Heroism In The Odyssey

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“There is heroism in crime as well as in virtue. Vice and infamy have their altars and their religion.” William Halzlitt, a British writer, once said this on the subject of heroism. His personal view, reflected in this quote, was that the evil and the righteous can be heroes. Everyone has a different view on heroism. Some may view Odysseus from the Odyssey, a fighter and soldier, as a hero, and others may view Mahatma Gandhi, humanitarian and pacifist, as a hero. Although Odysseus from the Odyssey and Mahatma Gandhi, a prominent figure in the fight for India’s independence, are both known to be heroes because they are brave, they are different because Odysseus used deceit to reach his home while Gandhi used his morals and honor to fight against bigotry.
Odysseus and Gandhi are both heroes …show more content…

Odysseus deceived his enemies to help himself be reunited with his family. In the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus lies to the cyclops about where his ship is and what his name is. When the cyclops cries out, he is mocked by his fellow cyclopes because of Odysseus misled him into thinking his name was ‘nobody.’ He cried out that ‘nobody’ was hurting him, so no one came to help him. Odysseus relies on trickery to defeat the monsters, and he does it to benefit himself. Using the opposite approach, Gandhi led peaceful protests against British rule. Biography of Mahatma Gandhi by Tejvan Pettinger states, Gandhi successfully instigated a series of non-violent protest. This included national strikes for one or two days. The British sought to ban opposition, but the nature of non-violent protest and strikes made it difficult to counter.” Gandhi calmly rebelled against prejudice and inequity to fight for the Indian people, and that honorable manner made people see him as a hero. Odysseus used deception while Gandhi used integrity, and their opposite dispositions differentiates them from each

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