Responsibility Of Odysseus As A Hero In Homer's Odyssey

Responsibility: the state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or of having control over someone. All heroes have to deal with responsibilities. The hero in the “Odyssey,” Odysseus, has many responsibilities he has to maintain and work with. Odysseus is the King of Ithaca, so he has all of the duties any king at the time would have. Also, while he was lost at sea, Odysseus had many men to feed and protect. These men were his soldiers that went with him to fight in the Trojan War. Most of all, Odysseus felt his most important responsibility was to return home to his wife and newborn son. All heroes have responsibilities like these. They all have to keep their town, city, or kingdom safe, and the hero always has to get the

Being a hero, Odysseus had many responsibilities which included fighting the Trojan War, leading and protecting his men, and returning safely to his wife.

One of Odysseus’s many kingly duties was to go fight in the Trojan War. In ancient Greek times, the kings would all go off to fight in wars even if it wasn't their homeland involved. This general rule or standardization of the time is what caused King Odysseus to leave his wife and newborn son. This was one of his responsibilities as the King of Ithaca: “My home is peaked sea-mark of Ithaca / under Mount Neion’s wind-blown robe of leaves, / in sight of other islands - Dulichium, / Same, wooded Zacynthus - Ithaca / being most lofty in the coastal sea, and northwest, while the rest lie east and south” (III.21-26). Odysseus was proud of his

Odysseus was responsible for many people. Odysseus lead his men away from his homeland and off into the Trojan War. He also lead his men into their destine deaths. This was told to him in the underworld by a prophet but there was no way to avoid it. He was responsible for all of the people in his land, Ithaca, and he was also responsible for all the men that went with him to fight in the Trojan War. Odysseus explains in the “Odyssey” that his men did not make it out alive, but it was their destiny: “My men were mutinous, / fools, on stores of wine. Sheep after sheep / they butchered by the surf, and shambling cattle, / feasting - while fugitives went Inland, running / to call to arms the main force of Cicones” (III.46-51). Odysseus tells briefly how his men ended up dying. Even though Odysseus was told that there was nothing he could do to save his men when he went to the underworld, they were still his men and he was still the only person responsible for them. This is one of those hard responsibilities that comes with being a hero. Other people’s lives are often times placed in the hands of heroes. Odysseus even prays for his men once he finds out their fate: “O my lord, remember me, / I pray, do not abandon me and my companions” (IX.47-54). In his passage, Odysseus chooses to pray to the gods for safe travels because his travels have been all but safe. He asks for safe travels and for the safety of his men