Odysseus As A Hero In The Odyssey By Homer

Should a man be considered noble or a hero if he constantly displays characteristics that contradict the meaning of a noble man or a hero? To answer this question simply, absolutely not, but in Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, Odysseus is considered one of the greatest heroes along with being a very noble man, while his actions would say otherwise. The story begins with Odysseus’ son, Telemachus, at his home in Ithaca. At his home, there are many suitors waiting to be chosen to wed the thought to be widowed, Queen Penelope. Everyone believes her husband, Odysseus, to be dead because he has been gone at the Trojan war and on his journey home for about twenty years. Telemachus is encouraged by a goddess in disguise, Athena, to go on a journey

One example of this occurs when Odysseus and his crew were in Polyphemus’ cave. The crew members wanted to just get some food and leave right away to avoid any danger, but Odysseus decided to be greedy and said, “‘“[H]ow much better it would have been-- / not till I saw him, saw what gifts he’d give”’” (Homer 9.257-58). By staying, this caused the altercation between Odysseus, his crew, and Polyphemus, which left a few of the crew members dead. This could have been easily avoided if Odysseus was not so stubborn and would have just listened to his crew. Another example of Odysseus making careless decisions on his crew’s behalf is when Odysseus must decide which path to take from Aeaea. He could either go between two monsters that will certainly kill at least six of his men, or he could go through a path with many rocks. On the second path there would be a chance to get all of his men through, but a very slim one. According to Circe, only “‘“One ship alone, one deep-sea craft sailed clear”’” and Circe explained that it only got through because a goddess, Hera, loved a man on that ship (Homer 12.76). If Odysseus is as great as he believes him to be, then Odysseus should have been able to get passed the rocks. Also, Odysseus has the gods on his side, and more than one. Zeus and Athena both were supporting

Odysseus was a firm believer in loyalty, so it is surprising how he was unloyal to his own wife. One spot in the text when this is shown is when he slept with Calypso many times while stuck on her island. Many times they would retreat to her cave and “they lost themselves in love” (Homer 5.251). It seems as though Odysseus did not even try to resist Calypso. In the text, it looks like Odysseus had just given up trying to get home and just thought that it would be fair to become unfaithful to his wife because he saw this beautiful nymph and thought that he would never see his wife again. This is not the only time Odysseus was unfaithful to his wife. Another time was when Odysseus slept with Circe. Circe had turned all of Odysseus’ crew into pigs and the only way that she was going to turn them back was if Odysseus slept with her, and he did: “‘I mounted Circe’s gorgeous bed…’” (Homer 10.386). Again, Odysseus was disloyal to his wife. Everyone believes that Odysseus is a noble man, but this just shows how he is not. It would have been one thing if it just happened this one time, since this seemed like the only way to help his crew, but this same thing happens again later. The final time that Odysseus displays disloyalty is when he first meets Nausicaa on the island of Scheria. When Odysseus meets her, he begins to flirt with her. He describes her saying that