Odysseus As A Hero In Homer's The Odyssey

The Odyssey, originally shared verbally by Homer, tells the story of Odysseus’ journey home around 800 B.C. His adventures play out over a vast setting, ranging all the way from Ithica to Troy. A couple main characters include Odysseus, king of Ithica; Athena, goddess of war and wisdom; Telemachus, son of Odysseus; and Penelope, Odysseus’ wife. Many other gods and goddesses make appearances in this poem as well. Throughout the poem, Odysseus displeases a great deal of gods. This causes his voyage home to become much harder. Although Odysseus displays many characteristics of a hero, grand events affect him greatly but he never acts cowardly. Odysseus acts as a hero because grand events affect him. May hardships have risen throughout Odysseus’ expedition. He loses all of his men early on and has no other choice but to face many other difficulties by himself. Odysseus also lost his ship in a storm Poseidon sends. This had a major effect on his voyage, and causes him to have to swim for multiple days and nights. Along with the loss of his men and ship, Odysseus also hears of an abundance of suitors harassing his wife and son back home. Both of these factors impact Odysseus’ mental stability. Grand events cause Odysseus’ journey back home to become much more difficult.

While Polyphemus has Odysseus and his men trapped in his cave, Odysseus acts as a leader. He steps up and talks to the one-eyed monster after he kills one of Odysseus’ men. Moreover, Odysseus does not show cowardice during another storm Poseidon directs his way. He calls for Poseidon and asks what he wants from him. He wants to know how to fix predicaments with Poseidon. As Odysseus floats in the crashing waves, he accepts his mistakes. If Odysseus had acted as a coward, he would not survive all of his trip. Overall, Odysseus goes through a lot of difficulties, but never exemplifies