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King Odysseus: An Epic Hero

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Odysseus an Epic hero

Odysseus is the son of the King of Ithaca Laertes. As he grew up he was taught combat skills. When Odysseus was old enough to take over his father Laertes let him rule Ithaca. Laertes passed away later after Odysseus became king of Ithaca. As he ruled Ithaca Odysseus began to think about marriage. he desired Helen princess of Sparta. However, Helen was the daughter of Zeus and Queen Leda therefore, she was immortal. After Helen chose a husband Zeus made the suitors swear to defend the marriage rights of Menelaus. However, Odysseus eventually married Penelope Helen 's cousin. They later had a child who they named Telemachus. Later after Telemachus grew older Odysseus fought in the Trojan War and set off on a journey
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Odysseus slept with Circe to get his men transformed back into men. But then Odysseus stays with Circe for seven years, when Odysseus thought that he was with Circe for seven days. Penelope on the other hand kept faith in Odysseus. She never lost hope that one day he’d come home. Many suitors want to Ithaca to try to take Penelope's hand in marriage, but she refused, believing that

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In part one of Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus uses his epic hero qualities to help him out on his quest to get back home to Ithaca. He’s shows superb intelligence when fighting the cyclopes in “Book 9.” That’s a quality of superhuman intelligence that Odysseus possessed all throughout his entire journey. Another epic hero quality that helped Odysseus was help from Greek gods and goddesses. In part two of Homer’s Odyssey, Athena helped out Odysseus when he got back to his home land.

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Homer created a complex leader to show that the weakness in someone doesn’t define them, it’s the way they approach the situation that will define you as a person. In The Odyssey, Odysseus is a complex leader because he’s supposed to lead his group home to Ithaca, but he makes some pretty selfish and rash decisions that are not what you’d expect from a leader. By doing so, this shows Odysseus’ character flaws, but it also shows his strengths. When Odysseus stayed on Circe’s island for an unnecessary amount of time, this showed his weakness, not being able to resist the urge to sleep with women. In contrast, it also showed his strength because he gained his ground after losing track of home, and found the strength to gather his men and leave.

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732 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the Odyssey, Telemachus's growth is heavily influenced by the people around him and his internal need to live up to his father. Due to inspiration from above and his long-missing father, Telemachus can emerge as a leader, journeying through his own Odyssey. Growing up waiting for Telemachus' father, Odysseuss' return,

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769 Words | 4 Pages

Webster Dictionary defines leadership as simply, “providing direction or guidance,” but to be a successful leader one must focus on completing a goal in a way that is beneficial for the majority, not only the one in charge. This can be achieved by utilitarianism, which is doing of what is best for the most number of people, and carrying out actions that lead to positive effects, instead of merely being done with good intentions. In The Odyssey, Odysseus is not an exemplary leader because he went against utilitarianism by not being honest with his men, letting his arrogance control his behavior, and by killing many people in his house without a fair trial. Firstly, a leader must be truthful with those he works with in order for no errors or confusion to occur as a result of information being hidden. In The Odyssey, not being truthful lead to negative consequences for everyone on Odysseus’ ship, and thus contradicted the principle of utilitarianism stating that actions must lead to positive effects.

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172 Words | 1 Pages

Odysseus finally returns home and comes to find that men are lining up for his wife’s hand, even though Odysseus is still alive. Odysseus is infuriated and gets his revenge on all the suitors. He kills Antinous first because he was ridiculing him and he was also the strongest of all the suitors. He shoots an arrow through his throat as Antinous is drinking some wine.

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997 Words | 4 Pages

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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1080 Words | 5 Pages

A hero can be defined as a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. Odysseus from Homer’s “The Odyssey” exemplifies this heroic definition. During his twenty year adventure fighting in the Trojan war and his ill-fated struggle to return home to his loving wife and son, he is given an opportunity to demonstrate this heroic character. What noble qualities does Odysseus display that prove his heroism?

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268 Words | 2 Pages

In the epic The Odyssey, the epic hero Odysseus shows many hero like traits, in my opinion the most important trait would be loyalty. Odysseus, the hero of The Odyssey, first shows the trait loyalty on the Land of the Lotus Eaters. Odysseus sends three of his best men to check out this island, but bad luck has them and they run into Lotus Eaters who are addicted to the Lotus Plant. The next they know is the three men become addicted also.

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For years, people have viewed Odysseus as a lousy hero with many faults and mistakes. His flaws include his arrogance, his treatment to his crew, and his lack of faith to the gods and his family. While initially reading the Odyssey, these reasons are obvious, but once reading the whole epic I was able to see through his flaws which actually led him home. Although Odysseus tripped on many occasions, he stood up and protected his men, escaped many monsters and immortals, and made wise and clever decisions. Odysseus went through a long, rough adventure and survived the entire voyage while managing to keep his family intact.

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570 Words | 3 Pages

The concept of hero has been interpreted in many ways throughout the ages. Hero have gone from knights slaying dragons and rescuing the princess, to heroes who save the world with their supernatural-like powers, to a modern day hero who is someone who has noble qualities and is regarded as a role model. In the epic, The Odyssey, by Robert Fagles, the heroic Odysseus is a well known in Greek mythology. However, although Odysseus is the most respected, honorable hero of Greek mythology he is not a modern hero. A modern day hero is someone who puts their life on the line to save the lives of other innocent people.

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1056 Words | 5 Pages

Heroes pass down the idea of what good qualities a human should have, but some show how power can get to your head. In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus shows the complete opposite qualities by being merciless towards people that do any wrong to him, relentless in how his instincts come upon him, and violent towards any misfortune that happens to him. Odysseus cannot be considered a hero because he shows the opposite values of hospitality, loyalty and how much revenge is in his heart. Odysseus displays discourteousness or the opposite of hospitality to the suitors in his home because all he wants the outcome to be is violent without any understanding. While Odysseus gets angry with Polyphemus earlier in the story by saying, “...who dared to eat your own guests in your own house.” (9.479) Odysseus wants to kill every one of the suitors that is trying to marry Penelope, Odysseus 's wife.

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556 Words | 3 Pages

Odysseus is an epic hero because he was a great warrior, came from a noble birth and was capable of great strength and courage. Odysseus proved that he was a great warrior when he stood up to the goddess of witchcraft. Odysseus proved that he came from a noble birth when he was a prince of Ithaca and became the king. Odysseus proved that he was an epic hero because capable of deeds of great strength and courage when Odysseus and his executed his plan to escape the Cyclops. Odysseus explains that he has been tested by the gods multiple times and has overcome

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862 Words | 4 Pages

The mighty Odysseus has proved himself as a hero in The Odyssey in multiple occasions. First, to be a hero I believe that bravery and cleverness are needed to perform a heroic act. There is no need for a certain superpower or strength in my opinion to become a hero. Odysseus has shown there characteristic in his twenty year Odyssey as he searches for his way back to Ithaca. First, Odysseus’ bravery, he shows his bravery by confronting massive and terrifying creature that endangered Odysseus and his men 's’ lives.

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450 Words | 2 Pages

The odyssey, an epic told by Homer in ancient greece, has many major themes following odysseus’s adventures. While Odysseus is sentenced to never return home after the Trojan War. He is overcoming challenges to return home to his wife penelope and his son Telemachus. Throughout the story major themes of loyalty, hospitality and vengeance are hidden within the plot. The story continues to show his heroic side with three major traits.

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