Odysseus Heroic Traits

Being able to conquer Troy, have the god Poseidon against you, and dealing with many life threatening things on your long journey home are all things Odysseus overcame. Odysseus is an epic hero for making the long journey home and defeating monsters along the way. Epic hero's typically have larger than life qualities, are extremely skilled fighters, and are natural leaders. They can be smarter than everyone else and stand alone. In this essay, the three traits that will be focused on for Odysseus are having larger than life qualities, being smarter than everyone else, and being a skilled fighter.

One of Odysseus’ other characteristics is his intelligence. When the Cyclops asked Odysseus for his name he decided to give him a fake one, “Cyclops, / you ask me of my honorable name? Remember/ the gift you promised me and I shall tell you. / My name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends, everyone calls me Nohbdy. 313-316” This quality of his saves his life many times. When Odysseus and his soldiers stab the Cyclops’ eye, he cries out asking help from his fellow Cyclopes, but when he says Odysseus’ fake name to them they walk away saying for the Cyclops to pray to Poseidon. When the Cyclops eye was injured, he went in front of the door so that no one could escape so Odysseus had to devise a plan, “The Cyclops’ rams were handsome, fat, with heavy/ fleeces, a dark violet. / Three abreast/ I tied them silently together, twining/ cords of willow from the ogre’s bed,/ then slung a man under each middle one/ to ride there safely, shielded left and right./ So three sheep could convey each man. I took/ the woolliest ram, the choicest of the flock. / and hung myself under his kinky belly. 376-384” Odysseus had to think of a plan to escape right on the spot, this shows how clever he is. Odysseus has many other traits besides his intelligence which makes him a hero.

“Now shrugging off his rags the wiliest fighter of the islands leapt and stood on the broad door still, his own bow in his hand” (Homer 557). In epic poem The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is a hero because he makes a clever decisions by gaining a close connection with Circe, he is cautious for he built his bed out of an olive tree, protecting his family from imposters, and he is cunning, for he allows his men to successfully escape Polyphemus’ cave.

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.

Odysseus, king of Ithaca, was probably on of the greatest warriors in the history of Ancient Greece. It is said that the poet, Homer, wrote the story of the Odyssey. In this story, Odysseus and his crew are trying to make their voyage back home to Ithaca after they have fought with the Trojans. During the long journey, Odysseus will show some of his character traits which include his bravery, cleverness, and wisdom that will assist him with the situations he encounters on his journey home.

Written about two thousand and seven hundred years earlier, the Odyssey is still influencing modern storytelling today. Odysseus, the legendary Greek king of Ithaca and protagonist of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey was recognized as a great hero of his time. He was known for his defining qualities of superior strength and athleticism, sharp intellect, sensual ness, and a thirst for glory. These character traits are still being used to attribute modern day fictional heroes such as Neo, Captain Jack Sparrow, James Bond, and Spiderman. Accordingly, the heroic qualities of Odysseus can be still be seen in today's modern day fictional heroes.

"If I play a hero or a good guy, I'll try to find his darkness or his flaws." -J. Kinnaman. (Brainyqoute.com) As Kinnaman mentioned, there are almost always flaws in a hero, and these defects usually make the story more interesting. (Knowing a protagonist's defects is helpful to follow the story, because they usually propel the tension the story.) (-- removed HTML --) , an ancient Greek epic poem written by Homer, the protagonist attracts readers by showing not only his heroic qualities but also his shortcomings. The poem is mainly about Odysseus, a victorious general of the Trojan War, going back to his beloved homeland Ithaca after the brutal battle. However, he suffers through a 20-year-voyage to get home, which is caused by his own flaws. Indeed, he has plenty of heroic qualities, yet they are closely connected to his defects.

In the Odyssey, Odysseus is quite the legend known to people, whether you are high up in the sky with Zeus, or deep in the ocean with Poseidon, everyone knows Odysseus. In the epic poem, the Odyssey told by the one and only Homer, the brave, the godlike human, Odysseus is finding his way home after the big battle victory against the Trojans. This story is about his travels home and how he got caught up in other business. Let’s just say he stabbed Poseidon’s son, had his crew turned into pigs, faced a six-headed monster and whirlpool, and that is to say the least. He may as well be on America’s most wanted list with all the trouble he was causing. Even though Odysseus is a troublemaker, he has multiple great characteristics of a leader. Odysseus, when it comes to his crew and family, is confident, compassionate, wise, and always knows a way to get out of any problem.

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.

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.

Tom Hanks once said, “A hero is somebody who voluntarily walks into the unknown.” In Homer’s Odyssey, the main character Odysseus showed lots of heroic characteristics, that cause me to believe he was an epic hero. An epic hero was defined as, a brave and noble character in an epic poem, admired for great achievements or affected by grand events, on dictionary.com. Odysseus showed heroic traits by having wit, being selfless and being hubris. Odysseus was successful on his journeys throughout the Odyssey was his wit.

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.

Odysseus is one of the greatest epic heros in the history of literature. The Odyssey, by Homer, is an epic poem, which depicts the journey home of Odysseus. Angering many gods, this voyage takes him through multiple obstacles, and ends up taking almost twenty years longer than it should've. Throughout his journey, “The Son of Laertes” must get his crew out of trouble multiple times. He uses his intellect and other strengths to do so, and never gives up, no matter the circumstance. Even after losing everything he needs in a storm worthy of the gods, Odysseus still never gives up, and gets himself out of trouble yet again. Throughout his entire journey, coming home from the Trojan War, Odysseus repeatedly uses many heroic traits to get himself and his crew out of many unfortunate situations. These heroic traits, how Odysseus uses them, and the steps of his journey all come together to illustrate that he is an epic hero. Odysseus characterizes himself as an epic hero based on how he almost perfectly follows the characteristics of an epic hero, gets his crew out of trouble multiple times, and follows the Hero's Journey.

Eurymachus tried to make Odysseus forgive and forget, “ If you, you’re truly Odysseus of Ithaca, home at last, you’re right to accuse these men of what they’ve done… before we’ve settled, who on earth could be blamed for your rage?” (Homer 441). However, Odysseus would not settle for that. “ No, Eurymachus! Not if you paid me all your father’s wealth… fight me or flee if you hope to escape your sudden bloody doom!

Odysseus, as a hero, is very smart, intelligent, and a fast thinker. An example is when he saved the crew from the cyclops they had to encounter. He tricked the cyclops so they could beat it and escape from death. Odysseus knows how to solve problems, making him reliable and dependent on to solve problems. Although he didn’t save all of the lives on