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Odysseus Journey To Heroism In Homer's Odyssey

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Odysseus’ Journey to Heroism
The Odyssey is an epic poem by Homer, set in 800 B.C between Ithaca and Troy. This epic poem portrays Odysseus, the king of Ithaca’s journey back from Troy. Penelope, Odysseus’ wife waits for him at home along with their son, Telemachus. Suitors think that Odysseus has died, so they harass Penelope and Telemachus because they want to become king. Poseidon, god of the sea constantly throws obstacles at Odysseus because Odysseus blinded his son, Polyphemus. Athena, on the other hand, tries to help him make his journey back to Ithaca. Odysseus, showcases two important characteristics of a hero in The Odyssey: grand events affecting him, and bravery.
First, one characteristic that Odysseus shows throughout the story includes bravery. Odysseus shows bravery in many points throughout the poem. Odysseus first displays bravery by venturing into the Underworld to get directions to get home. In book 11, Homer depicts the Underworld as having no sunlight with spirits walking around and “unearthly screams.” It takes true bravery to go into a …show more content…

The first instance that a grand event affects Odysseus includes Calypso holding him hostage on her island for seven years. Starting on page 187, Calypso holds Odysseus captive as a slave for seven years. This affects Odysseus because after Zeus convinces her to let him go, he has to build his own ship and swim for two days and two nights. Last of all, Odysseus’ whole journey back to Ithaca affects him. Most of his struggles come from when he says that no one helped him in the Trojan War and that he did everything himself. All of these struggles that Odysseus goes through help him realize that the gods help him a lot and it teaches him to be thankful. The fact that Odysseus gets affected by grand events helps him become a better hero by teaching him that he can not do everything on his own and helps him be

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