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Comparing Heroes And Real Heroes In Homer's The Odyssey

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Most types of literature often include a realistic or fictional hero. There are many similarities and differences with how these heroes are portrayed in stories. Involvement in some sort of community is always an aspect of stories including a realistic or fictional hero. Realistic heroes are in places with people who have different personalities and strengths. Fictional heroes are places with people that have similar traits or abilities but the hero’s traits and abilities stand out. The differences between a hero and its community members do not stop them from doing the right thing. A priority to a hero is always helping and caring about other people. Both types of heroes go out of their way to help the people around them. For example, in The Odyssey, …show more content…

With fictional heroes, their community consists of people that portray very similar strengths and characteristics but the hero’s traits stand out. Many men around Odysseus exemplified strength and cleverness. The suitors back at Ithaca exemplified cleverness and strength when they tried to become king while Odysseus was gone and ended up fighting him once he arrived back. The suitors were very strong however, Odysseus was stronger and cleverer so he ended up winning the fight. This shows how the people around Odysseus share similar traits but his stand out. Communities with realistic heroes consist of people who all portray different characteristics and strengths. In the reality television show the biggest loser, all the trainers were not like Jillian Michaels. They each had their own way of motivating the people to lose weight because they all had different personalities. Jillian stood out as a hero because of her past experiences with being overweight. This allowed her personality and way of motivation to be different from the other

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A famous actor Christopher Reeve once said, “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to preserve and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” Being heroic does not always mean you’re special or well known. Since a hero shows determination, it drives them to help others and go beyond what’s expected of them. Heroes are people who go beyond expectations.

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Even though everyone perceives Odysseus, main character of Homer’s Odyssey as the ideal hero, Superman is obviously the real hero. So what Odysseus went away from home for 20 years? Superman left his home 35 years ago, and can’t even return home because his is completely destroyed. Odysseus can only use his “special bow” only he can string while Superman has superhuman hearing, sight, and strength.

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THE ODYSSEY Intro The Odyssey by Homer translated by Robert Fitzgerald. Odysseus the hero, he made it through alive. Odysseus left his wife and newly born son at home so he could go fight the battle of Troy. For his return home he faces many trouble to get home and be with his wife and son.

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There are many traits that heroes can demonstrate in stories. The two stories The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, and “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell both have heros in them. Connell’s story portrays a hero named Rainsford, who crosses a mysterious island where humans are hunted for fun, and he himself has to run for his life. Twain’s book follows a young boy named Huck, who has run away from his father, and his older friend Jim, who is a runaway slave. Jim is more of a hero because he is more self-sacrificing, unafraid of negative consequences, and more determined.

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Odysseus as a hero represents intelligence of the protagonist’s in the stories, who have to overcome the external and internal conflicts they

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The best examples of heroes may come from fictional stories but real life heroic traits often come from those fictional heroes. Some of these traits seem godlike but there are humans that hold heroic traits beyond what we can read about. Beowulf is a fictional character with superhuman strength that is fighting to save a group of people from multiple atrocious creatures. Harriet Tubman, on the other hand, is an African American slave who escaped from her master and ran an underground railroad to bring slaves to freedom. Although Beowulf is a fictional character and Harriet Tubman is not, they are both perceived as heroes that shared selflessness and leadership skills they used to accomplish their ultimate goals; saving peoples lives.

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A hero is someone who is revered for his or her exceptional achievements and bravery. Anyone who puts themselves before others not for recognition or an award, but because it is the right thing to do, is a true hero. In "The Odyssey," written by Homer is an epic poem about a man named Odysseus and his crewmates competing against the power of the gods to return to their homeland, Ithaca. Throughout his journey, he loses almost all of his men, but Odysseus finally arrives home, concluding his prolonged twenty-year voyage. Odysseus must battle the suitors that have taken his wife Penelope, and may soon kill his son Telemachus.

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Heroes in our society are revered and respected as Joseph Campbell reminds us: “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself” (Joseph Campbell). Heroes exist in all societies and throughout history. Maybe they are not always on the news or from the movies, but their words and their actions never fail to resonate across their feats. A hero gives of himself and dedicates himself to causes which better others and their society unlike individuals who are self serving, greedy, and cruel.

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Odysseus is one of the most legendary heroes since ancient times. He is the type of person you picture when you hear the word “hero”. He is extremely noble and brave, but sometimes his other traits are overlooked. In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus shows attributes of cleverness, altruism, and courage, and the use of these characteristics could be perceived as heroic or the opposite. Odysseus demonstrates profound cleverness throughout the book.

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The Odyssey is often cited as an epitome of the hero’s journey and the monomyth. The hero of the story, Odysseus is on a 10 year battle homeward from the Trojan War to see his wife and son again. With the help divine intervention, Odysseus is able to return home and save his wife from the evil suitors who have continuously tried to win her. One could easily argued that Odysseus is an exemplar of the hero, but there is another story: Odysseus is the opposite of a hero and is not worthy to be called such. He is the villain where the gods are the hero.

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Heroes put others before themselves and will do anything to ensure that thing’s safety. Many people have either risked their lives or have loss their lives due to trying to save others. An example of this would be the man in the red bandana or Welles Crowther. Crowther was working in the twin towers as planes were crashing into them. Crowther could have ran away from the other people when the planes hit, but he chose not to spare himself, but to save others and sacrifice his own life.

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What Defines a Hero? Throughout history many different definitions of heroes have been present. Whether you look at how our culture defines a hero, how the epic poem, “The Odyssey,” defines a hero, how the Bible defines a hero, or how you define a hero. The word hero may mean something to one person but for another person it may mean something else.

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There are few fictional characters who so accurately depict the ancient archetype of a hero as Odysseus. In Homer’s The Odyssey, translated by Robert Fitzgerald, Odysseus is departing from the Trojan city of Troy in order to reach his home country of Ithaca. Throughout the course of his journey, Odysseus is faces multiple challenges testing his leadership, vigor, and wit in order to prove himself to be a true hero. He accomplishes this by bringing about multiple heroic feats and upholding the impuissant and helpless.

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Heroism, tends to be difficult to define and remarkably ambiguous in literary works. In the Odyssey, however, Homer clearly defines a hero as a humble, determined, and loyal individual; thus, according to Homer, it is not enough to claim to be a hero, but it is also important to exhibit those qualities that Homer values as heroism. Odysseus, despite claiming heroism, upholds these traits inconsistently, as seen in his taunting of Polyphemus. In contrast, Telemachus, Odysseus’ overlooked son, dramatically grows up over the course of the epic and ultimately reveals his truly heroic qualities by the end of the poem. Thus, because Odysseus claims to be a hero, but fails to remain humble, determined, and loyal throughout the epic, he is not a hero.

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In many different stories, a hero is made out of an ordinary person. The heroes that get introduced to us all have the intention of doing good and helping people. The heroes that we meet come in all different shapes and sizes. Some heroes will stand up for strangers in order to do the right thing, like Juror No. 8 in 12 Angry Men by Reginald Rose. Heroes may also stand up for those who don’t have a voice like what Atticus Finch did in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

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