Odysseus endeavored on a ten year journey to get home after fighting in the Trojan War. On his journey, Odysseus must overcome obstructions that hinder him from returning home. Odysseus is respected throughout the story as being a hero. Odysseus is a man who is respected by people, animals, and gods. A Greek hero is often shown to be admired by gods or goddesses, and posses super human powers along with courage. A modern day hero is able to create inspiration, do good for anyone, and will put his or her life in danger to help others. Homer develops the character of Odysseus in The Odyssey as an ancient Greek hero; however, if Odysseus were to be in a modern day story he would be considered an anti-hero due to his acts of hubris, poor …show more content…
Modern Heroes make good leaders. Being able to direct people on what to do at the right time and how to do it well. A good leader is able to make good connections and be successful in what they do. Odysseus the leadership to get home from diversions from the crew, Poseidon, and the many monsters they encounter. As Odysseus and his men are being guided by aelius with his bag of winds, his crew thinks the bag is full of extra treasures and opens it expecting to find gold. The boat is then sent back to the start of their journey. If Odysseus was to be a good leader he would tell the crew beforehand about Ailes and his bag of winds and not to open it. Odysseus is also a poor husband. Through Odysseus’s journey, he sleeps with multiple goddesses. However his wife has many suitors that want to marry her. All these men and both Odysseus’s family and Penelope's, think Odysseus is dead. All the suitors encourage Penelope to move on and marry again. Even though these men have selfish intentions, they don’t want to marry Penelope to be with her, they want to gain rule over the land that she owns. When Odysseus gets home he kills all the suitors for trying to marry his wife. Its a little hypocritcal that Odysseus can cheat on his wife but men can’t try to marry her. Its also absurd that Odysseus would kill these men. Its like Odysseus has anger
A hero is someone who would sacrifice himself for others, someone who is selfless and caring. Odysseus from Homer’s, “The Odyssey” does not have these traits. Throughout the book, Odysseus displays many negative character traits that show he is not someone to be admired or treated like a hero. He is too proud, he does not listen, and he constantly puts his needs before that of his men.
From sacrificing six of his own men to surrendering his self pride to the gods, Odysseus accepts the noble title and proves himself deserving of being a hero. He took on a journey in which he grew into himself and rid himself of the one thing that held him back all along: his hubris. At the end of the journey, Odysseus went from being a selfish, cocky leader to being a selfless, modest hero.
In conclusion, Odysseus deserves to be called a hero because he displays courage, employs cunning, and contains humility instead of hubris. Odysseus is not always fearless, but he has the courage to fight off his fear and do what he has to do. Also, Odysseus’s cunning is able to get him out of tough situations by having him think on the spot. Lastly, Odysseus realizes his faults, one of them being that he didn’t think the gods were higher than him and that they have more power than him. Altogether, Odysseus’s journey has changed his life for the better and he is recognized as a true hero.
Firstly, Penelope who plays Odysseus’s wife is alone tending to her city Ithica until her husband returns. Meanwhile Odysseus is out fighting in the Trojan War and against many of the Greek God’s who are trying to make his trip back home as eventful and hard as possible; “…work out his journey home so Odysseus can return” (Homer 276). While King Odysseus is away Penelope is to deal with a bunch of suitors who are eating and trashing out Ithica, “…if those suitors have truly paid in blood for all their reckless outrage” (559). In order for Penelope to keep peace until Odysseus returns she has to come up with a clever plan to keep the suitors from completely taking over. For almost 2 years Penelope was able to keep the suitors from getting out of hand by saying she will find someone to marry and replace Odysseus after she is d...
In conclusion, Odysseus deserves the title of a hero because he shows bravery, displays a change in character, and has the Gods supporting him throughout his journey home. Odysseus has the courage to overcome physical, emotional, and intellectual challenges. While Odysseus he is on the hero’s journey, he vastly improves his character. He changes from arrogant to humble, and learns leadership qualities, and most importantly, his place in the world. Odysseus has the revelation that the gods are above him, and are in control. Because he realizes the supremacy of the gods, his reward is assistance from the gods themselves. Odysseus is not a perfect man, and is flawed, just like every other human. However, heroes are not gods.
...s throne. Odysseus, even today, is considered a modern day hero; the adventures he experienced on his way to Ithaca were portrayed in unlike any other literature piece. However, like most heroes, Odysseus’ flaw was his hubristic attitude towards the gods, particularly in the beginning of Homer’s Odyssey. Some actions, especially against Poseidon, caused his trip to be delayed, but he eventually made it home, and will forever be with Penelope, like it was meant to be since the beginning, for the gods spared his life despite his acts of hubris.
Is there such a thing as a true hero? Or are those that are considered "heroes" just regular people who made the right choice at the right time and became idolized for it? To be a true hero, the person would have to be totally good. It is impossible for a human being to be totally good because weaknesses, character faults, and the tendency to make mistakes are all rooted deeply into human nature. Therefore, no human being can ever truly be a hero, though we may do heroic deeds. A well known example of such a person is Odysseus from Homer's "Odyssey". Odysseus is idolized for his few heroic deeds during the Trojan War and his journey home to Ithaca. He is often thought of as a hero, but, as he is human and therefore subject to human weakness and fault, is not a true hero athough some of his deeds were heroic.
The hyperboles “broken man” and “world of pain” elucidates Polyphemus’s craving for revenge and foreshadows Poseidon’s hindering for the remainder of Odysseus’s journey home. Odysseus and his crew would have left the Cyclops’ island with no interferences if he was able to contain his pride, but his ineptness to control himself, even with his crew begging him to calm down, angers a god, making it the greatest threat to his voyage (9.558-562). In another instance, Odysseus is successfully able to befriend the master of all the winds, Aeolus, who then propels them home with a winds and gifts Odysseus with a bag of winds. However, Homer displays Odysseus's pride overtaking him again; “never trusting the ropes to any other mate,” he overworks himself till “an enticing sleep [comes] on” (10.37,35). His incompetence to prioritize his trust for his crew above his self-confidence causes him to man the whole ship himself and endangers his crew and himself due to a lack of rest. He believes that controlling the whole ship himself would accelerate his journey home, but it does the exact opposite; it causes his crew to question him and believe there are riches in the bag. Thus, his crew open the bag once the “enticing sleep” overcomes Odysseus, and the winds send them back to Aeolus right as they approach Ithaca (10.52-54). Overall, Odysseus's most impactful challenges on his journey originate from his hubris and his inability to control it, making it the greatest threat that delays his successful
Statements made by Telemachus and Penelope about Odysseus’ whereabouts leads the suitors to believe that he is deceased and, therefore, that Penelope is single and ready to court once again. When a woman is widowed, she begins trying to find a new husband and single men come to court the woman. Since Penelope and Telemachus tell the suitors that Odysseus is dead, the suitors have the right to stay and court Penelope.
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.
Picture this: a hero of great legends who travels to the underworld and back to get directions to his home from a blind prophet. It sounds like quite an impossible journey, but that is exactly what makes Odysseus all the more fascinating. The Odyssey, an epic poem orally transmitted by Homer, a Greek poet who wrote The Iliad, had to contain some variety of attributes that Greeks valued in a person. That one embodiment of what the Greeks found intriguing in a character is Odysseus. Odysseus is known as what is called an epic hero. An epic hero is a protagonist of a story that represents the most important attributes of a civilization. Odysseus, being based in ancient Greece, is the embodiment of intelligence, loyalty, and strength.
...ily have the right to take all of these men’s lives. However, through hubris Odysseus feels righteous and powerful, enough to simply slaughter the suitors only moments after bragging.
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.
Even heroes are flawed. Not every human being is perfect, and Odysseus is not an exception. Odysseus is a man who has experienced many things usual humans do not experience in their whole lifetime. He has fought a war, had troubles with suitors, and been kept captive by goddesses. Odysseus is cunning and almost always knows what to do during a difficult situation.
In the story, Odysseus and his men were trapped on Polyphemus’ island. On the land of the Cyclopes, he decided to explore the island with his best fighters, who begged him to go back to the ship but he did not want to because he “wished to see the cave man, what he had to offer--” (Homer 565). Odysseus, in this case, acted like a fool because his curiosity was bigger than his sense of danger. They defeated the Cyclops and escaped like an epic hero but he let arrogance get into his head.