Odysseus: A True Hero

Many people have debated whether or not Odysseus was a hero. In The Odyssey of Homer, Odysseus faced many trials on his journey from Troy to Ithaca. He seemed to have the traits of a hero, but with a closer look, Odysseus actually caused most of the problems he himself faced. Had Odysseus traveled directly home after the Trojan War, all his trials could have been avoided, and he could have been welcomed home as a real hero. Odysseus was not a hero because he was not faithful to his wife, he was self-centered, and he was arrogant.
Odysseus was not faithful to his wife. He showed no fidelity to her or the vows he made to her. If Odysseus were a real hero, he would have remained faithful to his wife no matter how long it took him to get home. Penelope
He valued his life above his crew’s, even though his crew constantly looked to him for direction and guidance. He even referred to his crewmembers as “fools”. He typically did what he wanted and did not care about the death of his crew, so long as he survived. For example, when they pass Scylla and Charybdis. Odysseus had a choice to either lose his whole ship to Charybdis, or only six men to Scylla. “Skylla out of the hollow vessel snatched six of my companions” (11.245-246). While it was better to just lose six men than all his men, a real hero would’ve found another route and a way for all his men to survive. A real hero would have taken the direct route to Ithaca and never been faced with this dilemma. Even after crewmembers died serving him, Odysseus ridiculed them and showed no respect. He did not even give a proper burial to his loyal crewmembers until he was forced to go back and correctly bury them. Odysseus did not care for the lives he lost; he survived and that’s all that mattered to him. The character trait Odysseus possessed of self-centeredness along with pride and arrogance was clearly revealed in the decision he made regarding