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The Hero Of Odysseus

Decent Essays

Rogers

Some people think of a hero as someone with courage, determination, or someone that have risked their lives for others. Others think of a hero as someone who has outstanding strength and is clever. A hero, not only has physical strength, but also has mental strength as well. Odysseus, ruler of Ithaca, proves he is a hero by having all of these traits. Odysseus fights through hard times and overcomes obstacles, he kept his men together for most of the story, and he avenges himself when returning to his home, Ithaca. All of those are very heroic. Odysseus first proves he is a hero when he encounters Polyphemus. Polyphemus is a Cyclops, also the son of Poseidon. When Odysseus goes into the cave where the Cyclops is, Polyphemus …show more content…

” (Homer 922) Odysseus made sure to get his men back and made Circe turn his men back into men.
Odysseus is a hero, not only because of his ability to overcome obstacles, but he keeps his men with him almost the whole journey. One example is when Odysseus made sure his men would be safe for the syrens as they go through the sea. “Going forward I carried wax along the ling, and laid it thick on their ears. They tied me up, then, plumb amidship, back to the mast, lashed to the mast, and took themselves again to rowing. ” (Homer 933) Odysseus made sure his men wouldn’t be able to get loured by the syrens by putting beeswax into their ears. That is a very smart and heroic decision by Odysseus. One more time he made sure to keep his men with him was when he was in the cave with Polyphemus. Odysseus and his men were in danger when in the cave with the Cyclops. “I drew it from the coals and my four fellows gave me a hand, lugging it near the Cyclops as more than natural force nerved them; straight forward they spritnted, lifted it , and rammed it deep in his crater eye, and I leaned on it turning it as a shipwright turns a drill in plaking having below to swing the two-handed strap that spins it in the groove.” (Homer 906) Odysseus had to come back and protect the rest of his men after Polyphemus ate two of them. So Odysseus rammed a hot rod into the Cyclops’ eye. Not to mention, Odysseus is a hero because he avenged himself and his homeland. When he returnes to Ithaca, he

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