Around the 1200 B.C., Odysseus was sailing the Mediterranean Sea for the purpose of reaching home. In his long narrative poem, The Odyssey, Homer conveys how Odysseus desperately wishes to go home to Ithaca. However, he faces brutal treatment and obstacles from several different antagonists, and more obstacles appear when he reaches home. Odysseus came across many external conflicts, which he dealt with intelligence, determination, and loyalty.
In Greek literature of mythology, we have examined Odysseus. Students and scholars alike have held debates about Odysseus. The discussion is whether Odysseus was a true hero, as read in The Odyssey. There is abundant supportive evidence to verify all sides of the debate and opinions held about Odysseus. Odysseus had encompassed many qualities that I believe make him a hero. The qualities he embodied were mental strength, physical strength, and spiritual strength. I would like to advocate for why Odysseus was a hero.
For generations, heroes have always fascinated people and people have strived to achieve certain qualities of their heroes. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus is considered the hero of the story. While Odysseus does demonstrate some qualities that are not heroic, he is still defined as a hero because of his better, more heroic qualities in which he is far superior in than any other man. The qualities in which define Odysseus as a hero are courage, intelligence, and leadership.
“Are you flesh and blood, Odysseus, to endure more than a man can? Do you never tire? God, look at you, iron is what you’re made of” (12.162-164). In the epic poem, The Odyssey by Homer, the focus is on the journey of Odysseus, the island of Ithaca’s king, after he defeated the Trojans in a war that spanned ten years. He travels far and wide in an attempt to get home to his wife and son, but is repeatedly blocked from doing so by gods, nymphs, and monsters alike. He’s a skilled warrior that fears next to nothing and this poem follows him as he uses these facts to his advantage. Odysseus is persuasive and clever and refuses to shy away from a challenge that requires either one of these characteristics.
Odysseus’s love for Penelope has not been changed even though he spends almost eight years with goddesses. When Odysseus meet his mother in the House of Death, he asks her about his family and royal rights. His shows the values of kingship for him as he says, “do my royal rights still lie in their safekeeping?” (XI.269). So let’s look to the feeling of kingship that is internalized within him due to a period of hardship.
Throughout The Odyssey, the audience often feels sympathy for Odysseus and his men: our idealistic minds want to root for the long lost king to make it home to his true love and his kingdom. His return home takes priority in our minds, causing us to root for the fall of anyone and anything that may come in between him and his happy ending. At a closer glance, however, it seems that Homer does not want us to blindly root for the human adventurers. It may be his intention to reveal the humanity and redeeming qualities of the so-called monsters in the epic. In Book 12, lines 251 to 256 of his epic, Homer demonstrates this point with the following simile, describing sea monster, Skylla, capturing six of Odysseus’ men out of their ship:
Zig Ziglar once said, “Try to look at your weakness and convert it into your strength. That’s success.” This means that even though there may be traits about yourself that are slowing you down, everything depends on the way you handle them. Although most heroes seem superhuman, they often have human-like weaknesses. Their faults can get them into trouble if they aren’t careful. In the book The Odyssey by Homer, the hero Odysseus has many humanlike flaws like excessive pride, selfishness, and lack of leadership that gets him and his crew into tough situations.
Characters respond to their challenges differently based upon their strengths, weaknesses, and motives. Penelope had a lot in her hands with the suitors wanting to take her hand in marriage. she handled her situation using her cleverness and tricking the suitors into waiting seven years. In the other hand, Cyplso wanted to keep Odyssues in her island forever because she wanted him all to herself. She had to use her powers and and her position as goddess and tell Odysseus if he stays he can have whatever he wants and grant him king of the island. They both had their advantages that worked out for Penelope and worked out for Cylpso with odysseus for quite some time. Below are the differences and strengths that Penelope as human and Cylpso as
After ten years, the Trojan War finally ended and the soldiers headed back to their homes. Some made their way back quickly to find things the same as they left them while others arrived home to find things drastically changed. However, Odysseus has been on what seems to be a never ending journey back to Ithaca. The story begins ten years since the end of the war and a total of twenty years has passed since Odysseus first left his home and his family to fight the war in Troy. Since then Telemachus, the son of Odysseus has grown up forever wondering if his father is alive and coming home.
Argumentative Essay American author John C Maxwell one said, " A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." Although Odysseus was face with many very difficult obstacles. He continued to persevere to make sure him and his crew get home. Showing amazing fighting skills and making the hard decisions that others could not make. Odysseus was great leader because of the complicated decisions he made in sirens and the strength and perseverance in the cyclops cave.
The epic poem is a story called the Odyssey by homer.The story is about a hero named odysseus he just finished fighting in the trojan war and won has to get back home.His journey will take a long 10 years but hopefully he makes it back home safely.The essential traits that make a hero are leadership,bravery, and cleverness.
When reading the prompt I asked myself what is a role model so I looked it up and the definition says “a person looked to by others as an example to be imitated.” From this definition, it leads me to choose my character. From the significant characters in the works studied this semester, I would choose Odysseus as the excellent role model for anyone pursuing a career in law enforcement. I would select Odysseus over the rest of the characters we learned about this semester because he was the king of Ithaca. As a king you are held to a higher standard, you are someone the people look to for guidance, protection, and most importantly strategist. Tartell writes, “In The Odyssey, Homer illustrates that, despite all of his human frailties, he is ultimately a heroic character due to his bravery and sharp intellect.” I believe that anyone in pursuit of a career in law enforcement should have the traits such as bravery and sharp intellect, which are traits Tartell uses to describe, Odysseus. Another reason why I believe that Odysseus is fit as a role model pursuing a career in law enforcement would be the fact that he overcame so many obstacles to make it back to his home Ithaca. Odysseus overcame obstacles such as “His trip to the Land of the Lotus Eaters, his battle with Polyphemus the Cyclops, his love affair with the witch-goddess Circe, his temptation by the deadly Sirens, his journey into Hades to consult the prophet Tiresias, and his fight with the sea monster Scylla.” Being
Reading through Book VIII of The Odyssey, allowed the readers to understand more about the life of Odysseus and its relation to the gods through the three songs that Demokos sings throughout the chapter. Demokos sings three different songs with the main themes being adultery, betrayal, pain and strategy. The first song was about a quarrel involving Odysseus and Achilles, presumably before the Trojan War began. On the other hand, the second song involved the story about the affair between Ares and Aphrodite on Hephaistos. While the third song returned to Odysseus and the story of the Trojan horse that resulted in the downfall of Troy. Although each song contains a different story, the themes found in those songs allow a connection to be made between each of them and related back to Odysseus.