, Poseidon refuses to let Odysseus reach home, and Odysseus and his crew are forced to go through a series of obstacles throughout the epic. Through this adversity, Odysseus must show his heroic attributions in order to survive. Homer portrays Odysseus as a hero by giving him characteristics such as: craftiness, loyalty, and bravery.
People are heroes in different ways for different reasons. American soldiers are heroes because they fight boldly for their country. Corrie Ten Boom is also a hero because she took risks and saved hundreds of Jews. Abraham Lincoln is another example of a hero because he fought for what he thought was right and helped free all slaves. Similarly, Odysseus, the main character in Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, possesses all of these characteristics and many more, making him a true epic hero.
Odysseus, the epic hero blessed with great strength, intellect, and wit demonstrated that he was recognizable through his human error and flaw. Throughout the epic, Odysseus was well aware of his faults and did what was possible to control himself. His journey was a torment of temptations which he needed to overcome and each one of them challenged him to stay true and increased his will. While some of the temptations were just obstacles and others controlled his destiny, each one defined Odysseus. Odysseus evolved from a flawed man into an epic hero, overcoming his submission to temptation and receiving the ultimate glory he deserved.
Odysseus is one of the many first renowned Greek heroes’ for his intellect and strength. This is one of the key features of an epic. The person being regarded must be extraordinary. Odysseus was highly regarded for his ability to reason, he often is view as patient in this epic, and compared to us or anyone else we can just try to have patience. His patience saved him and his men many times and also gave him time to study and evaluate tactics. So Homer has to make Odysseus greater than great by giving him these attributes that no normal human can posses. The epic begins with Odysseus defeat and defeated tragedy. After ten years he still has not return home to Ithaca & is being held captive by Calypso, which introduces the Supernatural of epics into the poem another key ingredient of epics. Athena as well is introducing in the begging disguised as Odysseus old friend entering his kingdom to reveal the chaos of the city without their King. This shows how much of a great man he was that only he can run a city and no one can take his...
He was prideful, strong, exhibited eloquence, endurance, and shrewdness. He was also considered wise, resourceful, endurant, and courageous. However, he was also egocentric, self-centered, and prideful. As the Son of Laertes of Ithaca, and father to Telemachus, he was also a war hero and a king as well as a leader to his crew. As husband to Penelope not have seeing her for twenty years he dreamed of getting back to her. His strengths were that he was cunning and witful. However, he did have a bad weakness. His worst weakness was his curiosity. Curiosity itself is okay because everyone gets curious, but Odysseus had curiosity without boundaries. He let his curiosity get the best of him, for example when he and his crew encountered the Sirens. Odysseus also encountered many challenges. He escaped Calypso, he was let free by Hermes who convinced Calypso to let him go, faced Sirens, by keeping himself tied down beeswax over his crew’s ears so that they couldn’t hear the song and wouldn’t be lured by the sirens, defeated Scylla and Charybdis, though he did overcome this challenge his ship was destroyed and he remained living on a plank of wood remains from his ship, he also defeated a room full of suitors, because Athena, his mentor, gave him the strength to defeat them, but she also helped him along with others. Like in the Hero’s Journey Odysseus faced
The main character of the Odyssey, Odysseus the King of Ithaca is given a complex personality to an extent where it is hard to identify whether he is a true hero or not. True heroism is only achieved when a person achieves certain qualities that portray heroism. Odysseus is not a hero based on the standards of merciful, selfless, and gentle because of his actions of sacrificing his men, killing the suitors and being ruthless throughout the Odyssey. Along with many others qualities these three are helpful and necessary in a hero. A hero must be willing to do service for others and put the needs of others safety and protection before his own. Odysseus does not even come close to matching these qualities because he is a person, who only serves of himself, and he sacrifices his allies to achieve his goals and often he takes action ruthlessly.
Odysseus traversed his epic by using his mind to deceive his enemies in order to make it through his trials and tribulations. A key trial was the way in which Odysseus deceived the Cyclops Polyphemus, Poseidon’s son. Polyphemus was considered god-like according to the text so overcoming this monster was no easy task for Odysseus and proving how cunning he was. Odysseus emotionally reacts to the Cyclops initially eating two of his comrades, but realizes that if he takes revenge he loses his only means out of the cave which is the Polyphemus’ strength to remove the doorstone. Odysseus realizes that in order to gain freedom he must methodically take down the Cyclops by getting him drunk, branding his eye with a hot iron, and then escaping under using the disguise of Polyphemus’ sheep. Getting the Cyclops drunk was a means for Odysseus to build rapport with the monster and this trust can be seen by Polyphemus falling asleep near his prisoners. During this encounter Odysseus tells Polyphemus his name is Noman essentially removing his name from himself. After, Odysseus and his men brand Polyph...
His selfishness is shown in every action he takes. He values his life more than those of his crew and puts his needs before theirs. Instead of acting like the hero he claims to be, Odysseus makes his men do the tasks that could potentially be life threatening. When landing on the new and mysterious Aeaean Island Odysseus opts out of exploring the dangerous new land and instead he says that, “ soon enough this seemed the better plan: I’d go back to shore and the swift ship first, feed the men, then send them out for scouting” (Homer 235). These men meet their misfortune and get turned into pigs by Circe and all Odysseus can feel is relief for his selfishness. He would rather risk his crew’s life and send them into the unknown instead of acting like a true leader and volunteering to be the one who leads the exploration into the island. The self-centered man believes he is the most important and valuable life on the ship because he thinks he can bring everyone home and instead it is the opposite, he is the reason the curse was made which led to the death of his crew. His goal was to get home, but Odysseus was in no hurry as long as he was having a good time. Instead of taking every second to rush back to his growing son and faithful wife, he decides to delay the trip for time for himself. He spends a unfaithful year sleeping with Circe, feasting, and drinking heady wine without the thought of home until his crewmates say, “High time you thought of your own home at last, if it really is your fate to make it back alive” (Homer 245). This suggests the so called family man would have stayed even longer if not persuaded by his crew to leave, as he only thought of his wellbeing and happiness and not that of his family or that of the crew yearning for home. Odysseus has to be reminded to think of something other than himself, as he always puts his safety
Was Odysseus an epic hero? In Homer’s Odyssey, is a tale of Odysseus voyage back to Ithaca after the war against Troy. After the battle, Odysseus is faced with challenges that are life threatening to him and his crew. What daring challenge will he face on his journey home? As you read on you will learn how Odysseus is an epic hero. In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus prove to be an epic hero to his voyage, braveness, and victories.
Almost three thousand years ago, people living in Greece told stories, like epics. Epics are long narrative poems that tell of the adventures of heroes who in some way embodied the values of their civilizations. These heroes exhibit many of the same characteristics. In his epic, “The Odyssey”, Homer portrays Odysseus as a hero, because Odysseus also shares those characteristics. Odysseus embodies the Greek’s ideal hero, because he displays the traits of physical strength, mental prowess, and human flaws.
Odysseus is a great example of a homeric hero as he exhibits a moral responsibility in his actions throughout the epic poem. In Homer's epic, The Odyssey, Odysseus tries to find a way home for himself and other men going home as well. Many themes are conveyed as the story of Odysseus continues, but Homer delivers universal themes such as loyalty, leadership, and courage. While going through this journey, Odysseus shows many ways he achieves his goals through great qualities a good leader may possess. He exhibits a leader when fight in the Trojan war, defeats Polyphemus, and returns to Penelope.
In an epic poem, monsters and supernatural beings affect the outcome of a journey. Considering that Odysseus fights monsters, works under the gods’ wills, goes on a perilous passage, and displays traits associated with heroes, he is conceivably an epic hero. The King of Ithaca also embodies many laudable qualities often attributed to epic
The Odyssey’s epic hero is truly an epic hero. Odysseus, the epic hero, has the poor quality of hubris. He is arrogant and arrogance had led this hero to misery bec...