"I am Laertes' son Odysseus, men hold me formidable for guile in peace and war: this fame has gone abroad to the sky's rim." (1047) Odysseus is an epic hero in The Odyssey and exhibits three character traits that assuredly stand out to readers. Those traits are intelligence, compassion, and determination. When trapped in a cave and held captive Odysseus makes a hasty, but intelligent decision to spare his captor's life. His captor just happened to be a Cyclops. Odysseus was astute in his decision to spare the Cyclops's life, because he and his crew were not capable of moving the stout bolder blocking the avenue of escape. Odysseus knew that if he killed the Cyclops that he and his men would perish along with it. Another story in which Odysseus displays his intelligence is "The Sirens". "Going forward I carried wax along the line, and laid it thick on their ears." (1072) In the story "The Sirens" Odysseus portrays his remarkable ingeniousness when he plugs the crew's ears with beeswax. Because of Odysseus's apt solution, the crew was protected from the Sirens' seductive song...
Many spoke positively about Odysseus, highlighting only his admirable traits. Although most victories of Odysseus did have a positive outcome, Odysseus acted by whatever means necessary to achieve his successes. In book twelve, Odysseus encountered the challenge of the sirens. No man had ever heard the song of the sirens and lived to speak of it. Odysseus was determined to be the first, and only man to ever make it through alive, “.. Yet she urges that I alone should listen to their song (XII.193-194)”. Odysseus ordered his men to plug their ears with beeswax and to tie him to the mast as tight as they possibly could. Odysseus and his crew did manage to successfully pass the sirens, making Odysseus the only man to ever hear the wondrous call of the sirens. By refusing to plug his own ears, Odysseus unnecessarily put himself above all of his
Odysseus?s cunning is cardinal to his survival and that of his men. He uses his cunning to get them out of several unpleasant situations. When they are captured by the Cyclops, he can not use the strength of his men to escape, so he must use his cunning to free them. He lies and tricks the Cyclops to get out, ??My name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends, everyone calls me Nohbdy?? (9.397-99). This clever deception stops the other Cyclops from helping Polyphemos helping them to escape. Odysseus also shows his cleverness when he returns to Ithaca.
A true hero will go through immeasurable lengths to benefit not him or herself, but the people around them. Heroes are neither selfish nor uncaring. They seek every opportunity they get to help those in need. One must have also gone through the entire hero’s journey to be deemed a hero. He must start off naïve and inept and through his challenges, transform into someone worth calling a hero. Most importantly, a hero is not perfect. He must listen to other’s ideas and utilize them. However, in The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus disrespects his crew men and the gods’ advice, lets hubris interfere with his men’s lives, and is unfaithful to his wife Penelope.
In The Sirens, Odysseus showed many examples of mental prowess. The Sirens are monsters disguised as women who try to lower the men with there songs wanting them to kill themselves. Odysseus had been warned by Circe about The Sirens and was recommended that it would be better if Odysseus is the only one that listens to their songs “yet she urged that I alone should listen to their song” (783). Odysseus had thought of a clever plan of putting wax in the mens ears so they
There are numerous heroes throughout “The Odyssey,” but none of them are as significant as Odysseus. “The Odyssey” is a narrative poem written by Homer (around 800 and 600 BCE) to show the numerous adventures and experiences Odysseus goes through. Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus a prominent Greek epic hero is on a quest to return back to his home in Ithaca; to his wife Penelope, and his son Telemachus. Just like real life, not all heroes are picture-perfect; they all have imperfections. In this case, Odysseus is sometimes insolent, and discourteous; but he is still considered an epic hero because of the many heroic qualities he endures. Odysseus proves himself to be an outstanding hero in various ways such as showing loyalty, intelligence, bravery, strength, and courage which are all some of the most momentous qualities found in a hero. If a true hero can prove they are a true hero, makes them a true hero.
Odysseus’ character , as seen in the Iliad, is much like that of a Homeric hero. A hero in Homer’s world entails many attributes other than physical strength including, but not limited to, courage, honor, respect, intelligence, and good morals. Throughout The Odyssey, some of these character traits are illustrated, and some are slightly changed.
Another characteristic that Odysseus had to be an epic hero was that he was brave. Even though Eurylochos urged Odysseus to not go to Circe and leave the island without his crew Odysseus refused to. He responded to Eurylochos by saying “…as for me, go I must and go I will.';(p.117). Odysseus was a loyal leader, and even though he knew that he faced an impossible task, he went to Circe’s to bring his men back to safety.
The Character Odysseus in Odyssey "Odyssey" is an epic story that has been a significant piece of literature since it was first composed and will remain so for ages to come. One of the reasons it has been so is because of the hero, Odysseus. Odysseus was one of the first Greek mythic heroes renowned for his brain as well as his muscles. Indeed he is a man with an inquiring mind, and he is also a man with outstanding prowess and bravery" (123helpme.com/assets/3603.html). "We also must not forget that he is a top-notch athlete which only adds more to this seemingly insuperable character.
Odysseus: a hero in every way. He is a real man, skilled in the sports, handy with a sword and spear, and a master of war strategy. Most of the challenges and adventures in his return voyage from Troy show us this even if we had no idea of his great heroic stature and accomplishments in the Trojan war. I found in my reading of the Odyssey that most of the trials the gods place upon him are readily faced with heroic means. These challenges are not
In Homer’s The Odyssey, the main character, Odysseus, is stranded at sea after the Trojan War. He must overcome many obstacles in order to reach his home, Ithaca. Throughout the book, we see the many admirable qualities that Odysseus possesses that makes him such an influential literary character: among them being cleverness and loyalty. However, every hero also has his weaknesses, and Odysseus’s main weakness is his pride. We can learn how to live our life from a hero’s good traits and bad traits
To begin with, Odysseus is an intelligent and clever man. He is a hero because he has the capacity to understand the situations and think through the struggles they are going to face. Odysseus is put against all the odds possible, and at times it seems like the gods are against him. Odysseus tricks the Cyclops, Polyphemus, in a very strategic way and handled the situation effectively. “My name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends, / everyone calls me Nohbdy (Homer 498). Odysseus’ cleverness is brought out because he conceived an idea that would be adequate enough to trick a Cyclops. Later when Polyphemus is stabbed, he screams, “Nohbdy, Nohbdy’s tricked
...rished and he was left alone. He was loyal to his crew and never gave up on them, even after they defied him. When Odysseus returns to Ithaca he sees his son Telemachus for the first time since he was just an infant. Telemachus says to his father, “All my life your fame as a fighting man has echoed in my ears - your skill with weapons and the tricks of war…” (Homer 926-928) This shows us that Odysseus has a reputation as a hero, and while his son grew up he heard how heroic his father was. In The Odyssey, Odysseus lives up to his reputation time after time while using his cleverness and loyalty to persevere through danger.
The main character of the Odyssey, Odysseus the King of Ithaca is given a complex personality to an extent where it is hard to identify whether he is a true hero or not. True heroism is only achieved when a person achieves certain qualities that portray heroism. Odysseus is not a hero based on the standards of merciful, selfless, and gentle because of his actions of sacrificing his men, killing the suitors and being ruthless throughout the Odyssey. Along with many others qualities these three are helpful and necessary in a hero. A hero must be willing to do service for others and put the needs of others safety and protection before his own. Odysseus does not even come close to matching these qualities because he is a person, who only serves of himself, and he sacrifices his allies to achieve his goals and often he takes action ruthlessly.
In conclusion, Odysseus’ intelligence, loyalty, and strength are all key aspects which make Odysseus an epic hero. Besides having those characteristics, he has passed impossible tasks and could be compared to many American superheroes such as Batman. Both have relatively the same characteristics: strength, loyalty, intelligence, courage, and pride, but what makes them an epic hero is not entirely what they have been through. It is actually their ability to portray what their civilization finds most heroic in a person that makes them an epic hero.
In conclusion, Odysseus displays the good and heroic characteristics of cleverness, bravery and strength throughout his actions in response to the challenges he faced in The Odyssey. Like any great heroes in literature, Odysseus does have some character flaws, such as pride and violence. But his good characteristics makes him a hero to root for and agree with, despite any flaws that he has.