The Odyssey By Homer

With its larger-than-life plot twists, The Odyssey is a classic representation of an epic in literature. With that understood, it is no surprise that the main character of the story helps to define an epic hero. A character must express certain virtues to be considered such. Strength, courage, and nobility are almost prerequisites. Cleverness is an added bonus. Odysseus possesses many characteristics and virtues that make him a true representation of an epic hero.

A hero accepts who he is as an individual, but strives to change himself for the better. In the epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, the main character Odysseus is a valiant king who embarks on a life-changing voyage. While traveling from Troy back to his home in Ithaka, King Odysseus overcomes daunting obstacles, and in doing so discovers his place in the world. Odysseus is truly a heroic figure because he demonstrates courage, improves his character, and wins the support of the gods.

During, Homer’s, The Odyssey many strengths were tested throughout the entire book. This book was a mythological Greek folk tale that was created between the eleventh and eighth century B.C, therefore it is filled with many exaggerated stories about the Gods and treacherous adventures Odysseus had ventured on. He encounters a cyclops and after battles a six-headed monster. His crew discovers their talent for making mistakes such as being turned into pigs by Circe and letting strong winds out of the bag sending them farther from home. Odysseus experiences battles with his emotional stamina as well. His depression about his travels are shown through his lamentation on Calypsos’ island and his will power to discover the loyalty of his house mates is tested by Odysseus disguising himself as a beggar in his own home. Throughout, Homer’s, The Odyssey perseverance holds significance emotionally, physically, and mentally when enduring the battles and setbacks he experiences.

Is a hero only characterized by their success? If a leader’s last actions carry them to victory, are their flaws unimportant? The Odyssey by Homer narrates the ancient myth of a leader coming home from war in Troy who faces many trials, and despite returning home alone without any of his crew, he is looked upon as a hero for having survived. His ultimately sole success continues to define him, although the bitter truth being that he was the leader of his men when they all perished. As flaws of the all-mighty Odysseus and his crew are presented through their responses to the challenges they experience on their journey, people of the modern world may begin to understand that there exist several flaws that plague all men, whether they live now or lived thousands of years ago, and whether they are leaders or followers. The Odyssey is important in its characters’ responses’ to their trials ability to evoke emotional reactions that cause the reader to ponder their own tendencies by revealing the human nature of pride to be the fuel of the impulsiveness that oscillates fate.

In Homer’s poem, The Odyssey is a heroic hero named Odysseus who is trying to get home after the events of the Trojan War which lasted an entire decade. He battles mythical creatures and faces the rage of the gods. Odysseus meets the criteria of an epic hero because he surpasses Zeus’s punishment with having superior strength, defeats cyclops with intelligence, and braveness when facing Charybdis as well as Scylla.

Thus far in The Odyssey, Homer has introduced several characters. The Gods discussed what they should do about Odysseus’ struggles as he attempts to get home to his wife and son. Athena then appears to Telemachus as Mentor, an old friend of Odysseus’. She convinces him that he should set sail in order to find out if his father is dead or alive and to take back control of his father’s kingdom from his mother, Penelope’s, suitors. Antinous, one of her suitors, then tells Telemachus of Penelope’s deception toward them. After hearing this, they exchanged more words, and then he set sail to find his father. He goes to see King Nester who remembers what it was like during the Trojan War and tells Telemachus to be strong and brave. The Gods met again and discussed Odysseus’ capture by Calypso. Zeus sent his son Hermes, the messenger of the Gods, to tell Calypso that she must release Odysseus. Calypso reacts vividly to this, stating that the gods are unfair in their treatment of gods and goddesses. Calypso then begins to speak to Odysseus. During this conversation in book 5, Homer reveals to us the importance of a person’s wit and the deception of others in order to help yourself, as well as the importance of one’s will power.

Fictional heroes are in shows, movies and books. No matter what we watch or read at the end, we realize that these heroes became heroes by improving themselves emotionally and helping others out of the goodness in their hearts. Many people argue that Odysseus is not hero but considering the things he does through his journey his characteristics began to show a little of his heroic side. In The Wanderings of Odysseus from the Odyssey a epic poem by Homer, Odysseus is on his way back to Ithaca his home island after winning the ten year old Trojan War to come see his wife, Penelope and his son, Telemachus. The journey to home takes a very unexpected turn for Odysseus and his men. Odysseus is challenged with many obstacles that show his good and bad characteristics. He faces monsters like Scylla, Charybdis and Cyclopes. He also deals with gods and goddess like Poseidon and Circe.

They typical epic hero possesses superhuman strength, craftiness, and confidence, is helped or harmed by gods or fate, embodies qualities valued by the culture, or overcomes perilous situations. Odysseus is the main character, and hero of the epic The Odyssey written by Homer in ancient greek times. He is challenged by giant cyclops, hundreds of men trying to marry his wife, envious sirens, and the constant struggle of trying to return home to his family in Ithaka. The epic hero Odysseus is characterized by his cunningness and determination through struggle, though flawed by his ego.

The protagonist of the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer is Odysseus, who is a man of many qualities. Odysseus's skills and intellect are honed through the hardships he experienced on his very long journey away from home. Through his adventures, Odysseus gained for himself the reputation of a hero who survived shipwrecks, battled monsters, faced the wrath of the mighty gods, and met many people of various foreign lands. On top of other classic epic hero traits, Odysseus proves to be the very definition of a Homeric hero through his portrayal as a character who is faithful, loyal, and mentally capable.

The Odyssey is probably one of the most well know epic poem/narratives in the world today. The most important character in this story is Odysseus an epic war hero who returns home from the Trojan War. Odysseus is an epic hero who has many qualities, flaws and is seen as the perfect archetype of manhood. Odysseus shows no fear throughout the book and is always ready for a fight.

In the beginning, he had to leave behind his wife, newborn son, and his hometown, which even then had useless suitors. Throughout the journey, Odysseus’ actions of temerity only bring him down in a series of ways: first, after blinding the Cyclops Polyphemus, Poseidon’s son, Odysseus cannot suppress his joy. He yells off of the ship to Polyphemus, stating both his name, and his hometown. Because of this careless act, he causes not only Poseidon to hate him, but it also brings the Phaecians a bad omen, later causing their ship to turn to stone. Secondly, after visiting Tiresias in the Underworld, and being told not to eat Helios’s cattle, they negligently do so. Odysseus foolishley lets his men go onto the island, and is clueless while they are killing cattle. This later results in everyone but him getting killed by a thunderbolt. Although both Telemachus and Odysseus have made frivolous mistakes, in the end they both come out as stronger

Despite the problems he faced during his journey, he doesn’t give up the dream to go be united with his family. After Penny, Everett’s wife, divorces Everett because she is ashamed of his arrest, she tell his girls that he was hit by a bus. He has this goal that everything will be normal again. The trio pretends to be a real band. Delmar and Pete think that his plan to dress up as a band for distraction while Everett attempts to speak to Penny again will fail. Everett, though is determined that his plan will work and that he will get to be with his wife and children again. This displays that Everett has this motivation that he can not give up on and needs the help of Pete and Delmar. As a result, Everett and his companions’ friendship is showing that Everett’s dependence on Pete and Delmar brings out his determination to be with his family again. Odysseus is also very determined to go home to his wife, Penelope and son, Telemachus. His journey with all these monsters after him shows his focus is to get home and to not give up. Odysseus motivates his men telling them, “Friends, have we never been in danger before this? More fearsome it is now, than when the Cyclops penned us in his cave? What power he had! Did I not keep my nerve, and use my wits to find a way out for us.”(XII.144-148) When the crew face the two terrifying monsters, Skylla and Charbydis, everyone is scared but Odysseus. He has this firing emotion within him,

The story of the Odyssey focuses on the acts of the main character known as Odysseus. During his travels across the sea, he is faced with many impediments that try to steer him away from his home of Ithaca. However, he is able to overcome each of these obstacles and finally reaches his home. Throughout his odyssey, Odysseus shows many traits of an epic hero. Some of the traits he shows that makes him an epic hero are his noble birth, the vast he travels through, and the help he gets from supernatural forces.

Odysseus no longer feels the need to reveal himself too early, as he is secure in the fact that his kleos will come with his future victory. Odysseus no longer holds kleos as the defining factor in his life, instead opting to embrace his metis, to ensure the success of his plans. The careless pursuit of glory is replaced by a more calculated approach of keeping it; the whims he felt on the Cyclops island is replaced by a need to reclaim his rightful place in Ithaca. After being weathered by his many travels and hardships, Odysseus is no longer the Greek war hero that seeks kleos as his highest form of fulfillment; he rather seeks to gain back all he’s lost during his travels, carefully planning each action throughout the altercation to ensure that his secret is kept. He allows his metis to temporarily

Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus is described as cunning. His thoughts are always working towards the best outcome for himself and like a good chess play, he always remains one move ahead. Odysseus’ cunning can be observed through his interactions with the nymph Calypso in Book Five and the Phaeacian Princess Nausicaa in Book Six. During these interactions, Odysseus flatters the females and evokes pity for his suffering in order for the situation to work to his advantage. He is not always honest, but his command of language allows him to win people over with his lies. Odysseus wishes to get home as quickly as possible and is willing to lie and flatter to complete the journey.