The Odyssey: Is Odysseus A Hero?

Is Odysseus a Hero?

What is the true definition of a hero? Is it someone who survives a series of difficult tasks on a journey which he did not want to go on in the first place? How about someone who endangers the lives of his crew because he is too self-absorbed to think of anyone other than himself, is that a hero? The correct answer is “no”, however despite this, modern literary scholars still believe that the character of Odysseus from Homer’s famous The Odyssey is in fact one of the greatest heroes that ever existed from Greek mythology. Although modern literary scholars of the Odyssey claim that Odysseus is a hero, further exploration of the character determines that Odysseus is ultimately, not a hero. This is because Odysseus only

takes lives in his adventure, he is not overall changed by the end of his journey, and he is unsuccessful when his journey comes to a close.

The Odyssey is a well known piece of literature based on Greek mythology written by Homer. It is the story of a man named Odysseus and his quest to return home from the Trojan War, a war he did not want to fight in the first place. After a long hard war for ten years against the mighty city of Troy, when the Greeks claim victory, they return home. However, before doing so, Odysseus boasts to the gods about how he is smarter than them and does not need their help. Because of this, Poseidon does everything in his power to see that Odysseus struggles to get home. Clouds, fog, wind, and nasty storms were all created by the gods as Odysseus and his crew sailed home in the waters between Troy and his hometown, Ithaka. Odysseus and his crew encounter many challenges on their way back home and during these tests, many of Odysseus’ men suffer the consequences of not being completely quick witted and sly. Eventually, after several encounters of near death for Odysseus, all of his crew have died, despite multiple warnings given to them. By the time Odysseus returns home, ten years have passed after the Trojan War (twenty years since he has seen his son, mother, and wife).

Modern literary scholars believe Odysseus to be one of the greatest heroes of Greek mythology. This is because he survives an epic adventure that challenges Odysseus in both physical and mental aspects of his character and there is, in fact, evidence to support this claim. For example, Joseph Campbell’s famous outline of “The Hero’s Journey” fits Odysseus and his journey quite well, suggesting that Odysseus is a hero because he completed the “Hero’s Journey”. However, any story can be bent and mended to fit the “Hero’s Journey” outline, it just depends on what perspective a reader is looking at it from. Therefore, the “Hero’s Journey” outline cannot tell whether a character is a hero or not because of its ability to be distorted. Moreover, Odysseus is not a hero due to his complete lack of selfless heroic acts.

Time and time again, Odysseus proves throughout The Odyssey that he is not a hero because of his recurrent knack for taking lives faster than he can save lives.

In The Odyssey, Odysseus ends up taking or ruining the lives of thousands of Trojan warriors, Polyphemus, Odysseus’ mother, and more than one hundred suitors that he killed at the end of his journey, in addition to being responsible for the deaths of all of his crew members. For example, when Odysseus and his men are escaping the cyclops’ island, instead of leaving quickly and quietly as to not draw any more attention to themselves from Polyphemus, the cyclops they just blinded, Odysseus cannot help his self absorbed personality and goes against his crew’s wish. “Godsake, Captain! Why bait the beast again? Let him alone…” (Homer/Fitzgerald 911) are Odysseus’ crews wish but instead, Odysseus yells to Polyphemus, “...if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes’ son, whose home’s on Ithaca!” (Homer/Fitzgerald 911) In doing this, Odysseus shows that he is not a hero because he is willing to risk ruining the lives of his crew and himself just because of his substantial ego. Of course, a hero must always face a time where he/she is forced to take a life here or there, but Odysseus’ acts do not balance each other out between saving and taking lives. Not only does Odysseus show that he is not a hero by taking more lives than he saves, he is also unsuccessful in the end of his

journey.

The success of Odysseus’ journey as it comes to a close also portrays that he is ultimately not a hero. Even the most unsuccessful of heroes come back with something to gain from their journey, however, Odysseus gains nothing from his journey, other than the reward of being home, which was not something he earned from his actions on the adventure. When Odysseus set sail from Troy, he was clearly the leader and master of his ship and crew, therefore, the lives of the crew were placed in the responsibility of his hands. However, due to many of his selfish acts, by the Odysseus returns home, he alone, survives. Because he is the only one out of all of his men and his ship, in addition to not gaining any overall knowledge or character change, Odysseus is ultimately unsuccessful as a leader, and as a hero to return to Ithaca with his ship and crew. Odysseus’ failure to return himself and his crew is merely one of the many reasons Odysseus is not a hero. In addition to his lack of heroic actions and unsuccessfulness, Odysseus fails to become a hero when he is never overall changed by his journey.

Odysseus is not a hero because his internal character never changes through the beginning to the end of his journey. In the beginning, Odysseus is the cause for his troubles of getting home. This is because his ego is so large that he tells the gods he does not need their help to be successful. Odysseus’ self absorbed, prideful, pretentious attitude is what got himself and his crew into the punishment of an adventure in the first place. When Odysseus was seeking help from the goddess Circe, all Odysseus can think about is battle and defeat. However, Circe tries to dissuade Odysseus of this attitude by asking him, “Must you have battle in you heart forever? The bloody toil of combat? Old contender, will you not yield to the immortal gods?” (Homer/Fitzgerald 930). However, despite Circe’s attempt to change Odysseus for the better, he does not take this advice in the end. Once Odysseus makes it back to Ithaca, although he should be commencing in joy and relief, he is furious at the fact that suitors are trying to take his place and help Penelope. Instead of understanding that after twenty years, anyone would have given up on Odysseus, he instead goes into a frenzy and, “show(s) no mercy to the flocks of birds they pursue and capture (the suitors whom are being killed by Odysseus).” (Homer/Fitzgerald 960) Overall, even through the many tasks and challenges he faces throughout his adventures, Odysseus is never changed from his original internal state of being, therefore, he is ultimately not a hero.

To conclude, although modern literary scholars of The Odyssey claim that Odysseus is a hero, after examining the true character of Odysseus from beginning to end, evidence proves that Odysseus is not a hero because the amount of lives he saves does not outweigh the lives he takes or risks taking, he is unsuccessful in the end, and he never learns anything from the many challenges he faced, therefore he is unmoved by the journey the gods put before him. Odysseus is a very strong character and survives many prodigious tasks, however, just because he survives these tasks does not make him an epic hero, or any kind of hero for that matter. He is self absorbed and prideful, therefore he is not an admirable character. No character or person is perfect, but heroes are the people we look up to, the characters that we strive and work hard to be every single day, the people that we hope to one day be compared to, heroes are the characters that go down in history as being idealized by the majority of people.