The Tragic Hero Of Odysseus In Homer's Odyssey

In my eyes a hero is a person who shows courage, is humble, does not give up, and is someone everybody can relate to. The protagonist in “The Odyssey” by Homer, Odysseus is a hero because although he is emotional throughout the book and lets his emotions take over his actions, he displays immense courage and perseveres through his journey and hardships.

Penelope suspects that this plot was not Odysseus’ alone, that he was supported by her uncle. Penelope’s uncle, wishes to overthrow the king of Sparta and plots to remove Penelope and any potential sons she may have from the picture. Odysseus is the perfect means to this as he wishes to change the usual customs (husband stays with the wife’s family) and take Penelope home to Ithaca with him. At their wedding Penelope is nervous as her maids have told her stories of how horrible sex can be. The consummation of marriage is described by Penelope as a play at a “sanctioned rape”, guards are posted and the woman is expected to attempt to escape.

Unlike Odysseus Penelope is confined by the gender roles of her time and cannot use physical strength against the suitors or even direct verbal rejection, instead Penelope resorts to her emotional resilience and wit in order to challenge the suitors. She wrongly reassures the suitors that once she finishes weaving a gift for Odysseus’s father, she will choose someone to marry her, “’Young men, my suitors, let me finish my weaving, before I marry’…every day she wove on the great loom but every night by torchlight she unwove it.” (II. 103-104, 112-113) Penelope’s actions are strategic and well calculated. Her main goal, like Odysseus, is to successfully overcome her situation. She understands that she may not be able to physically fight the suitors but she can trick them until Telemachus or Odysseus are able to. By crafting a lie that delays the suitors from marrying her immediately, Penelope restrains the suitors from seizing Ithaca, her household, and posing a threat to Telemachus or Odysseus. Her lie gives Odysseus a crucial advantage in the physical fight against the suitors as he comes back to a city and household where Penelope

The great tactician Odysseus is a strong and noble leader. He is very smart and uses his swave intellect to escape many dangerous and tough situations. As well he is a convincing speaker and can convince who he is talking to do his bidding. He is a strong willed man and now that he is home from his 20 year treacherous journey, he wants to be happy with his wife and finally learn what a great man his son had become. The suitors have been in Odysseus kingdom for about the last 10 years, eating his food, drinking his wine, killing his livestock, and most importantly, badgering his queen, Penelope, into marrying them he has every right to kill every last one of them.

Odysseus and Antinous are two fairly similar rivals, despite their similarities, Odysseus is the true leader of Ithaca. These two men both want the same woman, Penelope, and the same throne, the kingdom of Ithaca. Unlike Antinous, Odysseus is willing to fight for what he wants, being an active striver. Antinous, on the other hand, is lazy. He is sitting around eating Penelope’s food. While Odysseus is going through life-or-death situations to get back to his homeland, the queen is providing Antinous with everything he needs. He does not have to work for anything. Odysseus shows that he respects the gods, he does everything they ask him to do without hesitation. Antinous is extremely disrespectful towards the gods. When Antinous throws a chair

Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus experiences many ups and downs throughout his journey home. He is throw into peril and there often seems to be no hope for his return home. While he remains victorious in the end, returning to his wife, son, and father, the poem itself is filled with many darker moments filled with doubt and sadness. Odysseus is the hero of the Odyssey, and in order to exist as a hero he must be relatable. His story cannot be one entirely of triumph, it must include a more human perspective. Triumph cannot come without strife, and heroism cannot come without tribulation. Athena and Odysseus’ experiences as divine and human, respectively, and define whether or not they are heroes. By comparing Odysseus to Athena, it is apparent that what makes Odysseus a hero before anything else is his humanity.

As for giving orders, men will see to that, but I most of all: I hold the reins of power in this house.”. Which completely dismisses Penelope’s power in Odysseus’ estate, as well as dismissing her feelings of grief. Penelope is also seen as a temptress when a suitor tells Telemachus that “she’s played it fast and loose with all our hearts, building each man’s hopes- dangling promises, dropping hints to each-but all the while with something else in mind.” (book 2).

Homer gives Odysseus series of conflicts even to the point of Odysseus returning home after 20 years. When Odysseus is given a chance to compete for Penelope, he does not hesitate in killing the ringleader of the suitors. As a result of Odysseus's determination, he tells them that will not “escape death”(1286). This act proves that he will not let anyone try to get with his women. This sense of courage and determination get him what he wants. In spite of Odysseus conquering this task he still has a more important one ahead. Penelope still has doubts and believe he could just be a trick from the gods. As a result, Telemachus tries to convince his mother that he is the real Odysseus and she does not need to question him. As a

In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus demonstrates traits of a hero through his intelligence and loyalty. In book nine, Odysseus realizes that if he kills Polyphemus now, the passage leading out of the cave will still be blocked by a slab of solid rock leading to his crew’s deaths as well. After a few days of being trapped in the cave, Odysseus comes up will an intelligent plan. He holds a feast and introduces himself as Nohbdy which works in favor for Odysseus. Odysseus gets Polyphemus drunk which allows him to drive a spike into Polyphemus’ eye, deep enough to blind the Cyclops. The Cyclops yells in pain and howls loud enough to the Cyclopes nearby to hear and rush to Polyphemus’ side. They ask Polyphemus what had happened to him to which Polyphemus

Penelope has a little power as she is able to look over the servants and eventually she has a son, Telemachus, who she gets to raise as her own; however, not with the watchful eye of Euryclea watching over Penelope’s every move. However, Penelope’s greatest loss of power and control is still yet to come. Penelope’s ultimate loss of power is when Odysseus has to go fight in the Trojan war and Penelope is left at home with the eventual handfuls of suitors who take over her household once they believed Odysseus to be dead. This is a complete lack of power on Penelope’s side as she has no real control over the suitors, even though they were a large amount younger than she was, they were still invading her house and trying to take the power and wealth from Penelope as “the more there were, the more were attracted, each fearing to miss out on the perpetual feasting and the marriage lottery” (103 Atwood). This clearly shows a complete lack of power and control on Penelope’s side as she is still the wife of Odysseus; however, there are now a hundred men in her house eating her food, and drinking her wine while at the same time competing to marry Penelope in the aim to win the kingdom

In order for one to become a hero, one not only must have strength and bravery, but care and love for others. In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus shows a sense of genuine emotion rather than his usual courageous voice. Odysseus unexpectedly faces the ghost of his mother and breaks down, while learning that putting out a sense of care and emotion is a significant trait to becoming a true heroic man. First starting his journey, Odysseus’s only traits are bravery and courage. Before entering the Land of the Dead, the hero takes more than needed pride in himself when he shouts, “‘Hear me- / Poseidon, god of the sea-blue mane who rocks the earth! /

The food, game, and resources in Odysseus’s manor is taken voraciously by the suitors, and there is nothing that his son and wife, Telemachus and Penelope, can do. They treat the king’s family with such disrespect that Athena helps Odysseus plan to kill them. The suitors do not pay attention to the fact that they are being so ill behaved. One suitor in particular, Antinous, throws a stool at Odysseus when he is disguised as a beggar. Another suitor mentions that this may upset the gods; after all, the gods tend to visit Greece in the guise of someone wishing for help. The fact that Antinous so bluntly disregards this only adds to the gods’ wish for him and the suitors’ deaths. The actions of the suitors come back to haunt them, when Odysseus kills them all with no mercy. Odysseus’s actions, however have earned him good favor from the

Odysseus the main protagonist of the Odyssey carries out very noble tasks. Odysseus was a very smart man. With using his skills he leads his team for almost 13 years. He also had the idea of the Trojan horse. When He gets to Ithaca after 20 years he outsmarts all the suitors that have been harassing his wife.

Being heroic? In truth, being hero isn’t recently characterized by winning. The word hero shows up in Greek culture with a twofold significant. First, it is utilizing for signifying a perfect being, who carried on with a mortal life however after doing some incredible deed demand to end up god. On the other hand, the heroes remains for extraordinary and overcome warrior who is prepared to give his life with a specific end goal to increase interminable magnificence, and keep on living in the social circle, in the memory of their descendants.

Ten years after the fall of Troy, the victorious Greek hero Odysseus has still not returned to his native land Ithaca. A band of rowdy suitors, believing Odysseus to be dead, has overrun his palace, courting his faithful—though weakening—wife Penelope, and going through his stock for food. With permission from Zeus, the goddess Athena, Odysseus' greatest immortal ally, appears in disguise and urges Odysseus' son Telemachus to seek news of his father at Pylos and Sparta. However, the suitors, led by Antinous, plan to ambush him upon return.