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Odysseus Is An Epic Hero

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“What makes a hero truly great is that they never despair” said Roy Thomson. Odysseus knows that his men will die, but he keeps pushing on to get home. In the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus shows he is an epic hero by his great strength and all his epic hero abilities. Odysseus has to travel home from the Trojan war, which he did not want to go to. He wants to get home so he reunite with his wife and son. But when he gets home he has to prove that it is really him Odysseus. He proves he is an epic hero by battling Polyphemus, escaping the land of the lotus eaters, and battling all the suitors that took over his home while he was on his journey. Odysseus shows he is an epic hero by battling supernatural foes. Like when he battled against Polyphemus, …show more content…

He knows he and his men have to get off the island before they eat the lotus flower and have no care in the world. “I drove them all three wailing, to the ships, tied them down under their rowing bench and called the rest.”(Homer 602) He wants to get home, so he has to get the men back that he sent out looking over the island. When he gets them he has to drag them back because they ate the lotus flower and want to stay with the other people that eat the flower too. He also did not want to leave without them. This shows that he cares for himself and his crew. He does not want to be stuck there on the island and wants to get home and see his family. He could have stayed and ate the flower and not have a care in the world. But he wants to let his men home and he wants to be home, so he gets all his men on board the ship and they sail out. Odysseus is an epic hero he did not want to stay he wants to get home. He could have taken the easy way and just ate the …show more content…

He slays all the suitors that lived at his house and drank his wine and ate his food. “I would not stay my hands from the slaughter.” (Homer 640) All the suitors stayed at his house and are trying to marry his wife while he is away at Troy trying to get home. All of the suitors that stayed there ate his food and drank his wine too. He made the suitors pay for eating his food, drinking his wine, and trying to marry his wife, Penelope. He shot the suitors with his bow and then when he ran out of arrows him and his son killed all of the people with their

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Penelope, his wife, is greatly affected; as many greedy suitors disrespect her and move into their home to try and win her hand in marriage. Throughout ‘The Odyssey’, the greed and folly of men play a huge part in increasing the difficulty and severity of Odysseus’s situations and ultimately change his fate and the directions of his journey. The greed and folly of men are largely represented by Penelope’s suitors. In the very first book of The Odyssey, the disgusting actions of the suitors were introduced to the readers.

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The natives there gave Odysseus and his men an intoxicating fruit of the lotus. After Odysseus and his men eat the fruit, they forget all of their thoughts about home and decide to eat more of the fruit. The only way that Odysseus can get him and his men back home is by dragging his men back to the ship and lock them up, Odysseus decides to go along with it. When Odysseus went back to Ithaca, He made the wise choice to go and see his wife Penelope. Odysseus was so brave to go see his wife because he didn’t know if she was going to recognize him at all or want to be with him for the rest of her life.

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Epic poetry, known for its grand descriptions of glorious accomplishments, revolves around an honorable protagonist. As the hero faces adversity in his journey, he triumphs in fleeting moments of bravery. He often exhibits his physical strength to overcome his hardships, manifesting a story with a violent nature. In Homer’s The Odyssey, King Odysseus of Ithaca struggles to return to his loving wife and son after having fought in the Trojan War.

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Odysseus, a man who was known for his adventures, but do we really understand the attributes needed for an epic hero? The King of Ithaca had a very concealed past where it is hardly ever noted that his men were mistreated by their captain and all of Odysseus’ mistakes affected those around him. Odysseus, on several occasions did his men wrong and along his journeys, he became very willful and big headed. In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus has several misfortunes such as losing all of his men and being stranded and not returning home for 20 years, but evidently all of these problems were caused by the mens lack of trust in Odysseus and Odysseus being too stubborn and full of pride. The crew had a very important job in the quests that Odysseus

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An epic hero is someone who is characterized commonly on their nobility and bravery. However ,there are more attributes epic heros can posses. For example Odysseus, the protagonist in Homer's retelling of “The Odyssey”, shows many forms of excessive arrogance and pomposity. After conquering Troy, Odysseus and his men set off on their way home.

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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

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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.

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Odysseus fits the description of an epic hero because he had cleverness, exceptional knowledge, and supernatural conflict. The first reason why Odysseus fits the description of an epic hero is because he had cleverness. The first time Odysseus shows that he had cleverness was in the cyclops, Polyphemus adventure.

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The concept of hero has been interpreted in many ways throughout the ages. Hero have gone from knights slaying dragons and rescuing the princess, to heroes who save the world with their supernatural-like powers, to a modern day hero who is someone who has noble qualities and is regarded as a role model. In the epic, The Odyssey, by Robert Fagles, the heroic Odysseus is a well known in Greek mythology. However, although Odysseus is the most respected, honorable hero of Greek mythology he is not a modern hero. A modern day hero is someone who puts their life on the line to save the lives of other innocent people.

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Athena has helped him by turning him into an old man. In the poem it states, “… She disguise him as an old man...” (Homer, 23). That is why Odysseus is an epic hero. Odysseus is not an epic hero because he lies and does not tell the whole truth.

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Odysseus is the protagonist of the epic poem by Homer, The Odyssey, known as the great epic hero, but how exactly do we know that Odysseus is an epic hero? One reason I believe that Odysseus is indeed an epic hero is that there were gods that were on Odysseus’ side and helping him on his way. Additionally, Odysseus experienced many exceptional adventures and hardship from his journey. Lastly, something epic heroes have that Odysseus shares in common is that he has beneficial characteristics such as confidence, courage, loyalty, and intelligence.

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Well the definition of an epic hero is, “a brave and noble character in an epic poem, admired for great achievements or affected by grand events. ”(Dictionary.com) If that doesn’t describe Odysseus, I don’t know what does. He risks his life in many circumstances, and he’s widely admired for being the one of the reasons the trojans won the war. He is also affected by lots of events throughout his adventures.

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From Greek mythology, Odysseus is considered to be an epic hero. This means, that in comparison to other humans, he possesses superhuman strength, craftiness, and confidence, more so than the average person. An epic hero embodies ideals and values that culture deems as admirable. Another characteristic an epic hero must have is the capability to be helped, and harmed by the interfering gods, a trait that Odysseus certainly has.

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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?

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The Epic Hero of The Odyssey The Odyssey is a tale of a great hero trying to get home. An epic hero. An epic hero is a courageous and honorable person. Homer’s character Odysseus exemplifies this in many ways.

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