Theme Of Heroism And The Hero's Journey In The Odyssey

For thousands of years, The Odyssey has remained a model to which many epics aspire. Described by Peter Dalby as “many-layered,” The Odyssey’s themes of heroism and the journey home have been retold and reimagined countless times, captivating scholars, readers, and even movie-goers since the poem’s inception (Dalby 64). The psyche of the average person, it seems, has a fundamental need to believe in heroism and the hero’s journey. Odysseus, the hero of this particular epic certainly exhibits the traits of heroism: “the courage, fighting skill, and leadership abilities” described by Harris, and he has been rewarded for them through centuries of idolization. Indeed as Peter Tooley notes in Reading Epic: An Introduction to Ancient Narratives, “heroism and the hero are at the very heart of mythological and historical epic. Praise and the glory of heroes is perhaps the basis of the concept of heroism” (Toohey 7-8).

However, while The Odyssey helped to establish the

Odysseus has affairs with both women, spending eight of the ten years it takes him to return home with one of the two. Meanwhile, Penelope, the long suffering wife of Odysseus is forced to contend with the suitors who have taken residence in her home, taking advantage of her hospitality. Indeed, Penelope and her son Telemachus are described as nearly helpless, and in need of a hero, for the suitors that have taken residence in her home placed tremendous pressure on her to forsake Odysseus and choose one of them to marry (Toohey 47). Penelope, in her desperation tells the suitors that she is preparing a burial shroud for her father-in-law, and will choose when she has completed the task. She then undermines the process by unraveling her work in the evenings. Penelope, it seems has not given up hope on Odysseus’s