Similarities Between Odysseus And Thomas Jefferson

Odysseus and Thomas Jefferson: Looking into History to Define What a Hero is Heroes used to be considered people who held great power and always came out on top no matter how high the odds were stacked against them. Today we are more critical of the people we look up to, which I believe to be a good thing. We now realize that the people we consider heroes must be good people, who even though they have flaws, try their hardest to do good for the world. Another interesting question is what it means to be a bad person. Is a bad person someone who is inherently bad? Can a bad person do good? Does doing bad things in your life cancel out all the good things you’ve done? To answer these questions, I am going to look into history for a figure we

He was a founding father, the first Secretary of State, the second Vice-President of the United States, and the third President. Even though he never actually fought in the Revolutionary War, he was still rather important because of the fact that he was a draftsman of the Declaration of Independence (“Thomas Jefferson; Biography” 2018). In addition to this, Thomas Jefferson was the statesman responsible for the Louisiana Purchase, which was when the U.S bought 530,000,000 acres of land for only $15 million from Napoleon (“Thomas Jefferson; Biography” 2018). However, Jefferson has also done some things that aren’t that noble. When his father died in 1775, he inherited his plantation in Virginia, along with about 175 slaves (“Thomas Jefferson; History” 2018). Throughout his life Thomas Jefferson owned about 600 slaves to work in his home and on his plantation (“Thomas Jefferson; History” 2018). Even though he owned slaves, Jefferson proposed a gradual emancipation of slaves. However, he proposed this idea because he believed that black men were biologically inferior to white men and didn’t believe that blacks and whites could live peacefully together (“President Thomas Jefferson”). He decided that when slaves were freed, they shouldn’t be allowed to live in the U.S, but rather be sent back to Africa (“President Thomas Jefferson”). All this raises an interesting question, what decides if you are a good or bad person? Thomas

During the Trojan War, instead of sending his troops to fight for him, Odysseus came with his troops to fight with them. From this we can conclude that Odysseus is most likely a good leader that does care for his people. He also saved his crew-members from the Lotus eaters, a group of people who eat lotus flowers that put you in a trance on an island (Homer 9. 41-48). But all the same, he has done a number of unheroic things as well. For example, while Odysseus was away, his wife Penelope remained completely faithful to him for 20 years and turning away more that 100 suitors. However, Odysseus is not as honorable, cheating on Penelope twice. In addition to this, after Odysseus finally returns, he decided to slaughter all of the suitors that pursued Penelope, all of whom were kings of other kingdoms. Along with killing 108 young men, he killed 12 handmaidens that he felt were disloyal to Penelope as well. At the time, those who heard the Odyssey originally most likely thought that Odysseus was justified in his killing of the suitors and maids because it was seen as him protecting his kingdom and his wife, but reality, all it was was