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The epic hero the odyssey
The epic hero the odyssey
Odysseus an epic hero charateristics
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More handpicked essays just for you.
The epic hero the odyssey
The epic hero the odyssey
Odysseus an epic hero charateristics
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Odyssey Many people deem Odysseus to be an archetype hero. But was he really? Sure, he won many wars, but did he show the characteristics that matter? No!
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.
Usually, epic heroes share common character traits such as bravery,courage,loyalty,. In Homer’s Odyssey, it is my belief that Odysseus is not heroic mostly because he was loyal when he was gone and left his wife. For example, when he went where Hades was all his men went and they ended up dieing.
In one of the oldest pieces of literature, The Odyssey written by Homer, Odysseus is a heroic and admirable commander that goes beyond his own duties to protect his men and return home to his beloved Ithaca. Although some readers think Odysseus is ignorant and a braggart, I believe he is a strong leader and an admirable wartime hero. Even though he is not flawless, Odysseus preservers through many obstacles and remains determined throughout the book. Odysseus has clearly shown both leadership and tactical thinking for instance when he devised a plan to escape the Cyclopes’ cave, respecting Elpenor’s dying wish, and slaying a stag to feed his men. Heroism and leadership can be defined in many different ways.
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.
In The Odyssey an epic poem by Homer, Odysseus, a hero from Ithaca, is trapped on his way home from Athens and Troy. His son, Telemachus, goes on a journey looking for his lost father. Both son and father want to reclaim their house from the suitors who wish to marry Penelope, Odysseus’ wife. Genghis Khan, Choi Yuna, my brother, An Thai, and Odysseus have traits like strength, thoughtfulness, and attractiveness. People need heroes with these traits because they need role models and someone to guide them through life.
“A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others,” said Douglas MacArthur. In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, Odysseus the epic hero, portrays these same traits in his leadership of his shipmates. He leads them though victories and consoles them through losses. He is sought out for his wisdom and intelligence, and he is well respected for his consistent bravery. Although from an outside perspective Odysseus may seem calm, fearless, and stable, during the many obstacles he faces on his trip home, different sides to is character are revealed.
Odysseus portrays those three heroic traits throughout his voyage home to Ithaca, which is why he is a hero. Odysseus is highly dedicated to his reputation and ego for the whole of his rocky and treacherous journey. From going up against a cyclops that is five times the size of him, to placing wax upon his crewmates’ ears to mute the singing of the Sirens, Odysseus is brave when he faces his fears and intelligent when he creates lifesaving tools from ship materials. A modern hero can be someone who saves a life or even sacrifices his or her own for someone else. Odysseus can be compared to a modern hero because he risks his own life to protect his crewmates.
Being a leader is a complex role that is easy to mess up. Time and time again he endangers his crew up until their demise. Constantly Odysseus is shown to be brash and controlled via his emotions in moments of danger. Even after he begins to lose more and more men he continues to be insanely unremorseful. In the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is overall an overrated leader with his biggest flaw being his horrible judgment
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.
In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus repeatedly shows that he is polytropos, for as Zeus says “There is no mortal half so wise”(3). Using his wits, Odysseus gets him and his men out of several sticky situations in the Odyssey, proving his leadership through his actions that save the lives of his crew member. On the other hand Odysseus’ streak of constantly outsmarting challenges, goes to his head, and unfortunately causes Odysseus to develop a hubris. His pride at times makes him arrogant, believing that he always knows best, which leads to the untimely demise of his crew. While Odysseus proves to be good leader by saving his crew from trouble with his wits, he is ultimately a bad leader because he refuses to listen to advice.
In The Odyssey Homer makes Odysseus’ journey to his beloved Ithaca excruciating. Odysseus encounters many friends and foes throughout his journey and has to be a leader throughout his experiences. As an example, he encounters Polyphemus and Poseidon, both of whom make his journey mentally and physically painful. Odysseus faces countless scenarios in which he has to save multiple people in those situations. He also encounters the suitors, who are a group of men that try to marry Penelope, when he returns to reclaim his home.
What makes a hero a hero? If a so-called hero has major flaws, is he still considered a hero?Odysseus did many great and heroic things but some of the things he did make him look less like a hero. Odysseus can be thought of as very brave in the physical and spiritual sense but because of his failure to get his men back home to Ithaca and his unfaithfulness to his wife, he was not truly a hero. Odysseus is thought of as a hero in the physical and spiritual sense because of his bravery while facing the many dangers of creatures, goddesses, and many other things for almost 20 years trying to get home to his wife and son. He never failed to remember his main goal was to get back to his wife and son in Ithaca.
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.
Even though people typically believe that the main hero of Homer’s the Odyssey is Odysseus himself, the true hero of the Odyssey is Penelope. Even though her entire story isn’t told in the epic poem, you can still tell that she went through struggles and trials just as her husband Odysseus did. Along with going through trials, she comes up with witty ideas in order to overcome them. She is very clever, and she also plans long-term. She is loyal to Odysseus and faithfully waits for his return.