The Archetype Of The Hero In Homer's Odyssey

Heroes have always been a major aspect of the literature world, with men taking on challenges beyond their limits, bravely saving the things around them, courageously helping someone, or numerous other heroic deeds. Millions of stories, whether they be new, old, fiction or nonfiction, have been published with a hero as the main character who endures struggle and glory through their journey. Over time, though, the hero archetype has changed drastically due to the change in the world and humanity. A hero from today’s day in age might be considered a hero, when back then hundreds of years ago, he/she would have been merely considered someone who has done a good thing. The archetype has undergone numerous changes considering the “hero’s” personality,

Back then, in order to be classified as a hero, the man must have risked his own life, went through numerous challenges without giving up, and triumphed over some sort of evil or bad. Homer’s Odysseus, fell into the hero category because he left his home in order to go fight a nasty battle in Troy. However once the war was over, Odysseus's travel home was nothing but easy. He encountered all sorts of things from cyclops to a whirlpools to enchanted females who turned men into animals, and much more. Odysseus pulled through all these obstacles and made it back to his homeland to reclaim his power as king. The hero archetype is exemplified in his situation by rising above and not giving up until he had gotten what he wanted. King Arthur showed the hero archetype by being humble and bravely taking over England after being the only man who could remove the sword from the stone. He graciously rose to power and became an amazing king who everyone loved because of his determination to drive Anglo-Saxons out. King Arthur was proven to be a hero because of his bravery, determination, and and loyal to his country. The hero archetype thousands of years ago, usually consisted of the hero murdering people, and being respected for it. Death, in ancient times, showed strength and courage. In Odysseus’s case, he had killed all the suitors who raided his house and tried to

Olden heros had strict guidelines as to what would make them a hero. They must have showed strength by power, gone through a hard fight, and in the end triumphed. There wasn't much leeway with kinds of heros, most heros were all had very similar story lines. However, today is the complete opposite. Nowadays, potentially anyone could be considered a hero. There are millions of types of heros encountered everyday. Some are literal superheroes, while some simply help people out and more. There is no limit or guidelines that someone must follow in order to be honored as a hero. In the ancient times of The Odyssey, one way major way to be considered a hero was to kill a mass amount of people to show power and strength, such as when Odysseus killed the suitors. Today that kind of thing is frowned upon and certainly not considered heroic, heros of today are based upon saving people, not murdering them. Today’s heroes are people who have“ courageous soul who is no less afraid of death but more focused on saving lives than taking them..”. (Tapson, acculturated.com) Furthermore, heros today are not limited because of race, gender, religion, or anything else, unlike how it was in past where only white men were able to be heros. Lastly, a hero today can do one small good deed and be considered a hero, meanwhile, in the past the hero must have done huge wide-scale things in order to be