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The Hero Of Odysseus In Homer's Odyssey

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Hercules. Perseus. Achilles. Aeneas. Jason. Daedalus. Greece’s heroes. Legends. One name is missing from the list of Greek Mythology's greatest. Odysseus. In the exhilarating tale, The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus shows his worthiness of a king and hero time and time again. Throughout twenty-four books Odysseus takes on many challenges such as the Trojan War, Cyclops, Calypso, Circe, the suitors and Poseidon. Odysseus is the king of Ithaca who was called upon to help the Greeks win the Trojan War. After ten years and outsmarting the people of Troy, he angered Poseidon, so Poseidon did all in his power to make sure that it Odysseus never made it home. When all the other gods see what Poseidon is doing, they help Odysseus come home after ten years …show more content…

For example, in book nine, when asked by the terrifying Cyclopes who he is, Odysseus replies “‘My name is Nohbody: mother, father, and friends/ everyone calls me Nohbody’” (273-274). Rather than giving away his identity, Odysseus uses his brilliance to appear as a person of no importance, and fools the Cyclops of who he really is. He also secures safety of his family and crew by not giving away his name. His intelligence is further shown later in the story when a plan made by Odysseus succeeds and the Cyclops calls for help from his neighboring Cyclopes, the others never come because the Cyclops claims he was hurt by Nohbody. Another scenario where his intellect was shown was in an effort to shield his crew from the persuasive voices of the Sirens, Odysseus tells the reader “I carried wax along the line and laid it/ thick on their ears” (43-44). After being warned of the Siren’s powerful voices, he wanted to help his men in a clever way, not only proving himself as a worthy leader, also proving himself a wise man. This one example also shows how Odysseus is quick on his feet, and is able to think outside of the box, another sign of intelligence. As his ship is quickly approaching the Sirens he is able to devise a strategy to avoid persuasion. Throughout the story, Odysseus shows his wit time and time again, making him an extremely intelligent

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