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Characteristics Of Odysseus

Decent Essays

A Hero

“A hero can be anyone even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a little boy’s shoulder to let him know that the world hadn’t ended.” -Batman, The Dark Knight Rises. A hero is a person who is brave, smart, determined and shows excellent leaderships skills. A hero can band together a group of people to accomplish a similar goal. One example of a hero is a doctor because they vow to try and help people become the healthiest they can be. The character Odysseus from Homer’s epic called The Odyssey is an example of a hero. Odysseus demonstrates these qualities when he goes on his journey home. He is persistent on his course to Ithaca. August from The Secret Life of Bees also shows the characteristics of a hero. Although August and Odysseus have two different ambitions they both exhibit the traits of a hero.

In the book The Odyssey by Homer the main character Odysseus shows the characteristic of a hero. While on their journey, Odysseus and his men encountered a Cyclops. They get stuck in a cave but Odysseus gets them out by being their leader. Odysseus’s first idea is to get the Cyclops drunk. When the Cyclops is drunk he asks Odysseus what his name is. On page 903 Odysseus replies with, “ ‘My name is nohbody’ ”. The Cyclops soon falls asleep after getting drunk. Odysseus knows he can’t just leave because the door is blocked by a giant boulder only the Cyclops could move. So he devises a plan to attack the Cyclops. He and his men stab the Cyclops in the eye. Odysseus used his smarts and wits by telling Polyphemus his name was “nobody’ so, the Cyclops would tell everyone nobody was hurting him. Polyphemus the Cyclops states on page 905 of The Odyssey, “ ‘Nohbdy, Nohbdy’s tricked me. Nohbdy’s ruined me’ ”. When Odysseus and his men were leaving the cave they hid under the sheep who were also escaping the Cyclops cave. On page 906 of Homer's epic The Odyssey states “Odysseus escaping the cave of Polyphemus under the belly of the ram.” This shows how Odysseus was clever and thought of hiding under the belly of the sheep. If he hadn’t done this Odysseus and his men would have been eaten by the Cyclops and would’ve never gone home. Odysseus also used his good leadership to

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