ipl-logo

Odysseus As An Epic Hero In Homer's Odyssey

475 Words2 Pages

In the book Odyssey Odysseus is portrayed as epic hero manly. To me he is an epic hero and there are many things in the book to back this claim up. How he is portrayed is he is intelligent, wise, and brave. He has accomplished many journeys of a total of twenty years, some of these journeys may not be big but they impact his life. An epic hero is not just about strength it’s about the mind and how well he or she can use it. Odysseus went to many places and concord them. “Odysseus in one motion strung the bow” (Homer 608). He was the only one that could string the bow and he did it gracefully and swiftly. Some of his journeys helped home learn valuable lessons. “My name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends, everyone called me Nohbdy” (Homer 569). This was smart because Odysseus knew not to give the cyclops his real name. If Odysseus gave the cyclops his real name all of his crew would have been doomed. …show more content…

“Athena disguises Odysseus as a beggar and directs him to the hut of Eumaeus” (Homer 596). Athena helps Odysseus home and to his loved ones. His wife is another significant person because she never dishonors her husband. “ So every day I wove on the great loom, but every night by torchlight I unwove it...” ( Homer 606). Penelope was never able to finish her loom because she was unweaving it and every time she unweaved it it gave Odysseus more time to make it home before she had to marry again. When he does make it home she tests Odysseus to make sure he is not a poser acting like her husband. He also has many characteristics in this book but the main one is that he is a

Show More
Related
399 Words | 2 Pages

His plan to keep his identity hidden until he kills of the suitors and finally shows his true self to penelope shows how he is able to use his intelligence to get his way. This example shows cunningness because Odysseus disguises himself as a beggar to kill the

Read More
1304 Words | 6 Pages

The first thing that Odysseus does when he get home is disguise himself as a beggar. “First I [Athena] will transform you, no one must know you…I’ll dim the fire in your eyes, so shining once-until you seem appalling to all those suitors, even your wife and son you left behind at home” (299). Being a beggar helped keep his identity a secret and it allowed him the chance to test the loyalty of his people. There he discovered the cruelness of the suitors. They were taking the wealth of his palace, courting his wife, and worse of all trying to kill his son.

Read More
349 Words | 2 Pages

Despite the fact Odysseus gets the Cyclops drunk, Odysseus also continues to act clever and says his “name

Read More
1107 Words | 5 Pages

The Odyssey by Homer is an exemplary story that teaches life lessons to those going on a journey for themselves. It illustrates how the challenges and obstacles one may face can help someone become a better leader. The Odyssey highlights one man, Odysseus, a man filled with excessive pride, experiencing the wrath of the god Poseidon. He expects to arrive at his home, Ithaca, safely to reunite with his wife, Penelope, but unfortunately faces many temptations and setbacks. Due to the challenges he faces, it prevents him from arriving home as early as he thought he would.

Read More
507 Words | 3 Pages

The Odyssey by Homer is a well renowned epic poem told from the perspective of the epic hero, Odysseus. Throughout the poem, Odysseus tackles many obstacles that the Greek gods put upon him. Odysseus demonstrated many heroic characteristics, such as leadership, loyalty, wisdom, as well as superior intelligence to return back to his home in Ithaca. Moreover, Odysseus’s relationships with the gods was another primary factor in the time frame and events that occurred before he could return back home.

Read More
421 Words | 2 Pages

While trying to get back home, Odysseus gets in a lot of predicament and Athena aids him throughout the whole journey and gets him back home to his family.

Read More
1125 Words | 5 Pages

When Odysseus finally returns home, he has Athena disguise him so he can look at how his home has been going without him. Everyone besides his wife, son, and two other of his men have been disloyal to him and there is a group of suitors there who have overstayed their visit trying to get Penelope to be their wife. Odysseus locks the suitors all in one room where the

Read More
551 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
500 Words | 2 Pages

In the epic story the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is returning from the Trojan war, and on his way home he finds many obstacles ahead of him. Odysseus is the ruler of Ithaca and he is trying to return home to his land. Many creatures try and stop him from achieving his goal of returning home, but he and his crew have to push through and get home. Odysseus portrays bravery and courage leading his crew through these tough challenges. Odysseus heroically leads his crew and himself through dangerous obstacles, but also foolishly endangers them during the journey home.

Read More
865 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
497 Words | 2 Pages

Odysseus in undoubtedly an epic hero, and has many qualities of one, but being both divine and mortal is most prevalent in the tenth book of Homer's The Odyssey. Although he is a mortal man himself, he has many interactions with the gods that shape his journey. To begin, the wind god, Aiolos, gifts Odysseus with a bag of winds to take him home. Unfortunately, his crew lets the winds escape, so he returns to Aiolos' island. Instead of helping him again, Aiolos refuses and drives Odysseus from his land. "

Read More
1348 Words | 6 Pages

Joseph Campbell once said, ”the cave you most fear to enter holds the treasure you seek”. This ideology of confronting one's inner fears through obstacles and becoming more powerful each time, propels the hero of the story to become an epic hero at the end of their journeys of self-discovery. Odysseus in The Odyssey recited by Homer was certainly not exempt from the title of ‘Epic Hero’ due to his skills and his sympathizable traits’ and his fantastical adventures back to home . While some may say The Odyssey is a tale of Odysseus piecing his life together with adventures that could have easily been avoided, but he faced due to his bereft of forethought, Odysseus is an epic hero nonetheless for his divine physical abilities with the incorporation

Read More
541 Words | 3 Pages

Odysseus was a man who remained faithful and loyal to his wife and family when he was always for 20 years. He was such a brave and intelligent man he never gave up on the people even when it was impossible. Odysseus wasn’t only loyal to his family but also to Penelope and was also a very good ruler of Ithaca. He was known as a resourceful leader because he would never say no to the people who needed help or were in time of need.

Read More
570 Words | 3 Pages

In The Odyssey, Odysseus’ characteristics do not fit in the definition of a modern hero, he illustrates a naive and a arrogant epic hero. Odysseus can be seen as a naive epic hero. This is because he doesn't step up to be a stern leader with his shipmates and he allows his shipmates to walk over him. An example of this is when Odysseus reaches Thrinacia, the island home to Helio’s cattles. Odysseus tells his

Read More
541 Words | 3 Pages

Odysseus is an epic hero because of his bravery and confidence during every obstacle throughout his journey In Part 1 whie Odysseus is about to come across cyclops cave, he says “I brought along and victuals in a bag, for in my bones I knew some towering brute would be upon so soon- all outward power, a wild man, ignorant of civility. “ Odysseus is showing his bravery of not being petrified of what he might come across, like the cyclops. Odysseus has no intention of harming them, but he is not sure what their intention is. This example is important because not only does it show confidence in himself, he also shows confidence in his men. In Part 2 Odysseus also shows his confidence in his men in part 2 where Eurylochus says, “Are you flesh and blood, Odysseus, to endure more than a man can?

Read More

More about Odysseus As An Epic Hero In Homer's Odyssey

Related Topics

Open Document