Odysseus Hero Quotes

Nelson Mandela said, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear” (Brainyquote.com). This means that courage is shown by someone who conquers fear, like how Odysseus in The Odyssey shows courage by facing many obstacles with his crew on their journey back to Ithaca. Odysseus from The Odyssey, by Homer, shows courage throughout his journey. Odysseus is the protagonist from The Odyssey, who was determined to return to Ithaca after the Trojan War.

Odysseus is not a hero because he lets his pride make most of his decisions, which gets him into difficult situations. Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus makes mistakes that causes his men to be killed. Most of these mistakes could have been fixed by Odysseus making better decisions throughout his journey.

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.

He is stricken with hunger and longs for nourishment, but he is able to triumph over this temptation by remaining mentally strong: “One day I withdrew to the interior / to pray the gods in solitude, for hope / that one might show me some way of salvation” (XII, 426 – 428). Instead of giving in to temptation, Odysseus heroically prays to the gods. In addition to physical and emotional challenges, Odysseus faces intellectual challenges, and is able to overcome these challenges with quick thinking. Odysseus must utilize his cunning wit when he devises a plan to surprise the suitors in an attack, and hide their weapons: “I / shall signal to you, nodding: at that point / round up all armor, lances, gear of war / left in our hall, and stow the lot away” (XVI, 335 – 338). This challenge tests Odysseus as a tactician, and he is able to succeed with intellectual valor. Odysseus encounters a mental challenge when he is on the Land of the Kyklopes. He quickly tells Polyphemos that his name is “Nohbdy”, and then once the Polyphemos is stabbed, the other Kyklopes think that “Nohbdy” hurt him. Then, Odysseus and his men are able to escape on the underside of sheep. Odysseus bravely risks the lives of his men and himself. Odysseus overcomes all these challenges, using his physical, emotional, and intellectual abilities. The courage he displays in each of these instances makes him more heroic.

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

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 is not a hero because he constantly puts his men in danger and makes decisions without thinking. Odysseus is sailing away from Cyclops Island and he is teasing Polyphemus about escaping. The crew tries to get Odysseus to be quiet, but his ego gets in the way, and he tells Polyphemus his name; leading to Polyphemus cursing him and his men to make the journey home slow and painful. Odysseus tells the Phaeacians in his story, “So they spoke, but they could not persuade my great-hearted spirit; and I answered him again with angry heart: “‘Cyclops, if any one of mortal men shall ask thee about the shameful blinding of thine eye, say that Odysseus, the sacker of cities, blinded it, even the son of Laertes, whose home is in Ithaca’””(Homer.9.500-506). Odysseus comments that his crew tried to calm him down and get him to stop talking, but he

In The Odyssey, Odysseus goes on a long journey in which he takes part in dangerous adventures. Odysseus is an example of Homer’s greek hero. He is a leader of his people and they depend and follow him. Odysseus is brave; he believes in himself and trusts that he is doing the right thing. Odysseus values his honor and is confident in himself.

Odysseus is a hero because he does things for other people. During his journey, Odysseus does many things to help his crew out. One example on how he helped his crew out is in book 9, “I shot back with my crafty way, ‘My ship? Poseidon god of the earthquake smashed my ship, drove it against the rocks at your island’s far cape…”(220, 318-320). This quote is from the part of the book where they get past the cyclops.

Odysseus is not an epic hero, he might be, and can be, but through reading part one he isn’t, he’s curious with bad things, he is tremendously stubborn, and is not a leader at all, Homer shows this throughout the story. Emotions fill Odysseus in the wrong way, the wrong emotions for those situations. Odysseus is a very curious character throughout his journey, in one instance he was entrapped within the cave of a cyclops: one of the more stupid characters in the book. The cyclops doesn't even bait him and his curiosity gets the best of him, “I took my twelve best fighters and went ahead” (Homer, 95). Not only is he going ahead into unknown territory, he is bringing his best soldiers into a totally lawless, archaic environment. His impulsively curious behavior escapes him in this instance and places not only himself but his warriors in danger, an epic hero would not even venture into the cave itself, and epic hero would see that it could prove to be problem, and epic hero would not take that chance and protect his men.

After many heroic deeds and much danger and peril Odysseus journeys to the underworld and back, escaped the sirens, evades Charybdis and Scyylla, and loses all of his men. His men eat the sungod’s cattle even after promising Odysseus that they wouldn’t, so Zeus kills all of his men by striking their ship with a bolt of lighting (Odyssey 11-13:1-452).

I believe that Odysseus is a hero. He has gone through many things to get back to his family, and to defend his crew. He has proven himself to be a very heroic and brave person. Here is the first reason why I believe that Odysseus is a true hero.

Given these points, it is clear that Odysseus is a great epic hero. Throughout the epic The Odyssey,  Odysseus is a great leader because he is selfless, caring, confident, authoritative, and courageous. We see he is selfless and caring when he forces his men, who ate the Lotus Eaters, to board the ship. He is confident and authoritative when he is about to fight Scylla with his men. Lastly, we can see Odysseus is courageous during the fight between him and the suitors. All in all, we can see that Odysseus is a great epic

After all they had been through together, nothing could phase them. Odysseus was a necessary role model for his crew as he persevered on his own and likewise inspired them to do the same.