Odysseus, an Epic Hero in Homer´s The Odyssey

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In the epic poem, They Odyssey written by Homer, Odysseus tells the story of how he gets home after being away for twenty years. Odysseus possesses superhuman strength and the ability to withstand harsh conditions. Odysseus experiences excessive frustration throughout his trip back to Ithaca and it becomes imperative for him to learn just how to maintain the frustration and keep it inside. On Odysseus’ journey home, he comes up with clever plans to get through every situation or problem thrown at him. Although Odysseus can make it through any situation with his superhuman abilities, he still dealt with frustration, but remained wily when complications came his way.
With the help of Athena on his side, Odysseus possess the ability to abide more harsh conditions than any other mortal man. When Antinous throws a stool at Odysseus, it hits him “just under the right shoulder/ but he [stands] up against it—steady as a rock.” (369, 511-512) Odysseus stands still and shows no emotion to prove that he remains in pain. It seems as if you can hit Odysseus as many times as you want and he will...

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    ...145).” This is a physically demanding thing to do, as he was responsible for turning the large wooden bar in order to drill it into the eye of Polyphemus. Finally, Odysseus’ slaying of all his wife’s suitors display his great strength. Odysseus and Telemachus were able to kill the dozen suitors with the help of the gods. In these instances, Odysseus does actions which most men would find physically difficult, which only proves that strength is one of his heroic characteristics.

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