Epics are works of imagination that are often based on legends that hold bits of the truth in them; they are also long narrative poems which tell about a hero’s or heroes’ adventures. It reflects on the principles and ethics of a civilization or origin; these heroes are called epic heroes. The Odyssey was composed by Homer around 800 B.C. to 600 B.C. The Odyssey is about an epic hero, Odysseus, who wants to go home to his beloved wife and son after 10 years of the great Trojan War. Odysseus, The Odyssey’s epic hero’ displays wonderful qualities in his adventures that are honored in Greek society. Odysseus also displays faults, because he is human. One of the many traits that make Odysseus an epic hero is that he is very intelligence and strength. …show more content…
He had cause them to become trapped in Polyphemus' cave. Once back at his ship, Odysseus could have easily sailed away unscathed, but his pride interferes, and he tells Polyphemus his real name and even where he lives so the giant will know who has blinded him: “‘Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes’ son whose home’s on Ithaca!’” Then the Cyclops calls on his father Poseidon to punish Odysseus, and the god of the sea makes Odysseus's home very difficult. Odysseus has an admirable courage, caution, and judgment which he shows on the Island of Aeaea. Odysseus divides his men into two groups. One group to scout the island, while Odysseus and the rest stay behind on the ship. The scouting party is greeted by a beautiful, hospitable goddess with magical charm and a spellbinding voice.The men reassure themselves: “‘Dear friends, no need for stealth: here’s a young weaver singing a pretty song to set the air a-tingle on these lawn and paven courts. Goddess she is, or lady. Shall we greet her?’”(ll.19-23) Circe calls them into her halls and gives them a wine that erases from their memories any thoughts of home. All of the scouting party, except Eurylochus who is suspicious enough to stand outside the house and escape when she turns all of the men to pigs. When …show more content…
Not only must he exercise proper judgment, but he must also recognize that, even if things go well, he still loses six good men. Following Circe's advice, he avoids the whirlpool (Charybdis) and tries the side of the six-headed monster (Scylla). Against his instincts, he pushes through the monster's attack without stopping for a fight, realizing that delay would only cost him more men. He loses the six to a writhing death, the most heart-wrenching experience for Odysseus in all his wanderings, “Voices came down to me in anguish, calling my name for the last
Before letting him leave the island, Circe tells Odysseus that he must face Scylla, a sea monster, and Charybdis, a whirlpool. Circe says, “Better by far to lose six men and keep you ship” (274). Odysseus is told beforehand that no ship could pass unscathed, but he chooses to not to tell his crew. He knowingly sacrifices his crewmembers’ lives and has no qualms about it, which shows his inner selfishness. He makes sure to protect his own life, but he sees his crew as disposable. Homer characterizes Odysseus this way in order to convey his views about humanity: humans are instinctively selfish. Odysseus also carelessley kills his remaining crew when he taunts the Cyclops. After hearing Odysseus’s name, Polyphemus prays to Poseidon and asks that Odysseus “never reaches home” but if he is destined to return, make sure he returns “a broken man—all shipmates lost, alone in a strangers ship” (228). If Odysseus had never told Polyphemus his name, he and his crew might have made it home more quickly and safely. Instead, his hubris causes an inescapable curse. Odysseus cannot bear the thought of forfeiting his fame, which leads to even more hardship on his quest to return home. Homer uses Odysseus to demonstrate the danger of egotistical
In Book Ten Odysseus shows his loyalty to his men. He kills a huge stag on Circe's island for his men. Later, when Eurylochus comes back alone from Circe's house, Odysseus says he has “absolutely no choice” but to save his men. He could have easily left his men behind, but he insists on saving his men. After befriending the goddess, Odysseus refuses to eat until he sees his companions safe and sound. The scene of their reunion is a compassionate one, and even the goddess Circe herself is moved.
An Unconventional Hero According to Greek mythology, a hero is one who values glory above life itself. and honorably dies in the battle during the prime period of his life. After the gods and demi-god of Greece, heroes are probably the most admirable figures in society. However, the snares are still a bit snare.
Odysseus is one of the first Greek mythic heroes renowned for his brain as well as his muscle. Indeed he is a man with an inquiring mind, and he is also a man with outstanding prowess and bravery" (123helpme.com/assets/3603.html). "We also must not forget that he is a top-notch athlete which only adds more to this seemingly insuperable character. It is no wonder why many scholars refer to Odysseus as a powerful mythic hero.
Odysseus forgets that he is not in control and disrespects the gods. After sailing away from the cyclops, Polyphemus starts to boast about blinding the cyclops. Poseidon, the god of the sea, punishes him for blinding his son. When Odysseus finds out from Circe that he will lose six of his men to the beast, he refuses to accept the fact. “Must you have battle in your heart forever? / The bloody toil of combat? Old contender / Will you not yield to the immortal gods?” (12.76-79). Circe tells Odysseus he should let the gods take over. Odysseus’ men end up disrespecting the sun god Helios. Odysseus and his crew sail to the god's island. His men end up hunting the sun god’s cattle. Even after Circe warned them to not touch the
In conclusion, Odysseus’ intelligence, loyalty, and strength are all key aspects which make Odysseus an epic hero. Besides having those characteristics, he has passed impossible tasks and could be compared to many American superheroes such as Batman. Both have relatively the same characteristics: strength, loyalty, intelligence, courage, and pride, but what makes them an epic hero is not entirely what they have been through. It is actually their ability to portray what their civilization finds most heroic in a person that makes them an epic hero.
Fortunately, with no chance of escaping out in the open Odysseus used the herd of sheep and “Three abreast I tied them silently together, twining cords of willow from the ogre’s bed: then slung a man under each middle one to ride there safely, shielded left and right”(Homer lines 378-381). Odysseus knew since there was no way out, he thought of a tactic and showed cleverness by tying each of his men under a sheep to get away unseen, then hid under a ram to escape last. Foolishly, as soon as he and his men escaped, Odysseus, out of his own pride told the Cyclops that it was he who plundered his eye and talked poorly to him. As soon as the Cyclops knew his name he cursed Odysseus saying “...Grant that Odysseus, raider of cities, never see his home...Should destiny intend that he shall see his roof again among his family in his fatherland, far be that day, and dark the years between” (Homer lines 486-491). Since Odysseus let his pride take control of him, he acted with great impudence and treated the Cyclops disrespectfully and got himself and his men cursed to never see their home again. While quickly sailing away from the island, Odysseus and his men undergo many misfortunes, one of many losing all but his only ship from cannibals. Luckily, Odysseus and his crew escape only to arrive in the hands of Circe, who turns Odysseus’ men into swine and later tells him to journey to the land
In Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey, Odysseus' heroic traits of bravery. resourcefulness, and intelligence are revealed in each adventure. After winning the Trojan war, Odysseus is kept from returning to his kingdom and family in Ithaca by Poseidon, whom he had disrespected with his hubris personality. Odysseus and his men are searching for provisions, when they stumble upon the cyclops cave and become captives of the cyclops. Odysseus must use all of his wits, courage, and surroundings to formulate a plan to keep him, and his men from being eaten by the cyclops, Polyphemus, and get them them safely returned to their ship. Many more challenges await Odysseus even if he can escape the cyclops cave, luckily he will have his patron goddess helping
Odysseus saw one of his men, Elpenor, and he asked him, “When you make sail and put these lodgings of dim Death behind, you will moor ship, I know, upon Aeae Island; there, O my lord, remember me, I pray, do not abandon me unwept, unburied, to tempt the gods’ wrath while you sail for home; but fire my corpse, and all the gear I had, and build a cairn for me above the breakers” (Homer 578). He did what Elpenor said and returns to Circe’s island. The goddess warns him about the monsters he will face and gives him advices on what he should not do when he face these monsters. They face the sirens and Odysseus said to his men, “Therefore you are to tie me up, tight as a splint, erect along the mast, lashed to the mast, and if I shout and beg to be untied, take more turns of the rope to muffle me” (Homer 581). Other than tie him up, he also puts beeswax into his men’s ears so that they could not hear the sirens. This plan shows him that Odysseus was being a wise leader and an epic hero. Sirens passed, Scylla and Charybdis are coming up their
He always wanted another way to conquer things he never just wanted to pass them, he wanted to face his problems face to face with no fear. Odysseus demonstrates heroic, god-like qualities throughout The Odyssey. In one instance, he cleverly tricks and blinds the Cyclops Polyphemus, saving his crew from certain death. Odysseus also bravely travels to Hades to learn his fate. Upon reaching Ithaca, Odysseus takes on all of Penelope’s suitors, defeating them to reclaim his rightful place.
Beginning on Calypso’s island, Odysseus acts helpless in many ways and relies on others to help him get where he wants to be. Luckily this works, and after 8 years on Ogygia Athena asks Zeus to help free Odysseus. Zeus sends Hermes to the Island where he finds Calypso in her home. “As for the lion-hearted Odysseus, Hermes did not find him in the cave, for he was sitting disconsolate on the shore in his accustomed place, tormenting himself with tears and sighs and heartache, and looking out across the barren sea with streaming eyes” (p.65). He cries while looking at the sea because it reminds him of how he is trapped and away from his family. Although Odysseus is released on this particular day, sitting by the shore and crying is a regular occurrence. Calypso treats Odysseus well on the island, and he can try to control his emotions instead of let them get the best of him. However, his vulnerability is exposed and Odysseus behaves in a way that makes others pity him instead of respect him. He continues to conduct himself this way even when he reaches the Palace of Alcinous in Phaeacia. Laodamas, a Phaeacian man, asks Odysseus if he would like to participate in their competition, and he declines with the excuse that he is too sad. He says, “‘I am too sick at heart to think of games. I have been through many bitter and exhausting experiences, and all I seek now is my
“The Odyssey” is a classic representation of an epic in literature. A Hero’s journey is never an easy one. It is packed with many struggles, loss, pain, headaches, growth, and triumph. To be known as a hero takes a lot, but what is a true hero? To some, a hero might just be a person who is courageous and brave, to others a hero might be a person that is a strong warrior and leader who wins battles; however, to some to others, a hero might just be a person who uses his brain just as much as a warrior uses his sword. Odysseus, in Homer's epic, "The Odyssey", portrays the ideal human qualities that Homer's Greek society mostly admired. Odysseus was known for his physical and mental strength, along with his patient and compassionate intellect.
Ithaca is not that big. It is a small island off Greece in the Ionian Sea. It does not produce much, just about enough to keep its families fed. However, it is the home of the great Odysseus. The gods have been watching it to see when he will return and what will happen when he gets there.
He and his men are taken from mythical land to the next, given temptations ranging from a supposedly all-healing lotus that replaces any longing for home with that for consuming more of the plant (pg. 115, par. 3) to that of simple human folly and romanticising of glory where there is none to be found. The titular "odyssey" itself, however, begins when Odysseus stumbles upon the land of the cyclopes, is captured, and manages to escape through various dishonorable trickery including intoxicating their king, Polyphemus, with alcohol, and stabbing him in the eye during his following sleep. One way or another, Odysseus and his following find themselves back upon their ship, and Odysseus takes the opportunity to indulge in his illusions of grandeur and taunts his defeated foe, saying the following: "I wish I could be as sure of killing you outright and sending you down to the house of Hades, as I am that it will take more than Poseidon to cure that eye of yours." (pg. 127,
He eats some of his men and traps the rest for his future meals. By the next day Odysseus comes up with a plan to get Polyphemus drunk so he can attack. He gets him drunk with wine from the ship and as he falls with intoxication he stabs him in the eye with a wooden stick and they escape. After escaping Polyphemus, Odysseus and him men head towards the home of Aeolus god of the winds. They were greeted warmly, taken care of and they stayed there for a month. Aeolus gives Odysseus a bag containing all of the winds that might send them in the wrong direction. He tells him that only the West Wind can bring them to Ithaca. After sailing for 10 days, they are so close to home they can see it. Odysseus goes to sleep and his men open the bag that Aeolus gave him thinking that there was going to be gold and treasures in there. When they open it they are automatically sent back to Aeolus’ land and he refuses to help them anymore. Now they must row their way to the land of cannibalistic giants, Laestrygonians. The giants suddenly attack and eat some of his men. The remaining men and Odysseus run towards the ship. He and his men then travel to Aeaea, the home of a beautiful yet dangerous