Odysseus: A Hero In Homer's The Odyssey

Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus experiences many ups and downs throughout his journey home. He is throw into peril and there often seems to be no hope for his return home. While he remains victorious in the end, returning to his wife, son, and father, the poem itself is filled with many darker moments filled with doubt and sadness. Odysseus is the hero of the Odyssey, and in order to exist as a hero he must be relatable. His story cannot be one entirely of triumph, it must include a more human perspective. Triumph cannot come without strife, and heroism cannot come without tribulation. Athena and Odysseus’ experiences as divine and human, respectively, and define whether or not they are heroes. By comparing Odysseus to Athena, it is apparent that what makes Odysseus a hero before anything else is his humanity.

Odysseus is definitely a strong character. Not just physically strong, but mentally strong too. He is intelligent, arrogant, and godlike. Throughout the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus proves that he is able to take on any challenge that he runs into headfirst. In Ancient Greece, Greeks looked up to him and wanted to be him, Almost like how Christians want to live like how Jesus or Mary did. People thought of Odysseus as a perfect person. He was one of the greatest ancient Greece heroes. Looking back on him now, he doesn’t look as excelling as he did to the people in ancient Greece. Calling Odysseus a hero is still up to debate today, but one thing for sure is that he is definitely a strong person.

In the epic, Odysseus and his men traveled to an island inhabited by cyclops’. While they were exploring the island they became trapped in a cave with one of the cyclops. Without Odysseus’ clever thinking/planning, him and his men would have died. Part of Odysseus’ ingenious plan was telling the giant his name was Nohbdy, so when they injured his eye the giant would yell “Nohbdy, Nohbdy’s tricked me, Nohbdy’s ruined me!” which wouldn’t alarm his brothers on the island because he is saying nobody had hurt him. (ll.357-358) Odysseus also proved he was a hero by devising a plan that would work to sail past the sirens while also listening to what the blind prophet Tiresias told him. He wasn’t told how to protect his men from being seduced by the sirens, he had to come up with a strategy that would work all on his own. He knew he had to listen to the Sirens but if his crew heard the sirens they would be led to their destruction so, “(Odysseus) carried wax along the line, and laid it thick on their ears.” so they weren't compelled by the sirens’ loving voices. (ll. 712-713) Without Odysseus’ clever planning they would have been led to their deaths. Odysseus wasn’t only a clever man he also had a lot of

Although he was able to dodge the Cyclops without getting captured again, he had to use his mental strength to overpower the beast. Odysseus had to use his tools around him in which helped him by creating a spear shaped object that they used to hurt the beast. Also showing creativity, Odysseus told the Cyclops his name was Nohbdy. Once the creature was injured, he started yelling but none of the others listened because he said that “nobody was hurting him.”

Imagine you’re on a ship in the deep dark sea attempting to find your way home, but instead, you discover yourself farther and farther from your loved ones. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus faces the hardship of this exact scenario. In a time of hardship, personalities are revealed, ranging from heroic to cowardice. A hero is someone who is valued by his intelligence and confidence, allowing him to be a leader. Odysseus is a hero because his leadership is valued by his shipmates, his intelligence was exemplary when a plan was needed, and his confidence was indisputable when theirs was uncertain.

In Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, a war hero named Odysseus spends ten years attempting to return home to his family. During his journey, Odysseus faces many challenges that test both his courage and commitment to his wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus. He must fight off both physical challenges, like monsters, as well as the emotional challenges of temptation. Throughout the course of the poem, Odysseus makes choices that can be considered good or bad, depending on what traits a society values. Due to the cultural differences between the Ancient Greek world and modern American society, it may be difficult to determine whether Odysseus should be considered a hero or not. Some of these lines are not entirely clear, especially when it comes

The Odyssey Essay In today’s society a hero can range from a person that helps save lives, to famous people who influence the world. For example, soldiers who run into battle courageously, saving lives every day. In Homer's epic poem The Odyssey, Odysseus is the protagonist who is expected to be courageous, brave and strong. Odysseus is not just a good person but is also a hero; although some might not consider him a hero due to the fact that he lost all his men.

To be a veteran is a matter of being in near perfect mental and physical condition and state. Veterans have to endure life changing events and most of the time, it is hard to cope with. Veterans fight for our country so that we may have the privileges we do today. I think the legendary protagonist from Homer’s well-known epic “The Odyssey”¬ – Odysseus, is similar to all veterans.

Have you always read books where the main character is usually the hero of the story? What if I told you that in the book The Odyssey the main character isn’t the hero. As a matter of fact, there is no specific hero in the The Odyssey. Although Odysseus is the main character of the story, he is definitely not the hero. Odysseus has acquired some qualities of being the hero, but have acquired numerous of qualities of not being one. First of all, Odysseus has shown quite a few time of where he showed no respect towards others. In addition, how can he be considered a hero when he killed a mass of people. Lastly, he has been unfaithful towards his wife Penelope. Overall, Odysseus have proven that he isn’t a hero through his traits that appeared throughout the story.

A quote from Epictetus, a Greek stoic philosopher, describes skillful pilots as gaining their reputation and glory through surmounting their storms and tempests. In the epic The Odyssey by Homer, one man named Odysseus shows his glory and builds his reputation in different ways. Odysseus is a skillful pilot in which he overcomes a long journey, a suppressed identity, and a battle in his own home.

“and learned the minds of many distant men, and withered many bitter nights and days, at his deep heart at sea, while he fought only to save his life, to bring his shipmates home.” In this text Odysseus wants to be home with his family but he also cares for his shipmates and men he will be fighting along the side of. He cares for them getting home just as much as for himself. And from him caring for them he knows that it is his job as king to get all then men home

Thus, throughout Odysseus’ journey his intelligence was essential to his survival. In one of the first main challenges Odysseus faced, the island of the cyclopes, he showed a lot of intelligence. Odysseus came up with the idea to heat a metal spear and drive it into the cyclopes’ eye to blind him. While before he told the giant that his name was Nobody so that when he called and said Nobody is hurting him the other giants didn’t help him. Then later Odysseus told his crew tie themselves to the bottom of the sheep to escape when the cyclopes let them out to graze. All of these examples show a lot of cunning and cleverness which are major parts of a hero.

In the epic poem “The Odyssey” Odyssey, Homer gives Odysseus characteristics of a hero, but breaks the idea of this stereotype by giving Odysseus relatable characteristics making him more relatable.

For example, in book nine, when asked by the terrifying Cyclopes who he is, Odysseus replies “‘My name is Nohbody: mother, father, and friends/ everyone calls me Nohbody’” (273-274). Rather than giving away his identity, Odysseus uses his brilliance to appear as a person of no importance, and fools the Cyclops of who he really is. He also secures safety of his family and crew by not giving away his name. His intelligence is further shown later in the story when a plan made by Odysseus succeeds and the Cyclops calls for help from his neighboring Cyclopes, the others never come because the Cyclops claims he was hurt by Nohbody. Another scenario where his intellect was shown was in an effort to shield his crew from the persuasive voices of the Sirens, Odysseus tells the reader “I carried wax along the line and laid it/ thick on their ears” (43-44). After being warned of the Siren’s powerful voices, he wanted to help his men in a clever way, not only proving himself as a worthy leader, also proving himself a wise man. This one example also shows how Odysseus is quick on his feet, and is able to think outside of the box, another sign of intelligence. As his ship is quickly approaching the Sirens he is able to devise a strategy to avoid persuasion. Throughout the story, Odysseus shows his wit time and time again, making him an extremely intelligent

A hero is someone who is admired for their noble qualities. For example Odysseus in the story has the necessary qualities to classify him as a hero. Odysseus shows determination throughout the book, his entire journey back from war is all determination to get home. He exhibits strength and great powers at many different points like, when he is killing the suitors. Odysseus is brave even when times are rough, he mostly can push through anything. These traits can be seen as heroic today because they all demonstrate not given up, pushing for what you want and persevering through the tough times. Odysseus is coming home from the Trojan War but faces many obstacles on his way home. Once he finally reaches Ithaca he reunites with his son,