Essay On Odysseus Being A Hero

Although some believe that the epic hero, Odysseus is a fool for his arrogance and inability to take necessary precautions when dealing with the cyclops and Helios’ cattle, these do not outweigh the reasons why Odysseus is actually a hero. Overall Odysseus is a hero because he cleverly built his bed from an olive tree, since he resides with Circe he gains valuable

In The Odyssey, the reader is easily able to distinguish that Odysseus is a hero in the story. He is a god-like figure. Odysseus’s wife, Penelope, is a hero and seen by many readers as such especially females. Both possess characteristics of heroes and they deserve to be considered such but that does not mean that they are the true hero of the story. Their son Telemachus is the true hero in The Odyssey. The reader should be able to identify with him the most and realize everything that has happened in his life and he deals with it with extreme heroism. He handles the situation in his life the way every human being should.

Odysseus portrays himself as anything but a hero throughout Homer’s The Odyssey. Odysseus goes through his life believing he is the best. He has no regard for anyone’s feelings but his own, and he believes nothing and no one can harm him, not even the gods. Odysseus feels he is always the leader and no one can tell him otherwise. Odysseus should not be considered a hero because he portrays himself as a selfish man that failed his crew, and is controlled by his hubris.

A hero accepts who he is as an individual, but strives to change himself for the better. In the epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, the main character Odysseus is a valiant king who embarks on a life-changing voyage. While traveling from Troy back to his home in Ithaka, King Odysseus overcomes daunting obstacles, and in doing so discovers his place in the world. Odysseus is truly a heroic figure because he demonstrates courage, improves his character, and wins the support of the gods.

The majority of those who read The Odyssey consider the protagonist of the story, Odysseus, a hero. On many occasions, however, Odysseus makes decisions beneficial to himself alone. For example, when Odysseus and his men find themselves on Polyphemus's island, Odysseus's actions are self-centered and at the expense of his men. This can be said for most of Odysseus's actions in the story, as his main objective is to reach his home. Having his men by his side when he returns seems a trivial thing to him. Odysseus could be considered a hero, but many of his actions say otherwise. Due to the many unfaithful and self-centered decisions he makes in the story, Odysseus is not a hero.

First, Odysseus is not a hero because he is a foolish leader who makes many mistakes on his journey back home to Ithaka. His first mistake is his decision to let his men raid and

“Pride costs more than hunger, thirst, and cold” (Thomas Jefferson). Numerous heroes have made the mistake of taking pride in their qualities and have received grave punishment for it. Odysseus from The Odyssey is a noticeable hero that shows excessive pride in one of his specific qualities. Many know that Odysseus is an unusual hero because he relies on his intelligence more than his strength. Yet, he shows extravagant arrogance in his intelligence through his journey home to Ithaca. Odysseus is not a hero because he expresses pridefulness in his intelligence, sacrifices six of his men to Scylla, and willingly stays under the control of Circe.

Being a legitimate hero is not all about having the extraordinary supernatural powers commonly seen on television. Heroes are people who aid others, often putting themselves at risk to do so. They made the decision to fight, not necessarily physically, for their values. Odysseus, the main character in The Odyssey, should be considered a hero. He put his own life in jeopardy to protect his men from the supernatural threats that they faced throughout their journey. Odysseus should be regarded as a hero because he is brave, clever, and cautious.

Many would argue that Odysseus is more of a villain nowadays, for every instance of his wiliness or feats of strength there are several of venality, vice, cruelty, or selfishness. The episode of the Sirens,(Book 12), is one example. The only reason Odysseus ties himself up to the mast, when instead he could have simply plugged his ears with wax like the rest of his crew, is that he chooses the jeopardous choice, wanting to "go down in the books" by being the first man to ever listen to the Sirens song and live. In consequence he possibly endangers the rest of his crew from safely reaching home by endangering himself. While Odysseus’ many adventures are very exciting, he spends a considerable amount of time cheating on his wife (with

sword from my hip I went along his flank to stab him where the midriff

However, some scholars argue that he is not a hero because he lost all his men, cheated on his wife and was reluctant to leave his home to fight. Odysseus does lose all his men, but it is due to divine intervention. He cheats on wife with Circe to save his men and is reluctant as any soldier would be to leave his home and family. The reasons that scholars argue make Odysseus not a hero were things beyond his control.

There were many instances in which Odysseus made poor decisions throughout the expedition, but the worst one was after he landed in Poseidon’s son’s island and fed on Polyphemusin, the King of the Cyclops’ food. Soon after the incident, Odysseus and his crew were imprisoned in Polyphemusin’s lair as sustenance. “Rolled a huge stone to the mouth of the cave- so huge that two and twenty strong four- wheeled wagons would not be enough to draw it from its place against the doorway.” (Homer 106) Odysseus and his men waited until the Cyclops fell asleep, and once he did, they drove an axe into Cyclops’ eye and blinded Polyphemusin. (Homer 110)” This infuriated Neptune, because Polyphemus was his son.

“A hero is any person really intent on making this a better place for all people” (Maya Angelou; American author, poet, and civil rights activist). This world is filled with many epic characters, movie stars, and other people that are considered to be heroes: one of them is Odysseus. Yet, many of Odysseus’ actions brought forth the fact that he was not heroic. A hero is selfless, humble, and a good leader that has many admirable values. However, Odysseus did not have those qualities, therefore, he should not be emulated and celebrated and placed upon a pedestal that people admire and choose to follow. He did not have the characteristics a hero must have and was not an example for others. By no standards was Odysseus a hero.

To begin, there are gray areas when considering whether Odysseus is a hero or not. There is contemplation about Odysseus's true colors because he exhibits both the evil and virtuous in himself. One affair where Odysseus’s lack of moral is when Odysseus spent seasons, even years with two beings that he had intimate affairs with even though he claimed that he was always striving to return to Ithaca, his home, when he reunites with Penelope, his wife. Odysseus is not a hero because he spends six years with Calypso, chooses to steer his sheep towards Scylla knowing that six of his men would die, and allows the maids to be killed after they clean up the massacre of the suitors.

While Odysseus may seem like a brave, strong and smart hero, is he a hero to everyone? His shipmates see him as a leader, but a leader who isn’t not afraid to sacrifice men. This leads the reader to belies that it’s less admiration but fear that clounds their perception of Odysseus. To Penelope Odysseus is a hero, because of she knows nothing of the betrayal Odysseus did on his