What makes Odysseus an epic hero? An epic hero, typically in Greek mythology, is defined as; “A brave and noble character admired for great achievements, affected by grand events.” An epic hero must also go through the twelve stages of the monomyth or ‘hero’s journey’. Odysseus is a very well known hero from ‘The Odyssey’ and an epic poem by Homer. Odysseus is a hero because he was brave, determined and willing to take risks when he went through the epic journey. First, a hero must be brave, throughout ‘The Odyssey’ Odysseus was very brave in many ways. Odysseus left his kingdom and his wife and son to fight in the Trojan war and after the war, he was cursed by Poseidon to be lost at sea. While lost at sea for another seven years after the ten year war, Odysseus defeated a cyclops, …show more content…
Odysseus is a true hero because of how brave he is. Next, Odysseus is a hero because he is determined. He was determined to return home and did not let anything stop him. Odysseus was cursed by God to not go home, but Odysseus did not give up. He went on a long, treacherous journey where he risked many lives, including his own, just so he could return home. Odysseus fought monsters and outsmarted a witch; he even went to the River Styx, which no one will do unless they are incredibly determined. He was very determined to reach his goal, which is a great quality for an epic hero. Finally, when Odysseus went through ‘The Hero’s Journey’, he was willing to take risks. Odysseus was called to Troy to fight in the war, Athena was his mentor however, after leaving his home and fighting in the war he was then cured by Poseiden. Odysseus lost all of his men while defeating many enemies, then, he went to the ends of the earth to be sacrificed and ‘reborn’ in the River Styx. Only then was he able to return home to take back his throne and reunite with his