The Qualities Of A Hero In Odysseus The Odyssey

What makes a hero a hero? The ancient poem The Odyssey, written by the epic poet Homer, tells the story of a man by the name of Odysseus and his travels home to Ithaca after being at war in the Battle of Troy for nine years. Odysseus encounters many challenges and obstacles through the many adventures that he faces on his way home. His challenge concluding the story is of finding a way to rid the suitors that pillage his kingdom in order to retrieve his position back as lord and husband to his wife, Penelope. As Odysseus went on many adventures, he displayed the qualities of cleverness, bravery, and vengeance. One quality that separates Odysseus from the many other heroes of his time is the ability to be clever and cunning. Odysseus shows
Odysseus has portrayed courage through being persistent in every situation, especially when being stuck within Polyphemus’ cave in Book Nine. In order to escape the grasp of Polyphemus, Odysseus had to face the cyclops by stabbing its eye. Homer describes the moment of defensive attack, writing in Odysseus’ point of view, saying, “I drew it from the coals and my four fellows gave me a hand, lugging it near the Kyklops as more than natural force nerved them; straight forward they sprinted, lifted it, and rammed it deep in his crater eye, and I leaned on it turning it as a shipwright turns a drill in planking, having men below to swing the two-handled staff that spins it in the groove,” (Homer, 412-419). Odysseus has been shown to pertain the qualitative trait of bravery and courage because he did not go against any mere foe, he went against a cannibalistic monstrous giant that had more physical strength than all of his men combined. Instead of running away in fear, Odysseus thought about him and his men’s live, strengthening his mental and physical ability in order to face Polyphemus, the cyclops that can easily break him in two. Odysseus’ bravery in defeating Polyphemus has attributed to him the portrayal of a hero, for he was able to save not only himself, but his men that have survived alongside
In Book XXVI, Death in the Great Hall, Odysseus and his son, Telemachus, have taken revenge upon the suitors and their allies that have pillaged his home during the many years that Odysseus was proclaimed MIA. Odysseus had killed all of the suitors and Homer describes the aftermath as the old nurse Eurycleia had seen her master, writing, “As she gazed from all the corpses to the bloody man she raised her head to cry over his triumph, but felt his grip upon her, checking her,” (Homer, 455-458). Homer expressed this moment to be triumphant, so it can definitely have been described as a heroic moment. Odysseus’ drive for vengeance against the suitors have raised his family and townspeople from the suitors that take advantage of them to the glory they had twenty years before. Without Odysseus killing all of the suitors, he could have not reclaimed the throne and revive