The Tragic Hero Of Odysseus In Homer's Odyssey

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In the Odyssey, we learn about a greek hero trying to find his way back home to Ithica, where he ruled as king. This great hero is known as Odysseus, the son of Laertes. Through this epic, written by Homer, Odysseus is recognized by the way he acts and thinks. He is seen being really clever and able to withstand many conflicts by himself, which represents him as a very capable and determined leader. Though he has many positive traits he can also be a bit apathetic towards his men and their ideas/proposals toward a conflict. To conclude this, he is acknowledged by his cleverness, courageous figure, and apathetic character. Throughout his quest back home, he shows how clever he really is. His witty thinking is demonstrated on his trip to the Island of The Cyclopes, in book nine. There, he shows that he is capable of thinking out a situation thoroughly before proceeding with his plan. He rethought his plan of stabbing the cyclopes in the liver by thinking about the outcome of that. So, when he realized that if he proceeded with that he would cause the cyclopes to die, thus, preventing them from leaving the cave with the massive slab blocking …show more content…

He shows how courageous he can actually be when he took a trip to the island of the Cyclopes. Here he showed that he didn't want to risk losing all his men for his protection but, risked himself to keep them safe. In book nine, pages 898, lines 71-75 we find a direct dialogue with him talking to his men about his willing power of risking himself for them.” Old shipmates, friends, the rest of you stand back; I'll make the crossing on my own ship, with my own company, and find out what the mainland natives are…” By this context, the understatement of Odysseus taking the lead to protect his men is very clear. This is a perfect example that shows him being a leader and not a boss, him taking a stand for himself and his men, and not making them make the stand for