Characteristics Of Odysseus

Odysseus: The King, The Voyager, and The Hero

Would you consider a war hero a hero? Not only do they share the word hero, but to me, they share many traits and qualities. Google defines a hero as “a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities”. In the Odyssey, Homer writes about a man named Odysseus who is traveling home to his wife Penelope. In order to get home (inf), he must travel to numerous islands and slay numerous beasts, but does this make him a hero? Many of his crew members died along the way, in fact, by the time he got home, he was the only man alive. Although he got distracted at times, Odysseus is a hero because he showed noble and courageous acts on his way back to Ithaca.

Many have their own traits of a hero, but we can all mutually agree that a hero must be courageous, intelligent and show very noble acts. Odysseus exhibits all three of these heroic traits. Heroes also are well liked by the people, and Odysseus is well liked by many. An example is in The Odyssey, while Odysseus is explaining himself to the gods; “I am son of Laertes, Odysseus. Men hold me formidable for guile in peace and war; this fame has gone abroad to the sky rim’s.” (Homer.9.145.19-22). This shows that Odysseus is well-known even by the gods because when he said “this fame has gone abroad to the sky rim’s” which is saying his fame has reached the gods. Another example of his fame is when all of the gods were talking and Zeus said “Could