How Are Odysseus And Achilles Alike

Odysseus is unheroic because he is not loyal. Odysseus has committed acts of adultery throughout his journey that is improper because he is married to his only faithful wife, Penelope and had a son with her, Telemachus. When Homer wrote, “As he thus spoke, the sun went down and darkness came; and going to the inner chamber of the hollow grotto, they stayed together for the happy night.” (Homer 62) This quote shows that Odysseus went with a goddess, Calypso, to be happy in her small picturesque cave. In other words, that meant they went and had intercourse since the author described the night’s mood as “happy” in her hollow grotto (what else do they do in her dwelling?). On page 127, it says, “Poor fools where are we

Many think being a hero is having super powers, but on the contrary it's more than that. A hero is one who is distinguished for their courage and bravery, and looked upon for their great deeds. A hero like this is not just found in modern society today, but in mythology as well. In the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus earns the title of a true hero by conveying many qualities such as: determination, courage and leadership.

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.

What defines a hero?having high tech gadget like batman or super power like superman.In the odyssey odysseus faces many physical challenges and mental challenges.the challanges odyssues has to face range from scylla charybdis. Scylla is a six headed monster that if you got by her she will take 6 people.Charybdis is a malstrom making beast.Odyssushad to face a cyclop name polyphemus which imprisoned odysseus and ten of his best men.odysseus prove to be an epic hero in The Odyssey by showing bravery,intelligence, and respect for the gods.

Heroes are viewed differently today as the average person who is admired for courage or outstanding achievements such as firemen and police officers. The ancient Greeks viewed heroes as those that acquire more than just courage, they must be strong and inspiring as well. Although Achilles proved to be several of these entities, the Iliad begins with

The trait of heroism is something that has changed over thousands of years. Today’s heros have different traits than those heroes of the Trojan War. However, a few have survived the test of time. Many of modern day heroes, as well as past heroes, do hold these long enduring traits, like Nelson Mandela, Marcus Luttrell, Louis Zamperini, and the fictional Iron Man. Odysseus, the main character in The Odyssey by Homer, portrays the traits necessary to be dubbed a hero. One is a hero if he or she shows leadership, bravery, resilience, and creativity throughout their actions.

A true hero will go through immeasurable lengths to benefit not him or herself, but the people around them. Heroes are neither selfish nor uncaring. They seek every opportunity they get to help those in need. One must have also gone through the entire hero’s journey to be deemed a hero. He must start off naïve and inept and through his challenges, transform into someone worth calling a hero. Most importantly, a hero is not perfect. He must listen to other’s ideas and utilize them. However, in The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus disrespects his crew men and the gods’ advice, lets hubris interfere with his men’s lives, and is unfaithful to his wife Penelope.

In most stories the typical hero is a person who is selfless, strong, uses their power, if any, to help others, and are usually nice and humble. Greek heroes however tend to vary in comparison. For instance, in the Iliad by Homer, the Greek hero Achilles is very strong and well loved, but he only fights in battles to gain personal glory, not to help others however, he is still a hero nonetheless. The ideal of heroism fluctuates between cultures, therefore the notions of heroism set forth can be contradicting. The heroes in the short stories Theseus retold by Robert Graves and The White Snake by the Grimm brothers show similar and dissimilar traits in both character, and the concept of heroism; but, both of the main characters are still considered heros.

The islands of Circe and Calypso in Homer’s Odyssey are places where Odysseus’ most challenging problems occur. In contrast to battles with men, Cyclops, or animals, sexual battles with women are sometimes much more difficult to win. These two female characters are especially enticing to Odysseus because they are goddesses. Though it is evident that Odysseus longs to return to Penelope in Ithaka, it sometimes appears that he has lost vision of what life was like with a wife, a son, and with thousands of people who regard him as King. Although his experiences on the islands of these goddesses were similar in that he was retained from Ithaka for the longest periods of his adventure, these goddesses and the

Achilles and Odysseus are quite different in the way they view combat and take down their enemies. Achilles seems to rely on his physical prowess, often charging in headfirst into battle using surprise and brute force to overpower his opponent whereas Odysseus has a tendency to use his intelligence and cunning nature in both the battlefield and politics as he stealthily plans the demise of his unsuspecting opponent. “Gnashing his teeth with rage, Achilles leaped from his chariot, made for his enemy, and lunged out at him with his sword” (341). Even when faced with a seemingly invincible assailant, Achilles uses his anger and sheer power to overtake Cycnus and impulsively attacks his unblemished skin in the hopes to end his life. It is Achilles’ agile and finesse in battle that has led to many victories for him. Even though the reasoning for his actions are more simplistic and even quite animalistic in some scenarios, it is this godlike strength and vicious temper that makes him the physical embodiment of a vengeful hero and in the Greeks stories he possesses all of the physical traits a hero should exemplify. “For now Odysseus began to boil with envy and thought up a despicable plan to end his rival” (342). Odysseus is quick and decisive in his actions but he relies on his sly nature to defeat and overwhelm his opponent in battle. Odysseus is valued for his wisdom and fair counsel, he has experience in the real world and this shows in the way he manipulates and even plays

Throughout the history of epic literature, heroes have been an integral part of many different cultures. Some of these heroes are fierce and powerful, renowned for their skill in battle, while some others and clever and cunning, able to talk their way out of any difficult situation. These traits usually emphasize the values of the cultural from which the hero came, and depending on the culture,traits viewed as heroic may drastically differ. Although there exists a plethora of traits any one hero may have, there are three core characteristic that, in my opinion, a hero must have to be considered a hero: the courage to face hardships, the willingness to make major self-sacrifices for the benefit of others, and most importantly, the dedication to do what it takes to reach their goal.

The difference between the homeric hero and the odyssean Hero is one of anonymity, for when the homeric hero is found on the battlefield and in the midst of a war, the odyssean hero is found on a journey, with the ideas of of what a Homeric hero is, what an Odyssean hero is and what the difference between the two are. To properly understand this we must understand that the situations of these two epics have changed, while remaining the same. One hero is found in the midst of their glory and the other in its aftermath, and their behavior must mirror that idea.

Odysseus is the hero of The Odyssey. The heroes Odysseus and Achilles have many similarities and differences that are expressed in The Iliad and The Odyssey. Neither Achilles nor Odysseus treat their armies with worth in

The Iliad and The Odyssey are two of the most well-known poems produced by Greek thought. Both of these texts are most frequently credited to Homer, though in recent years there has been a conclusion reached that states that both of the texts were written by different authors. In fact, some people agree that The Odyssey seems to have been written by a woman. This fact in itself is one of the main reasons why Achilles and Odysseus are so incredibly opposite. However, for every difference that they possess, their similarities prevail, which is further proof that both of the texts came out of the same time period, written under similar circumstances. Within Homer’s texts The Iliad and The Odyssey, Achilles and Odysseus possess traits that make them appear to be nearly identical at times and complete opposites at others.

Throughout The Iliad and The Odyssey, both Achilles and Odysseus go through intense acts of heroism, internal and external hardships, and fluctuations in confidence. During the epic, The Odyssey, the main character, Odysseus, has to endure many hardships which show. He has to show tremendous amounts of heroism and confidence just to keep his crew and himself alive. He has to rival and face many gods that despise him along with many humans. This theme can also be reflected from Homer’s The Iliad, where the main character, Achilles, is pitted against many of his own hardships, acts of heroism, and excursion of confidence. He may not have faced as many external conflicts as Odysseus, but he goes through a long internal evolution. Nearing the