Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Nature of heroism in odyssey
Nature of heroism in odyssey
Heroism in the odyssey secondary criticism
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Odysseus went through a lot of adventures. And through good and bad time he almost always is getting out of the situation. Through all the adventures he showed an “Epic Hero Trait” and that is clever. He always makes a plan or decides something important. He got through the Sirens, Scylla, Charybdis, and now even his own home.
The famous American president Calvin Coolidge once stated, “Heroism is not only in the man, but in the occasion.” In other words, a person may have heroic qualities but is not necessarily a hero, since the true indication of heroism in an individual is shown by his or her behaviors in different situations. In Odyssey by Homer, the protagonist Odysseus uses his godlike charm and cunning to return to his homeland, despite the fact that the mighty god Poseidon wishes that he never returns. Though Odysseus is developed as a character with heroic qualities, his use of said qualities within certain situations cause him to be portrayed as an antihero, as shown through his lack of control, self-centered actions, and excessive bloodshed.
In The Odyssey by Homer, the main character is portrayed to be a hero. To be heroic means to have courage and bravery. Also, it means that you're intelligent, you are a strategic, and you do what is right. In all, Odysseus exhibits many heroic qualities. Odysseus, the main character in The Odyssey, shows many of the heroic qualities.
Odysseus’s adventures were long, brutal and tested his weaknesses. I'm going to analyze how these weaknesses kept him from returning home. Because of these weaknesses odysseus’s son grew up without a father in his life, who knows if he even had a father figure in his life at the very least He survived many situations against all odds and was reunited with his wife and son after 20 long years. Two of his adventures were. Odysseus likes women that are not his wife, and he gets sucked into the goddess Circe’s “vortex” so to speak, his crew warned him it was a trap to keep them there but he didn't listen and they stayed there for a year eating and drinking as much as they could possibly want.
There are many types of hero, fictional, historical, and modern day. Odysseus was a historical hero, who saved his home of Ithaca. He had so many heroic traits, such as, bravery, courage, caring, loyalty, determination, and so much more. Fictional, modern day and other historical heroes have many of these traits as well. Therefore, the word hero has not changed.
Because of Odysseus’s sharp intellect, cunningness, and with the help from the gods, he finishes the heroes’ journey. Odysseus’s main flaw in The Odyssey is his pride and not being able to control his crew. Test, allies, and enemies happen when Odysseus blinds Polyphemus who is the son of Poseidon. When Odysseus and his crew first found Polyphemus’s cave they could’ve just stolen food or left but instead Odysseus wanted to stay and receive a gift.
Odysseus the Hero Superman may be the first person who comes to mind when thinking of the word hero, but not all superheroes wear capes. This is proven in Homer’s book, The Odyssey with the main character, Odysseus, who showed many heroic acts throughout the book. He was clever, brave, and, loyal, proving he's worthy of being a hero. The definition of a hero, doesn’t depend on how strong someone is, or if they can fly, it’s about courage, and noble qualities.
Odysseus is the protagonist of The Odyssey. He is not a typical ‘strong man” like Achilles or Hercules, rather, he is a man of thought, patience, and clever tricks. Odysseus used his intelligence to overcome obstacles when he was on Calypso’s Island, at sea, and when he returned back home to Ithaca. First, Odysseus was on Cyclops when he had to overcome an inconvenience. To begin, Odysseus and his men followed a flock of sheep into a cave after finding them on the island of Cyclops.
Do you know any epic heroes that show heroic qualities? Some heroes that you might be thinking of would be Batman, Spider-Man, or even Thor; but those aren't the epic heroes I'm talking about. I'm talking about the real heroes the ones who don't need any powers to achieve anything. The type of hero that does not need to fly or shoot lasers out of it's eyes. One hero that would be considered an epic hero would be Odysseus; you might not know who he is, well he's a character that comes out in the Iliad and the Odyssey.
In the epic poem The Odyssey the main character Odysseus shows many qualities of an epic hero. Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, has a wife, Penelope, and his only son, Telemachus all struggle as Odysseus goes to war in Troy the day of Telemachus’ birth. Odysseus struggles and fights through obstacles that no mortal on earth has ever conquered. Odysseus demonstrates the qualities of a leader, speaker, and superhuman strength that every epic hero should have. Odysseus shows the characteristic of leadership many times throughout The Odyssey.
After Odysseus men are eaten by the Cyclops, they come up with a plan to hurt him so they could escape. When they stab the Cyclops in the eye, the Cyclops calls the other Cyclopes. When they approach they ask who ruined him and the Cyclops answers, “Nobody, Nobody's tricked me, Nobody's ruined me!” (9. 317). Earlier in the poem when The Cyclops asks Odysseus for his name, Odysseus tells him the name is Nobody. This takes a tremendous amount of intelligence which is why Odysseus is known for his cleverness.
Odysseus was an effective leader in battle, an amazing fighter, and he was the person who helped defeat Troy by using the wooden horse. Although everyone thought this was a heroic action by Odysseus to obtain victory, the gods were not so happy with him, especially Zeus. The gods punished Odysseus by making his journey back home difficult for him and his men. Even though Odysseus was being challenged by gods, he had traits that were of an epic hero. Also, throughout his journey he had friends and companions to help him travel back to Ithaca safely and obtain his kingdom once again.
A child relies on his parents and is foolish from time to time. A child could also represent the ever so often hero, Odysseus from the Odyssey by Homer. The Odyssey is an epic poem about the mortal Odysseus and his journey to get home and at Ithaca, with the help of the greek goddess Athena. Throughout the poem, Odysseus is generally seen as a hero when Athena helps him, but once in awhile he can act like a hero without any help, but is otherwise selfish without it.
Odysseus is a hero because he is smart. For example, when Odysseus and his men approach the giant he offers him ¨liquor to wash down your scraps of men¨ (Homer 991). Odysseus is clever by doing this because he can predict that the liquor will make him fall asleep. He knows that the boulder that is blocking the entrance is heavy so he doesn 't kill Polyphemus. Instead, Odysseus only hurts him.
For instance, Odysseus upon meeting the Cyclops announces, “my name is Nohbody. ”(Homer972.1:273) He does not reveal his identity so that when the cyclops is blinded and the other Cyclops asks who blinded him he replied Nobody. Another example of his cleverness is when he explains to his crew why he decided not to kill the Cyclops, “If I [kill]ed him we [perish]ed t[here] as well, for we could never move his ponderous doorway slab aside. ”(Homer.1.:204-206) Since a human could not move the door way he uses his wits to blind the cyclops so that he may move the door.