Odysseus In Homer's Odyssey

In my eyes a hero is a person who shows courage, is humble, does not give up, and is someone everybody can relate to. The protagonist in “The Odyssey” by Homer, Odysseus is a hero because although he is emotional throughout the book and lets his emotions take over his actions, he displays immense courage and perseveres through his journey and hardships.

First of all, Odysseus was very selfish during their journey back to Ithaca. For example,“We lit a fire, burnt an offering, and we took some cheese to eat; then sat in silence around the embers, waiting”(Homer 219-222). If Odysseus took the cheese and left, his men would not have had to dealt with Polyphemus. He put himself before his men because he wanted a gift from the cave owner. Odysseus was also selfish when he sailed near the lands of Sirens.“Steer wide; keep well to seaward; plug your oarsmen’s ears with beeswax kneaded soft”(Homer 669-671). Although Circe told Odysseus to steer clear of the area, Odysseus wanted to be known as the man who survived a Siren’s song. He put his own men in danger just because he wanted to become famous. Odysseus was also very arrogant to think that he could get past the Sirens.

Odysseus displays a praiseworthy hero in more than one way. Again, he uses strategy over strength every time he lands upon a new island. Once Odysseus lands on new, unknown lands, he does not run to the king and queen telling them his name and entire life story. He knows that bragging and being rude will not get him very far. When he enters King Alcinous’s castle, the first thing he says to the queen is, “I come to beg you for mercy” (7. 184). He knows that by saying this they will have sympathy

In Homer's Odyssey Odysseus is a character who, sometimes behaves like a proper hero and also as a very self-centered character at other points. He earns the respect of his men during the Trojan War by making good sound decisions and caring about the welfare of his men. But, in his adventure home Odysseus is definitely not taking the responsibility of a hero among his men. On almost any page you turn to in the epic, you can find some act of greed or foolishness coming from Odysseus. He plays with the lives of his men with no regard for the well-being or their families. Odysseus is not a hero because, he is foolish, lacks faithfulness and is consumed by his Hubris and selfishness.

As the king of Ithaca and the crew leader of several men accompanying him on his focal return journey from the site of the Trojan War, Odysseus is necessarily loyal to his men, and to his denizens, as otherwise, Ithaca would falter, and the men on board with him would not be able to withstand the lengthy, epic journey as they had done. The demonstrations of this vital heroic character trait are numerous, such as when Odysseus remains alongside his supportive crew men during an assault upon his ships, with only the one upon which the previous portion of the odyssey had been conducted remaining afterward, and when his men are in despair at his temporary absence, coming to them in order to not only assuage them, but more importantly to signal to all of them that he would always be with them; that he would be their natural, passionate

Odysseus has trials and tribulations throughout this entire wandering, and he is faced with tremendously challenging decisions that only courage could allow him to properly make. One of the keys to surviving on foreign soil is the ability to

Throughout the text of The Odyssey, Odysseus is fixated into several situations, where he is forced to choose between his crew, and himself. When in these situations, Odysseus almost always chooses himself. Odysseus is proven disloyal throughout the book because of his selfishness and greed. Odysseus decided to return to Ithaca, not to save the townspeople, but to win back Penelope from the suitors, and reclaim his title as king. He often thinks very highly of himself, mostly because he is favored by many gods. All of these things prove that Odysseus is a disloyal king, and for the most part, very self-conceited.

Odysseus exhibits numerous positive personality characteristics throughout the epic poem, The Odyssey, but his foremost attribute was his determination. Odysseus demonstrates his determination during each hardship that he is confronted with, including monsters, the death of comrades, destruction of his ships, and the wrath of the gods. Odysseus’ determination is driven by his desperate desire to reach Ithaca and be reunited with his family before dying; he demonstrates this while struggling to travel past Charýbdis and Scylla, after all of his crew members have been killed. ‘All through the night the wind did not relent… she [Charýbdis] drew my mast and keel to her deeps. But reaching up and toward the great fig tree, I [Odysseus] gripped

Odysseus’s one desire was to travel back to beloved Ithaca with all of his crew men safely. However, ideas do not always go as planned. In “The Odyssey” by Homer, Odysseus was an extraordinary, God-like man that occasionally made mistakes, but his epic heroism and strength outweighed those flaws.     Odysseus was an extraordinary, God-like man that handled himself and his crew well in multitudinous ways. Both his physical and intellectual strengths helped to keep his men intact throughout the journey.

The Odyssey, by Homer, is a journey of survival. Odysseus faces many difficult challenges during his expedition to get home. He is tested frequently when he encounters the presence of Gods, Monsters, and Mortals. It’s these interactions with the Gods, Monsters, and Mortals that examine Odysseus’ true survival skills. He is confronted and put to the test in varying ways with each group and must learn to outlive his enemies.

Another trait that Odysseus demonstrates repeatedly throughout the story is his loyalty. In various situations he never gives up on his crew, even when he has reason to. During an episode in the epic, Odysseus travels to the underworld to receive a prophecy. He meets his great friend Elpenor, who has died earlier in Circe’s hall. Because he is unburied and unmourned he asks Odysseus to build a cairn in his honor. Odysseus replies, “Unhappy spirit, / I promise you the barrow and the burial.” (Homer, lines 609-610). Although Odysseus is preoccupied with finding Tiresias, he shows loyalty to his crew mate by spending time with his spirit, and carrying out the spirit’s request. It could have been easy for Odysseus to ignore the spirit of Elpenor, but Odysseus shows a real emotional reply to this meeting. Not only does he show loyalty to his crew but his homeland as well. Although he could have given up during the ten year span Odysseus wandered from home, he persisted even though giving up would have been easier. At one point Odysseus is detained by the enchantress, Circe, but remains determined to reach home:

On the beautiful island of Ithaca lives the intelligent living superhuman Odysseus. In the poem The Odyssey, By Homer, the main character Odysseus has to set sail on a journey to fight in a war. Odysseus just had a son named Telemachus right before he left for war. From his actions in the story, you can tell he is outgoing and daring. The beginning of the poem takes place at Ithaca, sadly the story mostly takes place outside of Ithaca. Odysseus is arrogant and clever.

In the epic poem, the Odyssey, by Homer Odysseus experiences many amazing events before arriving at home in Ithaka. I believe that the experiences that he has had on his long journey and his personality will not allow Odysseus to be at peace in his homeland. Odysseus has been away from home for about twenty years. He has experienced many trials and adventures on his prolonged journey home. I believe that Odysseus will not be at peace in his homeland because he has been a warrior since an early age, he is not patient, and most importantly, he has a very curious mind.

In book five Odysseus is presented with a very great and tempting barrier. Calypso confronts him with this statement, “But if you only knew, down deep, what pains are fated to fill your cup before you reach that shore, you’d stay right here, preside in our house with me and be immortal.” She promised him that he would possess a trait that no other human in the odyssey has, immortality. Even though her offers are very tempting and would be self fulfilling, he promptly rejects because all he wants is to go home and the love of his life, Penelope. This act alone shows that he was willing to give himself and up for a greater cause. He showed great discipline and faithfulness to reject Calypso’s offer and to continue on his journey home. At the beginning of the epic, Odysseus did have one flaw that could have been detrimental to his homecoming journey and that was self-glorification. By the end of the Odyssey, Odysseus overcame his pride and tempered it with patience because at the end of the day he didn’t really know that Penelope would be waiting on him, but he was willing to put in the effort to find out what was at the end of the road.

Aubrey Drake Graham, a Canadian, singer, actor, and song writer once said “Sometimes it’s the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination.” In other words, Drake cherishes the journey as it provides deeper insight to the destination by allowing for personal evolution and development. Similarly, in the classic piece of literature The Odyssey, the author, Homer creates a central theme that tends to demonstrate that the journey is more important than the destination as most of the epic is told as a flashback of the long-hard journey Odysseus traveled to reach home. Along Odysseus’ 20 year journey home, he is able to learn the crucial lessons of cleverness versus strength, perseverance against the pull of temptation, and the value of family.