Heroes Usually Die Young in the Iliad, but Odysseus has Wit

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In the Iliad the Heroes are the ones who died young on the battle field in the high of their prime. A perfect example of this is Achilles, who choose to go to Troy knowing he will have a story, but glories life. Odysseus, does care about the glory of war. He does everything he can to stay at home with his family. Including faking insanity and sowing his field with salts. Yet he still consider a hero. In fact Odyssey is a story about Odysseus journey home, not about war and battle which is the case with the Iliad.

In fact Odysseus is a all together a very different kind of hero. Odysseus is not known for his strength in battle such as Achilles or Ajax, but for his wit. Instead of simply attacking or overpowering his enemies like Achilles would, Odysseus out smarts him. This ability to rely on wit instead of might is particular important in the Odysseys. In the Odyssey all of Odysseus enemies are supernatural in natural whether god, witch, nymph or Cyclops, none of his enemies can be conquered by brute force. A specific example is the Cyclops. Odysseus could not physically over power...

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