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The Mortal Hero Many heroes are not just mortals in these types of myths, but they are demigods or actual gods, this is not the case for the mortal man named Odysseus. The epic poem The Odyssey is about a man named Odysseus, who hasn't seen his family for 20 years and desires to get home to them and will stop at nothing to achieve that. His ten year long journey is not easy though, he will encounter problems, no mortal man should ever face.
American actor Christopher Reeve once quoted, "A hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles" (Brainy Quote). Not only did he play a hero as Superman, he truly became one in his personal life. After becoming a quadriplegic Reeve became a spokesperson for people with spinal cord injuries. A hero is a person one admires because of the qualities and selfless actions they exemplify to overcome adversity and inspire others. Heroism is apparent in literature, history, and in our own life.
A hero is someone who is revered for his or her exceptional achievements and bravery. Anyone who puts themselves before others not for recognition or an award, but because it is the right thing to do, is a true hero. In "The Odyssey," written by Homer is an epic poem about a man named Odysseus and his crewmates competing against the power of the gods to return to their homeland, Ithaca. Throughout his journey, he loses almost all of his men, but Odysseus finally arrives home, concluding his prolonged twenty-year voyage. Odysseus must battle the suitors that have taken his wife Penelope, and may soon kill his son Telemachus.
In the epic poem, Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus goes through many trials and obstacles. Many people think Odysseus isn’t a hero and others do. Odysseus goes travels for ten years and sails to the end of the earth just so he can go back to his family. Why would Homer write a huge voyage with all these dangerous trials that Odysseus has to go through, if it's not to show everyone that Odysseus is a great hero of the Greek world? Although his struggles changed the man he is, he was a hero because he faces extremely dangerous trials, lead his men with bravery, and stays faithful to his gods.
The word hero has had many meanings throughout history. The modern definition of a hero states that they are a person who is idolized for their courage or noble qualities. Whether Homer’s protagonist, Odysseus, from the Odyssey is actually a hero has been up for some debate. Yet, Odysseus is a hero since he shows loyalty to the gods, family, and crew, courage in the face of numerous perils, and leadership in challenging times. During the duration of the Odyssey, there were several instances where Odysseus’s loyalty was tested.
Traits of Hero Tom Hanks once said, “A hero is somebody walks voluntarily into the unknow” (Hanks). In Homer's “The Odyssey”, Odysseus displays he is a hero. In the story Odysseus goes on a ten year journey with obstacles and eventually makes his way home to be reunited with his family. Many of the obstacles have shaped Odysseus as a character for the better. On this 10 year journey throughout the story, Odysseus shoes responsibility, loyalty, and wisdom, which are all traits that makes him a hero, One of the traits that he demonstrates is responsibility with being a hero.
Odysseus: Father, Leader, Hero Homer’s The Odyssey is an epic telling the tales of a hero, Odysseus. Odysseus is the hero of The Odyssey by Homer because of his great qualities and heroic actions. Well, what qualifies as a hero, one might ask. The dictionary defines a hero as (choose one of the definitions).
Since the beginning of history, there have always been heros. Many different stories have been passed down and shared over the years. Heros come and go but the enduring qualities we look for in a hero does not. Although two different types of heroes may have nothing in common, the qualities that give them the name “hero” stay the same. Ancient greek heros and heros today get the name by being brave and determined, but unlike todays heros, Ancient Greek heroes get their qualities from the cruel behaviors they engaged in, like Odysseus.
The Odyssey is often cited as an epitome of the hero’s journey and the monomyth. The hero of the story, Odysseus is on a 10 year battle homeward from the Trojan War to see his wife and son again. With the help divine intervention, Odysseus is able to return home and save his wife from the evil suitors who have continuously tried to win her. One could easily argued that Odysseus is an exemplar of the hero, but there is another story: Odysseus is the opposite of a hero and is not worthy to be called such. He is the villain where the gods are the hero.
What Defines a Hero? Throughout history many different definitions of heroes have been present. Whether you look at how our culture defines a hero, how the epic poem, “The Odyssey,” defines a hero, how the Bible defines a hero, or how you define a hero. The word hero may mean something to one person but for another person it may mean something else.
Odysseys is a greek hero, he first fights a cyclops and if he kills the cyclopes he and his crew will be trapped in the cave for the rest of their life so he stabs Polyphemus in the eye blinding him and to leave he must craft his own raft but the raft is destroyed then his is rescued by Telemachus and was stranded on Circe’s island where some of his men where turned into pigs to break the curse Odysseys had to stay on the island for another year. When he leaves he goes to the land of the dead and finds out that his mom had died while he was an his journey Athena tells odysseys that he needs to wait two days before returning home Penelope had been delaying getting married but she came up with a tricky plan if one of the guys could shoot odyssey's
When Virgil sat down to write Rome’s national epic, he was faced with no small task. He had to produce a masterpiece that would rival Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, please the emperor Augustus, and arouse patriotism in the Roman people. He had to shape Aeneas into a true Roman hero, a valiant man who first survives war and a shipwreck and then chooses duty over love, willingly leaving Dido to fulfill his duty of founding a new empire. Significantly, however, Virgil had a major obstacle to overcome: the Fall of Troy. For Virgil, there was no escaping that Aeneas’s people, the Trojans, lost the Trojan War
Heroism, tends to be difficult to define and remarkably ambiguous in literary works. In the Odyssey, however, Homer clearly defines a hero as a humble, determined, and loyal individual; thus, according to Homer, it is not enough to claim to be a hero, but it is also important to exhibit those qualities that Homer values as heroism. Odysseus, despite claiming heroism, upholds these traits inconsistently, as seen in his taunting of Polyphemus. In contrast, Telemachus, Odysseus’ overlooked son, dramatically grows up over the course of the epic and ultimately reveals his truly heroic qualities by the end of the poem. Thus, because Odysseus claims to be a hero, but fails to remain humble, determined, and loyal throughout the epic, he is not a hero.
A hero as portrayed in Homer is, in many ways, fundamentally different from what we would call a “hero” today. Thousands of years of political, cultural, and religious developments have carried the notion of a hero into a place recalling, but not exactly resembling Homer’s conception. To understand these discrepancies, we must first understand what makes a hero in the Homeric sense of the word. The most obvious feature of these characters is their aristeia, their excellence.
The Epic Hero of The Odyssey The Odyssey is a tale of a great hero trying to get home. An epic hero. An epic hero is a courageous and honorable person. Homer’s character Odysseus exemplifies this in many ways.