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Odysseus A Hero

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Odysseus: Hero or Not?
A hero can be defined as a person who has special achievements, abilities, or personal qualities and is a respectable and well-followed leader. The Odyssey chronicles the poem’s epic hero, Odysseus, on his journey home to Ithaca with his men. En route, he encounters many obstacles and challenges but is able to overcome them using his own military knowledge and with help from the gods. Some may argue that Odysseus is not a hero because of the assistance he receives from the godsBecause of the assistance he receives from the gods, some may argue that Odysseus is not truly a hero. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus is still a hero even with the god 's help because he battles the Cyclops on his own, is respected and followed …show more content…

For example, when the Cyclops is drunk, Odysseus says that he is called ‘No-one’, and when the Cyclops calls for help he says “My friends, no force can damage me; No-one, No-one is using treachery” (Homer 182). The thought that Odysseus puts into his plan shows that he has thought about all aspects of their escape and has the whole plan created before carrying out the first part of it. This is a sign that Odysseus has great military and tactical knowledge, which is one of the things that helps identify him as a hero. Odysseus also stands out as a hero because of his remarkable military skills. Shortly later, after he has blinded the Cyclops, Odysseus is “seeking a decisive plan, a scheme to save both me and all my men… I bound the sheep together, three by three. I tied one comrade fast beneath the belly of each middle sheep, while two sheep - one to each side - served to guard my friend… I grasped his splendid fleece; faceup, I held it tight. So anxiously we waited for first light” (Homer 182). During this scenario, he is able to improvise and come up with a plan to save all of his men and himself without any help from the gods. Without Odysseus, the men would have all been eaten by the Cyclops. Odysseus’s military tact is one of the defining factors necessary for him to be recognized as a

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There are many heroes in many stories but not a single one compares to how the epic hero Odysseus. The Odyssey is by the famous poet Homer is a fiction story about a king who is coming back from War and the quest back takes 20 years. Odysseus is an epic hero because he has done many heroic acts and his Larger than Life quality is his intelligence. Many people share the argument that Odysseus is not a hero but there's parts of the story that make me disagree. The part is when Odysseus and his men get trapped in the Cyclops cave and Odysseus has to use his larger than life quality to save them.

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As the popular American poet and author, Maya Angelou, said, “I think a hero is any person really intent on making this a better place for all people.” Odysseus is revered by few as a hero, to many others he’s a pirate who loves to boast of his victories. And if the quote holds true, only caring for a handful of people is no heroic quality. Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus displays few heroic qualities but loves acting like a pirate. Odysseus is no hero, an unreasonable man who has few heroic traits and protects only a handful of people.

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Brains over brawns is Odysseus’ motto. In the Odyssey, Odysseus is a hero because he stabbed the cyclops in the eye, he was a great leader, and he defeated all of penelope's suitors. He was arrogant at times and that's why you might say he is not a hero. But every time he made a mistake he backed it up.

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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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The first reasons why Odysseus is a hero is because he risks his life for crew multiple times throughout the story. In the story, ‘The Odyssey’ by Homer, Odysseus and his crew sail to Aeaea, home

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Traits of Hero Tom Hanks once said, “A hero is somebody walks voluntarily into the unknow” (Hanks). In Homer's “The Odyssey”, Odysseus displays he is a hero. In the story Odysseus goes on a ten year journey with obstacles and eventually makes his way home to be reunited with his family. Many of the obstacles have shaped Odysseus as a character for the better. On this 10 year journey throughout the story, Odysseus shoes responsibility, loyalty, and wisdom, which are all traits that makes him a hero, One of the traits that he demonstrates is responsibility with being a hero.

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First, Odysseus is strategical when the Cyclops, a one-eyed beast asks him for his name. Odysseus told the Cyclopes, “Nobody-that’s my name. Nobody so my mother and father call me all my friends” (9.410-411). This shows Odysseus as strategical because he does not tell the Cyclops his real name, which helped him execute the rest of his plan. This proves Odysseus as a hero because he prepares for the questions that the Cyclops will ask him and from that he will help him and his men escape the trap of the Cyclops.

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The struggles of this journey have proved whether Odysseus is in fact a hero, or just a fool who got lucky. Although literary scholars of The Odyssey have argued that he is not a hero, closer examination shows that he is a hero because he met the ultimate goal of defeating Troy, bravely led and sacrificed for his men, and escaped multiple enemies. In The Odyssey, Odysseus sails from his home island of Ithaca, Greece,

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Odysseus is not a hero because he stabs Polyphemus in the eye and blinds him. Odysseus is still a hero because he is a leader. Moreover, after Odysseus and his men fight the Cicones, he orders ¨Back and Quickly! Out to sea again!” (Homer 984).

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Odysseus cannot be a hero due to his uncontrollable arrogance that harms others around him. For example, Odysseus endangers his men through their encounter of Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon, he boasts that “[the one that] put out your eye [was] Odysseus of Ithaca” (Hind 108). Odysseus used his arrogance to add onto a streak but would later regret his decision as he would be lost for eternity. By adding the unnecessary touch of inquiring that he was “Odysseus of Ithaca” instead of focusing on running away, it would cause his men to be endangered as the gods would now know the identity of the individual and curse Odysseus and his men on all his sails. Secondly, Odysseus’s nature of Hubris is when he sleeps with Circe after she releases his men from a curse that turned them into pigs even as his men said that they should leave (125).

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Heroes are, “People who take risks despite fear”(Source 2). In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus faces many challenges that make him a hero. He battles monsters, goddesses, and enchantresses. Odysseus is a hero in the way that he uses his brain to think about and approach dilemmas. When he and his men are on the Cyclops’ island, Odysseus tells the cyclops that his name was Nobody.

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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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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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What does being a hero mean? Being a hero means being brave, confident at times, having good leadership skills, willing to fight for their town, and smart every once in awhile. How does being a hero qualify to Odysseus? At times Odysseus can be a good man til he has to leave for war and a variety of things happen.

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Some think Odysseus is a hero for many reasons, mainly because he helps many people including his family and his crew. Even when terrible things happen to him and his crew he perseveres and continues on his journey home. Even though Odysseus and his men do bad things like eating the sun god’s cattle there still are many reasons why he is a hero. One reason to support my claim is that he saves his crew many times. One example is when they sailed by the Sirens.

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