Odysseus - a Different Type of Hero

Odysseus, King of Ithaca, and the main character in homer’s The Odyssey, was gone for twenty years before finally returning to his family and his homeland. He struggled through many hardships and lost many loyal companions. The King of Ithaca would not have made it home without the assistance of the Greek gods. Despite all of the help and advice that Odysseus receives from the gods, he is a very brave man because his courage and daring in the cave of the Cyclops, his inability to give up and abandon his men on Circe’s island, and his flawless following of the gods instructions are acts of bravery that is uncommon in most men.

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.

After assisting Telemachus, Athena ventures to the Island where Calypso lives to free Odysseus. Odysseus is then given a boat by Calypso to return to home. On the way home, he lands on a strange place which is unknown to him. Athena, cognizant of Odysseus' arrival, travels to the palace of Alcinous disguised as one of Nausicaa's friends. Athena enters the palace and gives Nausicaa advice to venture to river so she would clean herself up to make her presentable to men. In doing this, Athena has sent Nausicaa to meet up with Odysseus at the river. It was then Odysseus' turn to be disguised.

Ten years after the fall of Troy, Odysseus a great hero has yet to return to his home in Ithaca. It begins with Athena and Poseidon who helped the Greeks during the Trojan War. Athena turned against the Greeks and convinces Poseidon to do the same. The Greeks are hit by storms on the way home and many ships are destroyed and the fleet is scattered. The war and his distress at sea keep Odysseus away from Ithaca for twenty years.

In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus demonstrates the courage to face danger and adversity. When Odysseus and his men meet the Kyklops Polyphemos, they “felt a pressure in their hearts...but all the same, [Odysseus] spoke up in reply”(Homer 152). Even though everyone was astonishingly scared of the Kyklops and what may happen next, only Odysseus had the bravery to speak up to the Kyklops, even though he was scared himself. Much later, Kirke tells him of the two monsters Kharybdis and Skylla he is soon to face at sea and he listens to this, but exclaims, “Only instruct me...how if possible, can I pass Kharybdis, or fight off Skylla when she faces my crew?”(Homer 212). This exhibits Odysseus’ character as always desiring to find a way to conquer the problem even though the problem might seem out of his reach. After Odysseus and his men pass the monster Skylla, he tells to his men to keep on going and Eurylochus complains, “Are you flesh and blood Odysseus to endure more than a man

This gives him the title as chosen one. His intention was to get home to Ithaca but he remarks with over prideful insults towards the gods. This low point results in punishment from the gods to face some of the worlds monsters. Through it all, he receives aid from those who think he can amount to more. He receives news of home from his grieving mother, and his prophecy from Tiresias. “For not to everyone will gods appear.” (pg.294) The only reason why Odysseus was able to survive through the quests was because Athena’s fondness for him. She covers him with a disguise when he finally returns home so that he may win his last battle. His restoration came with absence of pride and ego from all the horrors he has perceived. Although he had to fix his character, Odysseus is still known as a hero not only because of his cleverness but also how he fixed his

Odysseus tells Athena, whom he believes is a shepherd, a false account, of how he came to Ithaca, primarily since he needs to keep his identity a secret, familiarize himself with the situation on Ithaca and formulate a plan to execute the suitors. He perceives that he has arrived in a mist-shrouded and unknown land. And thus secondarily, he needs to present a feasible reason for being alone and stranded with copious amounts of treasure for safety reasons as well as to allay suspicion in relation to his identity. Athena affects how he tells his lie because he can see and listen to her. To manipulate her more effectively, Odysseus exploits these factors to produce a story specifically tailored to the information Athena provides.

The 8 Greek evil thoughts were a moral code that the Greeks believed took humans away from their highest mentality and made humans imperfect. All humans were under restraint about these thoughts, but the Greek Gods and Goddesses were under no restraints. In the episode of, “The Cyclops”, in the epic, The Odyssey, the clever Greek leader, Odysseus, and his men become trapped by a vicious one-eyed monster, the Cyclops, who eats the men one by one. In order to escape, Odysseus devises and executes a plan by intoxicating the Cyclop and stabbing a red-hot staff into his eye to blind the monster, and escape with his men. The two out of eight evil thoughts Odysseus most demonstrates are Hyperephania, focused on narcissism or pride, and Kenodoxia, focused on boastfulness.

On the island with the Kyklops, Odysseus first learns the immediate consequences arrogant actions. Proceeding to Phaiákia, Odysseus hears of the concept of every man having a name and carries that with him for the duration of the trip. While disguising himself as a beggar the development of his character is shown through his growing concern for his family, namely his son. The final stage of Odysseus’ humbling is

During his journey Odysseus used what he has learned from is mistakes to return home and kill the suitors of his wife. On the island of Cicones,and with his encounter with Polyphemus, Odysseus learned that bragging can bring great misfortune. On Ithaca Odysseus never brags to the suitors and is able to enter his house with the Antinous and the other suitors knowing his real identity. He takes the punishment of Antinous and the other suitors without saying a word and is able to see those who have invaded his house. Odysseus is able to see who is loyal and who is not and take his revenge with the suitors never knowing who

Odysseus gets taken in by the king of the island of Phaeacia, but keeps his identity a secret while the king holds many different events in his honor. During one such event, a singer,

A Phaeacian crew assists Odysseus on his way home to Ithaca. When Poseidon sees the arrival of Odysseus in Ithaca he becomes outraged. Athena makes his home look different and meets him in a new disguise. She then instructs him to hide out in a shack until Telemacus returns home.

Homer’s The Odyssey follows the Greek, prized fighter, Odysseus on his lengthy journey home to Ithika, from the battle fields of the Trojan War. On this journey he encounters ghouls, monsters, and challenges only the best can accomplish. Many people whom read The Odyssey consider the epic’s main character, Odysseus, a hero. However odysseus is a hubristic, unfaithful and dishonest man. A modern hero is defined as some one who is who is admired or “put on a pedestal” for courage, superior achievements, and/or noble qualities. But, unlike the modern hero, Odysseus makes unfaithful, hubristic and dishonest decisions on his venture home to Ithika.

The story Odysseus is about an greek hero who went away far away to Troyland to fight, It took him over 10 years to return home and a lot of the people believed that Odysseus was dead , they overran his palace , and they were courting his faithfulness through wakening his wife Penelope and going through his stock of food. With the permission from Zeus the goddess athena, Odysseus greatest enshrine appears disguising and urges Odysseus son Telemachus to seek news of his father at Pylos and Sparta, The suitors led by Antinous plan to ambush him upon return. As Telemachus tracks Odysseus trail through stories from his old friends, Athena arranges for the release of Odysseus from the island of the beautiful goddess Calypso. Calypso kept Odysseus

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.