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The Odyssey and the Epic Hero
The Odyssey and the Epic Hero
The Odyssey and the Epic Hero
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When you hear the name Hercules, what is the first thought that pops into your head? When I hear his name, I can only reflect on Hercules’s horrible sin of killing his sons and nephews in a fit of madness. In my humble opinion, Hercules should not be absolved of his sins just because he completed 12 labors for the king. I intend to demonstrate to you that Hercules should not be forgiven of his sins and glorified by mortals. I will show you this truth by sharing knowledge of Hercules’s backstory, explaining how the punishment does not fit the crime, and verifying that in the myth, Hercules never expressed his remorse for killing his family.
Hercules led anything but a normal life. From the moment he was born, he was special, not only to Zeus,
Opposed to that of common thought, superman is not the only type of character that fits the heroic persona. Although “superheroes” typically come to mind when one thinks of a hero, there are many other ordinary people capable of extraordinary things. A hero is a person who takes the initiative to set out on a journey of internal growth. During this symbolic journey, one truly finds himself and betters the lives of other mentally and physically. In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, Odysseus takes the path of heroism, resulting in the reborn spirit of a selfless, modest hero. During the process, Odysseus is faced with many challenges that he must overcome in order to earn the noble title. Odysseus proves himself to be a well-deserving hero because he is intelligent with his decisions, he displays cleverness, and he rids himself of hubris.
This paper is to show that Heracles is the prime example of a hero’s journey through his actions and the struggles that he faced during his life until he was about to die but instead of death, his father, Zeus, saved him and he conquered the mortal realm, to become a god.
In order for us to understand what he meant by using Hercules' name and amount of background would need to be known.
One characteristic that Odysseus had to be an epic hero was that he was highborn. Odysseus was Prince Laertiades of Ithaca. The goddess Circe knew he was highborn and addressed Odysseus with his formal name “Prince Laertiades…'; (p. 120). When his men feared that he was dead and Odysseus returned to them unharmed, from their hearts they said, “You are back again my prince! How glad we are…';(p.120). Also, because Odysseus had not returned home to Ithaca, many men tried to wed his wife, Penelopeia, so that they could rule his kingdom.
The Odyssey paints a picture of the supposed savior Odysseus. The irony of Odysseus’ situation is that he really is not the marvelous hero that many who read The Odyssey see him to be. When imagining a great hero, the words of cruel, unfaithful, selfish, or careless never come to mind, but the son of Laertes sets examples for each attribute. Odysseus makes many poor decisions that cause his dislikable traits to outweigh his few better ones. Several of his more prominent characteristics are exhibited on numerous accounts.
In the myth of Hercules, Hercules’ archetype is most like the Warrior. He fears weakness. For example, in the myth, he takes on a warrior archetype for the quest. He wants to win so he can go back to Olympus, so he fights his way to the top again. He also takes the fear and dragon archetype of the warrior because he fears weakness and he doesn’t hesitate to confront or slay his enemies. In the myth, he becomes friends with one of them. The task and virtue is the warrior archetype for him as well. He fights for what matters
The legend of Hercules has been told and retold thousands of times; it is by far one of the best known Greek myths of all time. In fact, it was so well known that Disney made it into a movie. Like any story that’s adapted into a movie there are some differences and similarities between the myth and the movie. This paper will go over the main differences and similarities between the two versions of the same myth.
Myths and religious doctrine are generally recognized as two entirely different things. Myths are usually referred to as a fictitious story or a half-truth; often they are stories shared between groups of people that are part of a cultural society. Religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, and purpose of the universe, and often containing an ethical code dictating appropriate human conduct. Although they differ in certain aspects, they still hold similarities. Comparable to parables within the Bible, myths have different versions which are both motivating, as well as entertaining. There are not only parallels to the idea of the stories but specific tales hold similar morals and equivalent characters.
To be considered heroic, Ancient Greek heroes had to complete a quest of sorts. For example, Hercules had to finish several tasks to redeem himself after murdering his family. He goes to an oracle to ask what he must do, and she replies, “He must return to his ancestral home in Argos and there serve his young uncle Eurystheus, performing whatever twelve labors this hated king would assign him.” This was to humble Hercules, since Eurystheus had taken the throne of Argos for himself. Also, after going to the palace to do his assigned labors, the text states, “The ruler of Argos then determined to assign his nephew the most dangerous tasks he could think of…” this sets up the beginning of the Hercules’ trials and work under the man
The Trial is also used to purify the hero and help him atone for evils. This is seen clearly in the Hercules legend of Greek mythology. The jealous goddess Hera uses her power to make Hercules insane and in his madness he slaughters his own children. He then journeys to Delphi and consults the oracle which tells him that he must serve for ten years as his cousin Eurytheus' servant and must perform ten labors. Through his labors he is able to atone for his past evil deeds and regain the favor of the gods (D'Aulaire 132-146).
Greek mythology is a beloved part of literature that has given humans thousands of stories to tell. From stories about deadly quests, powerful deities, to the even more famed aspect of Greek Mythology, its epic heroes. One of the many authors who took inspiration from Greek Mythology, and will serve as reference for this paper, is Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. 1988. The most well known epic heroes from Greek Mythology which Edith Hamilton writes about in her book are Hercules, Jason, Perseus, and Theseus, but the debate lies in which of these heroes is the best. To which the answer is, Theseus is the better epic hero because he possessed superior strength, intelligence, and courage, he was the most just from all other heroes,
Ergo, even though Zeus is the almighty king of the gods, who can scorn the heavens and flood the Earth, he does show some human characteristics that make his myths more relatable. In most of the myths that Zeus is involved with, he is not a bi-natural god and therefore has human attributes. Zeus is usually the main focus of the myths he is involved with and usually does not learn from the mistakes he makes in them. This persistence of making mistakes and demonstrating his has other human-like characteristics make him a more relatable character throughout his myths and make him a much more enjoyable character to read about.
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.
Hercules was adventurous manly because of what he was sentenced to do. Hercules was driven mad by the goddess Hera, and in frenzy he killed his own children. To atone for his crime he was sentenced to perform a series of tasks or labors for his cousin Eurytheus, the king of Mycenae.