Odysseus Epic Hero Essay

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Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, tells the story of Odysseus’ journey to his home in Ithaca, ten years after the Trojan War. Throughout Odysseus’ journey to reach home, he proves that he is an epic hero by overcoming many extraordinary circumstances that test his loyalty, ability to resist temptation, and the power of his cunning over his strength.
Odysseus’ long journey makes him an epic hero, the epic journey is often told in a poetic narrative where the subject is announced in the opening lines with an invocation and an epic question. The epic opens in the midst of the action or in the middle of a scene. Action that occurs before the beginning of the poem is recounted in flashbacks. The name “Odysseus” means either a curse’s victim or an avenger who carries a curse to others. However, Odysseus’ endgame is to return home after many years at war, and to do this he must cross Poseidon’s realm. Thus, Odysseus brings a curse upon those with him by accompanying them into his enemy’s territory. Odysseus tells his son, “Twenty years gone, and I am back again…” (Literature 1090)
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