The ancient Greeks would’ve considered boldness and the respect for the gods to be the most heroic traits in Perseus. It all started when his mother was sighted by Polydectes, the cruel brother of Dictys. At their wedding, Perseus had nothing to gift to them. To try to compensate, he said he would go off and bring back the head of Medusa. On Perseus’ part that was not the smartest idea. He was unprepared and had no direction of where to go to start the quest. However, he had the support of a god and goddess God Hermes and Goddess Athena. He respected them, never challenged their help, and graciously accepted their support. Athena had offered her shield for protection from Medusa’s stare, while Hermes guided him and gave him a sword to kill
Odysseus was a strong person, and was thought of to be brave but he does have his flaws, showing he doesn't need god like powers to be a hero. The ruler of Ithaca, Odysseus, was brave but he was not very bright. So what he didn’t have in intelligence he made up for bravery and strength, even Odysseus second in command Eurylochus said "You are a hard, man, Odysseus. Your force is greater, your limbs never wear out. You must be made all of iron" (12.279-80). A moment where this is true can be seen when Odysseus lead some of what was left of his soldiers into a cyclops’ cave expecting gifts because he thought themselves as guest, but the cyclops feels as it trespassing and thievery.
Odysseus has a side to him that is very heroic and many people can look up to, in which he helps others without thinking of himself. When Odysseus helped save his men from Circe he was being selfless, and thus heroic. “I
Loyalty in Odysseus’ world was a big deal. Once you’re loyal to someone, you follow them forever, even to death. But the consequences of disloyalty is death or exile. In the Odyssey ' was the ringleader of the suitors. When Odysseus killed him, all the other suitor basically gave up their lives. In this instance, all the suitors that were following Antinous were killed. Even though they were not loyal to him, the suitors still followed Antinous to death. At another time in the story, Odysseus and his men were imprisoned in a cave with a cyclops guarding the door. Every day the cyclops would eat a one or two men, but Odysseus’ men stay loyal. They knew there leader was going to get them out of the situation. When men were dying, they
In The Odyssey Odysseus stands up for his men who are traveling to war with him when Athena accuses them of not displaying much talent. It would be difficult for Odysseus to stand up for his men while talking to a goddess. However, he handles himself very wisely explaining to Athena the positive qualities in each of his men. In The Odyssey after Poseidon grows angry with Odysseus telling him he will suffer, it only makes Odysseus determination in himself increase. A hero is one who never gives up, so one major character traits they should obtain is determination Although Odysseus is beaten down by the god of the sea it does not decrease his determination. During the journey back from the war in The Odyssey after Poseidon has warned Odysseus that he will not make it home Odysseus not only works well with his men, but also is very self reliant. Self reliance is a huge part of becoming a hero because you have to be prepared at all times if something was to happen to your acquaintances, you need to have the confidence to fulfil your goal.
In the Legend of Perseus, the hero theme is the same as Percy’s; Good-v-Evil. After him and his mom are betrayed by Zeus they are left to live with the fisherman that had pulled them ashore. Even though Perseus was very protective of his mother, he didn’t like the fisherman, he wanted his mom to marry him. Both of the stories show the hero theme Brain over Brawn. Percy wasn’t the “athletic” type of guy instead he was one of the nerds.
In the epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, Odysseus goes through many trials while trying to return home from the Trojan War. On his voyage home, he must visit the Land of the Dead, evade the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis and when he does arrive home, participate in a tricky reunion with his wife, Penelope. All of these examples show that Odysseus has extreme determination and perseverance. Perseverance is an excellent quality that few possess which can spark achievement.
Perseverance is exhibited again in the episode of “Circe, the Grace of the Witch,” when Circe gives Odysseus a magic drink but it does not affect him and he threatens to kill her with his sword.” (Homer, P.387) This shows that Odysseus used his mind and perseverance when dealing with Circe and ended up creating a deal with her, which eventually saved his men. This is important because his key quality of perseverance played a big role in his part of surviving, and without perseverance, the story might have changed completely. Perseverance was another bold trait that identified Odysseus as an epic
Odysseus is also very strong to be heroic. You need to have strength when he passes the sirens, he protected his men by putting beeswax in their ears. He made his men tie him up and told them no matter how much i beg keep me tied down and don't let me up. He is very strong to push the rock pout from in front of the cave when the cyclops had them trapped in. He also got the cyclops drunk he was strong enough to lie to him and tell him the wrong name and gave him wine.
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.
At a time of war, Pericles’s characteristics of wisdom, courage, and self-control were able to maintain order in Athens. His wisdom throughout his reign was mostly displayed by his talent of
The first characteristic of Odysseus that makes him an epic hero is that he is a great warrior. Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus fights great monsters that all want him dead. When Odysseus visited the Cyclops, he used his skills to blind the monsters eye. “Now at last, I thrust our stake in a bed of embers… Hoisting high that olive stake with its stabbing point, straight into the monster’s eye they rammed it hard… til blood came boiling up around the smoking shaft” (Homer 223). Because Odysseus already had experience in the Trojan war, he was able to think quickly under pressure and distract the cyclops. Then he and his men carried out his plan and managed to escape. Odysseus was also smart enough to know that he couldn’t kill Polyphemus because he was the only one who could lift the large boulder in front of the entrance of the cave. Then, Odysseus with his quick wit, hid his men under the bellies of the cyclops’ flock of rams until Polyphemus let them out the next morning. Another example that shows Odysseus is a great warrior is the situation with the suitors. When Odysseus returned home from his twenty year journey that no one thought he could return from. Suitors were plaguing his home in pursuit of his faithful wife Penelope. Dressed as a beggar, Odysseus defeats them in an arrow shooting contest and then one by one begins to rid the palace of its ‘rat problem.’ Odysseus first kills Antinous. Then after letting the other suitors beg for mercy, he and Telemachus begin killing them as well (440). Odysseus, seasoned from war, tired of fighting, still had enough strength left to defeat the suitors.
In The Odyssey, perseverance is an important lesson and is one repeatedly seen throughout the whole play and occurs with more than one character. Odysseus, his wife Penelope, and his son Telemachus all displayed strong actions of perseverance. Odysseus fought through terrors and deadly sins in order to get back to his wife and son, his family, his home. He persevered from the beginning of Homers’ epic all the way through till the end. From his escape from Calypso’s hold to Circes temptations Odysseys was relentless in getting home and never gave up on that. He and his men can in contact with the lotus-eaters and the sirens of the sea, but never once did he stray his course and give up his perseverance. Everything from his way of thinking to his desire to survive and conquer, fall into the promotion of perseverance. When Odysseus finally returns home and finds his wife’s suitors he undermines them and takes his rightful place back on the throne of his house. Odysseus’s wife Penelope exhibits this heaven worthy trait also, by relentlessly pursuing the belief that her husband is not truly dead, and even though she lets her suitors take advantage of her house and her kindness she never once sways in loyalty to her husband. Through tears and grief she persevered and when he finally returned to her, her heart was filled naught with guilt but with love for him because unto him she had done no wrong. Lastly, Telemachus displayed perseverance by pursuing the truth of his father even when his own doubt clouded his judgment. Telemachus went on voyages and discovered the real truth about his biological father all the while growing as a person. Perseverance appears to be one of the strong traits in Homers’ The Odyssey and the fact that several of his characters all have this trait and displays it in different ways and at different times to one another really goes to show how profoundly
Bravery, the ability to perform accordingly, even when half scared to death is an exceptional trait possessed by humans, which allows us to move ahead in spite of fear and take risks to be successful within our lives. Perseus, son of Olympian King Zeus, is a prestigious hero in Greek mythology, illustrious for severing the head of vicious Gorgon Medusa. Theseus, son of Poseidon and King Aengus, is a prominent hero in Greek mythology, distinguished for the innumerable quests he participated in for the welfare of others to help eradicate notorious, obnoxious monsters. Theseus is extraordinarily courageous, which he proves throughout the multitudinous quests he goes on, while Perseus on the contrary demonstrates inconsequential courage when compared to Theseus. Correspondingly, Theseus justifies he is intelligent as he successfully completes his quests individually,
In ancient Greek times, Perseus was considered a great hero because he exemplified great empathy and great determination. Empathy was one of Perseus’ most prominent traits. He exemplified this on multiple occasions, one of which being when he felt bad for the titan Atlas. The Titan was punished with having to hold up the heavens for all eternity by the gods for being the leader of the Titans in the war against Zeus. Perseus felt empathy for him and turned him to stone because earlier in the myth, Atlas begged to be turned to stone so that he could rest from the great burden. This shows empathy because of Perseus. While he did worship the Greek gods, he still felt that the punishment that was bestowed upon
Ironically, Odysseus’ need for his own gains/earnings lead to many losses, whether they were mental roadblocks or physical casualties of not only his men but his loved ones back in Ithaka as well (for example, his mother who died of old age and stress over her dear son being gone for so long). According to Barry B. Powell, the ancient Greeks favor the type of man “who loses everything than the man who regains all”, which is actually really unusual but it fits perfectly with Odysseus’ character (Powell). Another instance that leads the ancient Greeks to calling Odysseus a hero is the fact that in the Odyssey he is viewed as a comic-typical hero wins and gets the girl. The ancient Greeks evidently like the intellectual man whom displays honor and intellectuality in their everyday life, and Odysseus is a clear title-holder for the position that they’ve been looking for to call their