The Hero Odysseus
Heroes can come in all shapes and sizes, from the modern day accountant politely holding the door open for her coworkers to the towering firefighter rescuing people for a living. But all of the people fail in comparison to the mighty Odysseus. In the Epic Poem, The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is the hero that leads his men on a journey back home after the Trojan War in Greece. However, along their journey, the men upset the gods, creating a ten year adventure filled with new challenges set forth because of the gods’ wrath. On the other hand, there is the smartest man on the planet, Stephen Hawking, who has not been exempt from life’s struggles, including his ALS diagnosis; but is able to persevere through it all. When compared
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However, Odysseus is eventually able to learn humility throughout his journey. In the beginning, Odysseus starts as an egotistical and immature man, thinking he is the omniscient and omnipotent, though he is far from it; but as the story progresses, Odysseus learns that he is just on mortal man, nothing more and nothing less. After the wreckage of his ship, Odysseus finds himself stranded in the middle of the sea, at the mercy of the enraged god Poseidon. As Odysseus struggles on a small shard of wood to stay afloat, Poseidon smites the poor sailor with huge waves that thrash Odysseus throughout the open ocean. (The Odyssey). And as a result of this encounter, Odysseus learns his place in the world-learning that he is not the king of everything. A hero has to know his place, not letting their ego blind them, and that is what Odysseus learned at sea. In fact, Stephen Hawking has weighed in on this issue, stating that “The human failing I would most like to correct is aggression” (Philip).Because can lead to catastrophic consequences, and it is mainly rooted in ignorance-ignorance Odysseus had displayed from the start of the story. These traits are treacherous within a leader and definitely not found in an idol. But since Odysseus learned humility, he is considered a hero.
In conclusion Odysseus is a hero because he is intelligent, resilient, and humble. He uses his wit and intelligence to save his men in more way than one. His resilient attitude has helped him overcome the direst circumstances. His humility and how he attained it show just how much change and good he can do. And each of these traits are shown in Stephen Hawking, a pre-established hero. Therefore Odysseus is a hero, and model for future protagonists to