Odysseus As An Epic Hero In Homer's The Odyssey

Homer’s The Odyssey has many interpretations, each conveying many messages that the reader can take from the story. Several are traits that the epic hero, Odysseus, has, which help him complete his journey. However, there are also many recurring similarities between each trial that Odysseus faces. This being, that he never accomplished anything in the book without help. Some things, he may have been able to accomplish without this help, but for many, it would have been impossible, even for Odysseus. This shows that the theme of The Odyssey is that it takes a team to accomplish something.

Although Odysseus is an epic hero, there are some tasks that cannot be completed without the help of a god. Over the course of his journey, Odysseus

Since Odysseus’ wits can only get him so far against powerful monsters, he needs the help of others to defeat them. One example comes from when Odysseus and his men were trapped in a cave with Polyphemus, the cyclops, and were going to blind the cyclops in his sleep, in book nine, “Now came the time to toss for it: who ventured along with me? Whose hand could bear to thrust and grind that spike in Cyclops’ eye, when mild sleep had mastered him,” (lines 238-240, 1117). This shows that Odysseus recognized that he needed help to blind the cyclops, and used it. Without this help, it would have been much harder to blind the cyclops, meaning that Odysseus’ journey could have ended in the cyclops’ cave. Odysseus also depends on his team when he encounters Scylla. Since Scylla is incredibly fierce, Circe tells Odysseus that it cannot be beaten in book twelve, “And she’ll swoop over you, once more, I fear, taking a man for every gullet,” (lines 84-85, 1133). Not only could Odysseus not have been able to row any boat past Scylla fast enough alone, but Scylla had six heads, meaning that in order to pass, they would need six men, plus more to row the boat, and if there was any reasonable way to go around the island, Odysseus would have done so. This part of the journey would undoubtedly be impossible for Odysseus to tackle on his own, showing that there is a

This is shown in book sixteen, when Odysseus makes friends with King Alcinous, “King Alcinous and his friends send Odysseus on his way home. Odysseus sleeps while the rowers bring him to Ithaca. When he awakens, he fails to recognize his homeland until Athena appears and tells him that he is indeed home,” (1142). This is another part that Odysseus could not have passed without the help of others. Odysseus would have a lot of trouble getting to Ithaca, but he would have no way of knowing when he got to Ithaca, as Athena had to tell him that he was there. Odysseus also actively seeks help or some sort of team when he is preparing to face the suitors in book twenty one, “So now what is in store for you I’ll tell you: If Zeus brings down the suitors by my hand I promise marriages to both, and cattle, and houses built near mine. And you shall be brothers-in-arms of my Telemachus,” (lines 65-69, 1153). This shows that Odysseus understands that if he wants to achieve the defeat of the suitors, he needs a team. This help turned out to be extremely useful, as there were many suitors and Odysseus needed all the help he could