Odysseus: the Anti-Hero
Odysseus: The Anti-Hero
Throughout Homer’s epic The Odyssey, Odysseus is a hero. In all myths and legends, a hero combats the “monsters.” In the typical story a hero is unselfish and fights to protect his people while the monsters are greedy powerful things that antagonize the people. Yet despite this typical storyline, if we read closely, we may conclude that Odysseus is actually the oppressive hero in many of these situations – provoking the “monsters” into fighting. The “monsters” in the Odyssey are innocent creatures that fight to protect themselves. Another reason Odysseus is not a satisfying hero of this story is because the main reason he pursues conflict is to maintain his own personal image and sense of pride, so that when he finally arrives home he will be cherished and honored – an honor that is unnecessary and inauthentic at the cost of so many lives. Even though it may be argued that Odysseus is the biggest hero in the book, there are many more reasons for why he should not be worth our admiration.
The typical formula of a story rooted in Greek mythology involves a protagonist fighting a monster and returning to his hometown victorious. In this storyline, Odysseus is portrayed as the “hero” who is victorious and is never defeated. Among the “monsters” that he fights are the Cyclops, the Cicones, and the Laestrygonians. If the monsters were just normal people and Odysseus came and barged in then killed them all, everybody would think that Odysseus was the real villain, but the fact that he is killing or maiming actual monsters makes the viewer side towards Odysseus. The book also uses specific language to make the monsters seem horrible and nasty, an example is the Cyclops, Homer uses words such as “rumbling voice” (9.289) “monstrous hulk” (9.289) and “ruthless brute” (9.323). These words then place the reader on the human’s side. Another example of Homers use of words to make the monsters look bad is with the Laestrygonians. In describing
Throughout Homer’s epic The Odyssey, Odysseus is a hero. In all myths and legends, a hero combats the “monsters.” In the typical story a hero is unselfish and fights to protect his people while the monsters are greedy powerful things that antagonize the people. Yet despite this typical storyline, if we read closely, we may conclude that Odysseus is actually the oppressive hero in many of these situations – provoking the “monsters” into fighting. The “monsters” in the Odyssey are innocent creatures that fight to protect themselves. Another reason Odysseus is not a satisfying hero of this story is because the main reason he pursues conflict is to maintain his own personal image and sense of pride, so that when he finally arrives home he will be cherished and honored – an honor that is unnecessary and inauthentic at the cost of so many lives. Even though it may be argued that Odysseus is the biggest hero in the book, there are many more reasons for why he should not be worth our admiration.
The typical formula of a story rooted in Greek mythology involves a protagonist fighting a monster and returning to his hometown victorious. In this storyline, Odysseus is portrayed as the “hero” who is victorious and is never defeated. Among the “monsters” that he fights are the Cyclops, the Cicones, and the Laestrygonians. If the monsters were just normal people and Odysseus came and barged in then killed them all, everybody would think that Odysseus was the real villain, but the fact that he is killing or maiming actual monsters makes the viewer side towards Odysseus. The book also uses specific language to make the monsters seem horrible and nasty, an example is the Cyclops, Homer uses words such as “rumbling voice” (9.289) “monstrous hulk” (9.289) and “ruthless brute” (9.323). These words then place the reader on the human’s side. Another example of Homers use of words to make the monsters look bad is with the Laestrygonians. In describing