Preview

Examples Of Heroism In The Odyssey

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
327 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Examples Of Heroism In The Odyssey
From the epic poem by Homer, The Odyssey, Odysseus lack heroism presented in his actions. His success is due to the fact, he is able to intelligently apply himself in dire situations. However the majority of feats are unnecessary, as he tends to indulge in these predicaments due to his selfishness and curiosity. For example, at the time of Lotus Eaters, Odysseus sets course to the Lotus Eaters to discover who are natives of the island. His curiosity ended up of 3 of his men getting paralyzed and brainwashed by the Lotus Eaters. After hastefully evicting the wrath of the Cyclops monster, Odysseus revealed his identity to him to fulfil his pride and ego, which subsequently endangered himself and his crew’s voyage due to being cursed. This shows

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Odysseus shows heroic qualities in the passage about the Cyclops. It states in the passage “ Odysseus is the cleverest of greek heroes because he is guided by the goddess of wisdom, Athena.”. Clever is a quality that heros have. This shows that Odysseus has a heroic quality.…

    • 209 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Odysseus was no hero and his words and actions clearly show. Book 1 of the Odyssey starts with “Sing in the, Muse, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all ways of contending”. Introducing Odysseus as “a man skilled in all ways of contending” shows Homer, author of the Odyssey clearly wanted Odysseus to be seen as a hero. After all, they were both Greek, and the Greeks held a lot of pride they needed to protect. This makes me believe that the story behind The Odyssey was twisted so that the reader was forced to see from the perspective the author wanted.…

    • 422 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.” In the book, The Odyssey, written by Homer, we follow a mortal named Odysseus through his journey home to Ithaca. Odysseus faces many obstacles along his way and the way he chooses to combat them may make him appear a hero. Despite his obvious heroic qualities, Odysseus is not the hero you once thought.…

    • 317 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Character of Odysseus

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages

    I find Odysseus as a very complicated character. He is strong, courageous, Intelligent, confident and most importantly very cunning character with judgmental problem. As I read book IX, I find him as a self assured man, so proud of identifying himself. The form that Odysseus’s revelation of his identity takes is interesting. Reputation is of paramount importance in this culture. Odysseus begins by saying that it is a great thing to listen to such a minstrel perform his songs, but that by asking for the cause of his sorrow he causes more grief. Odysseus doesn’t simply utter his name; rather, he attaches to it an epithet, or short, descriptive title. For example, in book IX (p313), after he made Cyclops blind, he says, “Cyclops- If any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so- Say Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged out your eye, laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithica!”…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “The Odyssey”, Odysseus is a hero because of how he got all the suitors out of the house. I believe that he is a hero for that because of the way that they just moved in and tried to marry his wife. Also that they were eating all of his animals fruit and other things also that they were drinking all of his wine. They were also mean to his servants and to son which made him mad at them. Then when he came they did not know and they were treating him like that he was nothing and that he should die. So that is the reason why he had to kill all of the suitors.…

    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Odysseus Is Not A Hero

    • 102 Words
    • 1 Page

    In Homer’s Odyssey, it is my belief that Odysseus is\ is not heroic mostly because (focus on one character trait). For example, (choose one example from story or movie that supports your claim).…

    • 102 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    To start, Odysseus was developed with standard Greek heroic traits. First, Odysseus was courageous in the face of opposition, as shown by his encounter with Charybdis and Scylla. The protagonist of The Odyssey commanded his crew to row onwards in the face of the monsters, showing his courage. He was also intelligent, as he devised a plan to escape the wrath of Polyphemus. Odysseus made the Cyclops drunk with his liquor before blinding him and allowing his crew to escape on the underside of the sheep of the island. Finally, the main hero of the story was perseverant, as illustrated when he left Ogygia, battled Poseidon’s storms, and made it to King Alcinous’s island.…

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    King Odysseus: A True Hero

    • 1735 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Odysseus shows he is undeserving of the admiration he receives through his selfish, merciless, and disloyal actions as well as his lack of leadership and reliance on the Gods. Throughout his trip home, Odysseus faced countless obstacles and acted cowardly when trying to overcome them. Whether it was his willingness to betray his wife by sleeping with another woman in order to progress his trip or killing his own men when they disobeyed, Odysseus is not heroic. Although fame may bring you the title of hero, it is unjust to be considered heroic if you are a terrible…

    • 1735 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the spiritual sense Odysseus is a hero, because he remains faithful and loyal to his wife and household. Although he has been wandering away from home for almost twenty years, the only thing that…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    So the main reason Odysseus is not a hero is that when athena told him that there are suitors in his house eating all his food and livestock he just decided to kill every single one of them so did his son telemachus. He could've just showed up back in ithaca and disguise have athena disguise himself and then revealed himself to all of them and kill them all. If he would have showed up at home and then penelope would have her husband back and she wouldn't have to remarry and they would leave. When he found out that the maids were disloyal to him he made them clean up all the suitors and then he hung them in cold blood.…

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    His intelligence and strength allow him to get out of difficult situations, but his one flaw that was bringing Odysseus down was his hubris. The whole time Odysseus was trying to get home, he had many opportunities to display these traits, for example giving Polyphemus the wine to put him asleep showed his intelligence because this was the best way to injure the giant while causing the least amount of death. When he hung from the fig tree and waited for his ship, or being trapped in Polyphemus’s cave are all obstacles that he had to overcome. Odysseus overcame these obstacles because he is a hero and heroes overcome problems that come their way. Odysseus is not a superhero however, he is just a normal person that overcomes mistakes and problems that he is faced with. Everyone knows about superheroes and heroes and that they share similar principles except anyone can be a hero, but no one can be a…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Odysseus is not a modern day hero because he tricked his men into thinking that he has logos. He convinced his men to be as brave as he is when they were going to fight through scylla. He does this because he knew he whould not get eaten while his men whould. as shown in this quote he gives his men ethos to get them ready “Well, I walked up and down from bow to stern, trying to put heart into them, standing over every oarsmen, saying gently, have we ever been in danger before this.” after he told them this they went to scylla and fought. Odysseus also has bravery when he stabbed the cyclops in his eye, he told him that his name is nobody to trick him. he also disguised his men as sheep so that they could get out of the cave. But one reason that is…

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Odysseus has the standard qualities that make him a hero; strength, bravery, courage, nobility. He is also the embodiment of the standards and morals of his culture. But his most redeeming quality is his intellect. He proves time and time again that not only is he smart but also extremely clever. He shows this not only by openly evaluating situations but also by outwitting his opponents, such as the Cyclops. He uses this to his advantage, to overcome the obstacles preventing him from returning home. He also uses it in ways, such as lying, stealing and cheating,…

    • 479 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Odysseus Is A Hero

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In life there will always be a hero, protecting the angels from the burning souls demanded by the devil . Life has heros for many reasons, such as protecting the people of the world , but not every hero is a satisfying hero. In the book the odyssey, Odysseus is expressed as a great hero because he is a man of steel , not wanting to quit for the adventures he begins. Odysseus is a reliable hero because he's strong, intelligent and caring to his men and the people around him.…

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Odysseus A Hero

    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages

    We all know who a hero is, right? The person who saves the day and is willing to risk their life and does nothing but good in the world. The Odyssey is about a man named Odysseus who encounters many mythical creatures on his way home to Ithaca, and those creatures try to stop and kill Odysseus from getting home. He then lands on Calypso’s island where she keeps him captive for 7 years until Hermes orders Calypso to let him go. When Odysseus finally gets home, he and his son Telemachus destroy the suitors that invaded his house while he was gone on his journey, and is finally reunited with Penelope after being away from home for 20 years. Odysseus is not a hero because he isn’t selfless, does not go above and beyond in…

    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays