Odysseus

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Odysseus In homer's Odyssey the main character Odysseus is a person who only tries to help himself. Although he earns the trust of his men while in Troy, he loses it on his perilous journey home. Many times in the epic he manipulates others, commits foolish acts and is full of hubris. He tries to take shortcuts and as a result of this is men are killed and his boats destroyed. He plays with the lives of his men and he is punished for it. Odysseus is not a hero because, he is foolish, lacks faithfulness and is consumed by his Hubris and selfishness. First, Odysseus is not a hero because he is a foolish leader who makes many mistakes on his journey back home to Ithaka. His first mistake is his decision to let his men raid and pillage the kikones, this thoughtless decision gets thirty of his men killed and countless others wounded, it also angers the Gods because he caused the deaths of many kikones and also many of his own soldiers. Another foolish decision Odysseus makes is his decision to explore the island of the Kyklops. Instead of just exploring his surroundings Odysseus decides to explore the entire island, just so he can see a Kyklops. Again this idiotic decision ends up in the death of more of his faithful men. Finally, another foolish decision he makes is to leave Elpenor unburied, which tortures his soul. As a result of this Odysseus is forced to go all the way back to Kirke's island, wasting time and valuable food to bury his body. This decision is not only selfish but disrespectful because it forces Elpenor to go through extreme suffering in the painful underworld. Odysseus is a selfish leader who needed to stop and think about his decisions instead of acting on impulses, this could have saved the lives of... ... middle of paper ... ...uld feel better than everyone else. Finally Odysseus shows Hubris when he takes up the challenge to shoot the arrow through the twelve axes. This is an act of Hubris because it shows that he thinks he is better than everyone else. Odysseus is a selfish and over prided man whose self-centered and egotist decisions get him in trouble and gets him a bad name with the Gods. . Odysseus is not a hero because, he is foolish, lacks faithfulness and is consumed by his Hubris and selfishness. Odysseus may be known as the first "Modern hero" but in my mind he is a faker. He shows no heroic qualities in his adventures and only survives by luck and good-will. He only starts to pray because he is in trouble, if it weren't for that he would have never even acknowledged the Gods part in his journey home. Odysseus is not only not a hero but and impious man and disloyal husband.

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