Odysseus : The Heroic Hero

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.

The protagonist, Odysseus, encounters Polyphemus and Scylla and must surpass them with his intelligence and perceptive in order to keep his shipmates safe. Polyphemus questions the main character, Odysseus, about his ship’s whereabouts. “Tell me, where was it, now, you left your ship-.../ He thought he’d find out, but I saw through this,/ and answered with a ready lie: ‘My ship?.../ broke it up on the rocks at your land’s end” (269, 271-272, 274). The author uses this scene to elucidate how the protagonist uses his cleverness to see the cyclop’s genuine intentions and answers with a perfect lie to keep the ship and his other crew members in it safe. The cyclop was one of the many antagonists and Odysseus had very cunningly dealt with him. Furthermore, as they approached Scylla, the main character doesn’t tell his crew members that six of them were going to die. “But as I sent them on toward Scylla, I/ told them nothing, as they could do nothing. They would have dropped their cars again, in panic,/ to roll for cover under the decking…” (790-793). Homer uses this specific event to substantiate how Odysseus had made a reasonable resolution for his crew members, because Odysseus knows that he can't win against Scylla, another one of the several enemies of Odysseus in his odyssey. His intelligence is truly unveiled when he doesn't tell his men about the incident bound to occur, because he knew the aftermath. The main character uses his intellect when opposed to Scylla to make the best decision possible for his men, and he use his quick wits when he moves the focus off of his ship when conversing with Polyphemus.

Many think being a hero is having super powers, but on the contrary it's more than that. A hero is one who is distinguished for their courage and bravery, and looked upon for their great deeds. A hero like this is not just found in modern society today, but in mythology as well. In the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus earns the title of a true hero by conveying many qualities such as: determination, courage and leadership.

"The Sirens", taunt and tease Odysseus as him and his crew sail towards the, “Land of the Dead". Crossing the bumpy ocean in order to reach the Land of The Dead, Odysseus and his man sailed into trouble. Sirens were on the horizon and Odysseus had to think quickly. As his mind raced he finally came up with a solution, he grabbed a handful of wax and rolled it in his hands. “Going forward I carried wax along the line, and laid it thick on their ears.” (Lines 712-713 The Odyssey). Whilst finishing this tedious task, Odysseus was tied down to the mast and left with his thoughts. The men continued to row while the Sirens flew in and sang

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.

Odysseus was warned of the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis. When he approaches the Sirens, he has his men tie him to the mass so he will not be lured to their tempting singing. When he reaches the location of the deadly whirlpool, Charybdis, and the concealed deadly trap across from Charybdis, Scylla: a six headed monster that catches men in her mouth and eats them; Odysseus sacrifices a few of his men for the majority of the other men. He sacrifices for the better good. Hiding his knowledge of these obstacles and sacrificing his men, takes a full amount of determination for his objective to get home; it shows his vast amount of unconditional willingness and sacrifice. Perseverance takes time and sacrifice. His time and knowledge lead him through another dangerous obstacle.

Spider-Man is your average modern day hero, he is a citizen who was bitten by an unusual and peculiar spider which gave him powers and abilities such as being able to shoot webs out of his hands and climb walls without the need of any equipment. And Odysseus is a Greek hero who was strong, heavily favored by the gods, and could take down any and all challenges he´d ever have to face. And if you ever compared the two you would see that both characters are extremely different. Why you would see this is because we know that Spider-Man is a modern day hero, but can we consider Odysseus as one. My answer to this would be NO. Society today would not consider Odysseus as a modern day hero because of many reasons. One would be that he doesn´t show

Being a legitimate hero is not all about having the extraordinary supernatural powers commonly seen on television. Heroes are people who aid others, often putting themselves at risk to do so. They made the decision to fight, not necessarily physically, for their values. Odysseus, the main character in The Odyssey, should be considered a hero. He put his own life in jeopardy to protect his men from the supernatural threats that they faced throughout their journey. Odysseus should be regarded as a hero because he is brave, clever, and cautious.

Odysseus is the main character in an epic poem called the Odyssey. In the poem Odysseus has had some bad luck getting home, with some of the gods helping him and some hindering him; his journey towards home is a constant struggle. In this poem we see a man being broke and rebuilt, through constant irony his faith was damaged and without the help of Athena he probably would have given up on his journey. Through his hard work and wise spirit he finally does achieve his goal.

Hero ; a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. The dictionary definition of hero sets an image of a perfect human, probably hot, with amazing hair and a killer smile that always gets the job done quick and easy. In the epic poem The Odyssey the main character Odysseus is considered one of the best heroes in all of greek mythology. However, like all people, Odysseus is not perfect. Odysseus was imperfect in multiple ways.

After the encounter with Circe, she tell Odysseus that he can take a different route in his journey. As Odysseus sails through the sirens, their, ”... lonely voices in ardor appealing over the the water made me crane to listen, and I tried to say ‘Untie me!’ to the crew, jerking my brows; but they bent steady to the oars” (752-755). Here Odysseus is trying his best to resist the songs magical power to mind control him. Since Odysseus is had told his men to ignore the yelps coming from him, he knew what the sirens’ song could do.

Everyone has many different personalities, but the two that Odysseus holds makes up who he is. In the epic poem, The Odyssey by Homer Odysseus a very fearful man goes on a very long journey through ups and downs. Throughout his voyage he has brilliant ideas and plans along with some mad chaos.

The Sirens are crying beauty to bewitch men coasting by. “ They will sing your mind away on their sweet meadow lolling” (678 ll.666-667) . the fact that  they keep bones and skins shriveled around them  this shows that the Sirens weren’t very kind. “ the Sirens were noting odysseus’ s fast ship off their point made ready and they sanged until the Sirens  dropped under the sea rim and the singing dwindled away”(681 ll.750 -751). The only reason they survived was because they decided to put a thick coat of beeswax on all the oarsman's ears to block out the singing from the Sirens . When the singing from the Sirens was don they pulled all the beeswax from their ears. Then the crew kept on sailing to the next island.

Homer´s use of poetic language is a useful tool to develop a string of affairs in the Odyssey. When Eurycleia recognizes Odysseus in his disguised appearance she feels a deep sorrow and commiseration for him. She understands and knows that Odysseus's fate is a result of his own constant hubris and his total disregard of the gods and their power:

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.