Literary foils are when two characters can be compared to one another in that they share many similarities, but have one key difference that is then highlighted by these similarities. In Homer’s The Odyssey, a large part of the story is centered around the protagonist, Odysseus, the long-lost King of Ithaca, and his son, Telemachus, who hasn’t seen his father for twenty years. In fact, part of the journey that Telemachus makes is to find reassurance that Odysseus truly is his father. Although they are separated for a long part of the story, Homer writes these two characters as foils of each other. Homer presenting Odysseus and Telemachus as literary foils, emphasizes that because of their different levels of control, Odysseus is better fit
An epic hero is someone who is characterized commonly on their nobility and bravery. However ,there are more attributes epic heros can posses. For example Odysseus, the protagonist in Homer's retelling of “The Odyssey”, shows many forms of excessive arrogance and pomposity.
An epic hero is defined as “a brave and noble character in an epic poem, admired for great achievements or affected by grand events”. One well known epic hero is Odysseus from Homer’s epic poem, the Odyssey. Although he is well known and often used as an example of an epic hero, Odysseus is far from a perfect epic hero. He often fails to protect his crew from harm and returns home without them. Odysseus’ behavior and lack of control over himself and the crew result in the crew being put into difficult situations that could have been avoided had Odysseus controlled them better. In The Odyssey, Homer uses characters who must face various difficult challenges to expose Odysseus’ poor leadership skills, arrogance and inquisitiveness.
An example of his cleverness would be when he tells Polyphemus, the cyclops that his “ ‘..name is Nohbdy; mother, father, and friends, everyone calls me Nohbdy’ (page 380 Lines 274-275).” This shows his cleverness because he avoids being killed and does not exploit his name. He also avoids telling his real name, so that Polyphemus would not curse him. Though Odysseus manages to get him and his men out of Cyclops’ clasps, he ends up screwing up their only chance of getting home safely. An example of Odysseus’ intelligence is When the three men that Odysseus sent to check the land of the Lotus Eaters, and they were “forgetful of their homeland. [Odysseus] drove them, all three wailing, to the ships, tied them down under their rowing benches…(page 373 Lines 47-49).” This shows his intelligence by only sending in three men. However, Odysseus being clever only helps them in only one situation, and by the end of book 12, a majority of his men end up dying. What Odysseus did in one situation should not depend on whether he is a hero, but rather should be based on what the outcome
The concept of hero has been interpreted in many ways throughout the ages. Hero have gone from knights slaying dragons and rescuing the princess, to heroes who save the world with their supernatural-like powers, to a modern day hero who is someone who has noble qualities and is regarded as a role model. In the epic, The Odyssey, by Robert Fagles, the heroic Odysseus is a well known in Greek mythology. However, although Odysseus is the most respected, honorable hero of Greek mythology he is not a modern hero. A modern day hero is someone who puts their life on the line to save the lives of other innocent people. In The Odyssey, Odysseus’ characteristics do not fit in the definition of a modern hero, he illustrates a naive and a arrogant epic hero.
In the epic poem The Odyssey, written by Homer, Odysseus’ heroic deeds are recounted through a narrative that describes his arduous journey from the Trojan War to his homeland of Ithaka. This journey makes Odysseus an epic hero. An epic hero is a brave and noble character who is admired for his achievements. Traits of an epic hero are necessary for the journey Odysseus goes on to reach his homeland. Loyalty is a trait exhibited when Odysseus jeopardizes his own life and goes to rescue his crewmen on Kirke’s island. Odysseus presents skillfulness when he plans to kill the suitors in a productive and quick way. Determination is displayed when Odysseus is on Kalypso’s island. He is so determined to get home and to escape Kalypso’s imprisonment that he says he would die rather than spend another moment on the island. Loyalty, cleverness, and
An example shining his courage is when him and his men had to go past Scylla when he knew any of them could die and he was also putting himself in danger. Another example is when he chose to be tied up for the passing of the Sirens. This was a courageous act because no other mortal man had been able to do that and make it out alive. One last example is When he came home to all of the suitors in his house. This is courageous because the suitors only cared about getting Penelope and if they cared so much about that why would they want Odysseus to come home to ruin their chances? It was also courageous when him and Telemachus fought off the remaining suitors because they were both greatly
In the section “In the One-Eyed Giant’s Cave” from Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus is portrayed as a hero through his character traits and behaviors. When Odysseus and his men attack the city of Ismarus, the Cicones’ strong hold, Odysseus made sure to fairly distribute the spoils among his men. Odysseus’s behavior shows that he is a great leader, a characteristic of a hero. While Odysseus and his crew are in the Cyclops’ cave, Polyphemus, the cyclops, notices them. Polyphemus asks who they are with a monstrous tone, “‘Strangers!' he thundered out, 'now who are you? Where did you sail from, over the running sea-lanes? Out on a trading spree or roving the waves like pirates, sea-wolves raiding at will, who risk their lives to plunder other men?'” Odysseus and his crew become frightened, but despite this, Odysseus shows the heroic trait of bravery by answering back confidently, “The hearts inside us shook, terrified by his rumbling voice and monstrous hulk.
A hero is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements or noble qualities. In the movie, Odysseus shows that he is a hero by showing off his bravery and courage to defeat several monsters. He showed courage when he faced the Cyclops, when he met Lotus Eaters, and when he went back to Ithaca to see his wife.
In the epic story the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is returning from the Trojan war, and on his way home he finds many obstacles ahead of him. Odysseus is the ruler of Ithaca and he is trying to return home to his land. Many creatures try and stop him from achieving his goal of returning home, but he and his crew have to push through and get home. Odysseus portrays bravery and courage leading his crew through these tough challenges. Odysseus heroically leads his crew and himself through dangerous obstacles, but also foolishly endangers them during the journey home.
A hero is someone who is revered for his or her exceptional achievements and bravery. Anyone who puts themselves before others not for recognition or an award, but because it is the right thing to do, is a true hero. In "The Odyssey," written by Homer is an epic poem about a man named Odysseus and his crewmates competing against the power of the gods to return to their homeland, Ithaca. Throughout his journey, he loses almost all of his men, but Odysseus finally arrives home, concluding his prolonged twenty-year voyage. Odysseus must battle the suitors that have taken his wife Penelope, and may soon kill his son Telemachus. Odysseus defies the suitors and wins his wife and kingdom back. Despite Odysseus' overconfident nature, Odysseus proves he is a hero by showing bravery and intelligence.
Ultimately Odysseus can be a good leader but behind the scenes, he's not. He may of saved his men multiple times, but also got them killed them due to his neglect. He might be intelligent but really he tolerably manipulated his crew by saying things such as “don’t you want to go back to your home again?”. In closing, throughout the whole story, Odysseus progresses himself and designates many Greek
Odysseus is most definitely very clever in the way he can think through a circumstance and execute a plan or mission. An example showing Odysseus’s cleverness is when he ran into an incident with the Cyclops. In order to save his men safely from the Cyclops, Odysseus gave the Cyclops wine in order to move past it. It was key that Odysseus did this at the right time or else the plan would not have worked properly. The wine made the Cyclops drunk allowing the men to poke out the Cyclops’ eyes. The plan was executed perfectly allowing Odysseus and his men to move past safely out of the Cyclops’ cave. Odysseus also showed how smart he was when the Cyclops asked for Odysseus’s name. He said his name was Norman in order to not reveal his true identity in case there was a future incident with another Cyclops. Looking back to when the Cyclops was getting his eye poked out, another Cyclops was summoned due to the loud shouts from the first one. This showed how clever it was that Odysseus did not reveal his real name because then both Cyclops would
Heroism, tends to be difficult to define and remarkably ambiguous in literary works. In the Odyssey, however, Homer clearly defines a hero as a humble, determined, and loyal individual; thus, according to Homer, it is not enough to claim to be a hero, but it is also important to exhibit those qualities that Homer values as heroism. Odysseus, despite claiming heroism, upholds these traits inconsistently, as seen in his taunting of Polyphemus. In contrast, Telemachus, Odysseus’ overlooked son, dramatically grows up over the course of the epic and ultimately reveals his truly heroic qualities by the end of the poem. Thus, because Odysseus claims to be a hero, but fails to remain humble, determined, and loyal throughout the epic, he is not a hero.
To begin with, Odysseus is a man of outstanding wisdom. He was the only one who could be the best man suited to cope with crises in personal relations among