Odysseus: A Hero Who Uses His Mind to Conquer Obstacles The concept of a true hero is shown through Odysseus’s actions as he uses his intellect to overpower his challenges in the book, The Odyssey by Homer. By using his intellectual prowess, Odysseus is able to convince the reader that he is a genuine hero as he travels for ten years to ultimately achieve his goal: to return to Ithaca, his home. Odysseus proves himself as a hero by conquering the great Cyclops, Polyphemus, while using his clever guile. Also, Circe is able to befriend Odysseus through his cunning decisions that eventually benefit him with her trust. While avenging the suitors from his house and hiding his identity, Odysseus is seen as a hero through his intelligent planning. Odysseus overcomes his …show more content…
Ironically, none of his friends rescue him because Polyphemus says that Nobody is attacking him, and they think that nobody is hurting him and figure that Polyphemus’s suffering is from the gods so they cannot do anything to help him. By lying about his name, Odysseus uses his guile to keep his crew and himself safe from the perilous Cyclops as he suffers a painful injury. It is clear that Odysseus has a distinctive feature of making up creative lies, especially when protecting his crew. Here, Odysseus is able to trick the powerful Cyclops, Polyphemus, through his name, which later guarantees him safety of any of Polyphemus’s friends. Through this lie Odysseus, shows his heroic side by doing whatever it takes to protect himself, and most importantly his crew. A true hero always cares about their crew and finds any way to keep them safe. Odysseus’s clever and intellectual character keeps his men protected, which demonstrates his heroic abilities. Still stuck in Polyphemus’s cave, Odysseus comes up with a plan on how to escape the cave and return back to his ship. Odysseus’s plan is to attach each of his men with one of Polyphemus’s sheep by “twisting willow-twigs”(9.477) to them. When it
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.
Joseph Campbell once said, “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” True heroes are those who do something for others rather for themselves, Odysseus doesn’t exactly show this trait in The Odyssey. In The Odyssey, Odysseus along with his men try to go back home to Ithaca but due to Odysseus nature, only he actually returns alive. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus proves he is not a hero because he is arrogant, secretive, and unfaithful; resulting for readers to believe that every action has an consequence.
Odysseus tends to use strategy over strength to be a hero when it comes to challenges. Instead of beginning with fighting the Cyclops, he takes his time and sets up a plan. Everytime he enters a new island, he does not start telling everyone that he is Odysseus, king of Ithaca. Instead, he charms the people he meets and uses his wise words that cause them to help and pity him. Odysseus represents what being a hero is actually all about. Throughout the novel The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus continuously shows his personality of being an admirable hero to everyone by using strategy instead of strength.
For generations, heroes have always fascinated people and people have strived to achieve certain qualities of their heroes. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus is considered the hero of the story. While Odysseus does demonstrate some qualities that are not heroic, he is still defined as a hero because of his better, more heroic qualities in which he is far superior in than any other man. The qualities in which define Odysseus as a hero are courage, intelligence, and leadership.
Odysseus is the hero of The Odyssey. He completes a long and difficult journey with one goal in mind- to return to Ithaca. The journey of Odysseus reflects The Hero's Journey, as written by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
Odysseus frequently displays hubris as a result of his tremendous courage and justifiable pride throughout books 9-12 of Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, although this flaw reveals that even heroes can have imperfections. For instance, concealing his identity is key to Odysseus defeating the Cyclops, however his arrogance leads him to reveal himself as a “raider of cities” (9.561), demonstrating his desire to be recognized for his destructive power. Furthermore, even though he only flatters himself, Odysseus successfully motivates his men in the face of yet another threat, by boasting that his “tactics saved [them] all” (12.230), as if his actions alone rescued the rest of his crewmates. Odysseus’ crew admires him for his fearlessness, and they
Fictional heroes are in shows, movies and books. No matter what we watch or read at the end, we realize that these heroes became heroes by improving themselves emotionally and helping others out of the goodness in their hearts. Many people argue that Odysseus is not hero but considering the things he does through his journey his characteristics began to show a little of his heroic side. In The Wanderings of Odysseus from the Odyssey a epic poem by Homer, Odysseus is on his way back to Ithaca his home island after winning the ten year old Trojan War to come see his wife, Penelope and his son, Telemachus. The journey to home takes a very unexpected turn for Odysseus and his men. Odysseus is challenged with many obstacles that show his good and bad characteristics. He faces monsters like Scylla, Charybdis and Cyclopes. He also deals with gods and goddess like Poseidon and Circe.
Written by Homer, The Odyssey tells of a journey about a hero named Odysseus, who is desperately trying to return home to Ithaca after being forced to go to war. After being gone for 20 years, Odysseus arrives home with countless suitors attempting to marry his wife Penelope. On his journey, he goes through various encounters. During these encounters, he displays several qualities of a hero. For instance, Odysseus’ intelligence, cleverness, human weakness, and braveness make him a hero.
What makes a hero is determination, perseverance, and bravery to accomplish a goal. Odysseus embodied all of these traits in the epic The Odyssey written by Homer. Odysseus was the king of Ithaca and he left for the 10 year long Trojan war, leaving his whole kingdom behind to defeat the Trojans. After about 20 years he makes it home and takes back his kingdom.Throughout his journey he faced many perilous encounters. Odysseus is considered a hero worldwide.
Insteading having the definition of hero that majority believe in, which are fit and strong bodies, Greeks believe that a true hero must have sharp intellect with physical capability. To protect the title as an “Epic Hero,” the protagonist must have different aspects from others to be admired from all others. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus is the man that breaks the whole common image of the other men. He had determination to achieve his quest with his strength and his wits and this was a major reason why his crew believed that he was a hero. Homer, depicted Odysseus dealing his tough situations with his quick thinking to overcome them. One of the moments that shows Odysseus’ cleverness was when the hero encountered the Cyclops in Book 9, or when he secretly planned his slaughter of the suitors by having his minstrel play a wedding tune in Book 23. Homer also portrayed his protagonist as a persuasive, fluent speaker that can manipulate others with no
Odysseus: The Hero of all Time Being a hero isn’t just about the fame and glory. It is about the characteristics of the person and how they decide to use them. This epic poem, The Odyssey, written by Homer, has many examples that show off the heroic traits of a character named Odysseus. Two heroic traits that Odysseus acquires are his intelligence and his self confidence. During his journey, the brave Odysseus went through many obstacles that forced his journey to a standstill, but his intelligence and self-confidence helped him survive and return home to Ithaca.
There are many examples of Odysseus' physical and mental strength throughout his journey home to Ithaca. Odysseus' character is a hero, he uses brains, and whatever is available to him. He specifically shows these characteristics in the trial of The Lotus Eaters, the Cyclops, and Scylla. Odysseus shows many examples of mental and physical strength throughout The Odyssey.
Most Greek heroes overcame obstacles by being strong, immortal, or powerful. Unlike most, Odysseus used his brain. One of the most important heroes in the world is Odysseus. Odysseus, King of Ithaca, is a hero that under several accounts uses intelligence to his advantage. Odysseus even won the ten year long Trojan War by sending in a “gift,” and then attacking everyone after they were inside Troy’s borders. After spending ten years at war, Odysseus starts his voyage back, starting the great novel, The Odyssey. Several times during his trip home Odysseus uses his cleverness to his advantage. During The Odyssey, Odysseus uses strategy instead of strength to overcome many obstacles. Two examples include when Odysseus kills the Cyclopes, and when Odysseus finally reaches his homeland after 20 years of being away.
The epic poem The Odyssey, written by Homer, centers around the main protagonist Odysseus and his long journey back home. Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, returns home after defeating the Trojans in a ten year war. On his way back, he angers Poseidon, god of the sea, by blinding his son, Polyphemus the Cyclops. Due to Odysseus’ actions, Poseidon refuses to let Odysseus reach home, and Odysseus and his crew are forced to go through a series of obstacles throughout the epic. Through this adversity, Odysseus must show his heroic attributions in order to survive. Homer portrays Odysseus as a hero by giving him characteristics such as: craftiness, loyalty, and bravery.