Odysseus An Epic Hero Research Paper

Is Odysseus An Epic Hero?

Humans have been writing and telling stories of epic heroes for hundreds of years, and there are several traits that make an epic hero epic. The Odyssey is an epic poem telling the story of the protagonist Odysseus on a long and adventurous journey across the sea to get back to his home in Ithaca. In the poem Odysseus must come face to face with the gods, outsmart monsters, and battle all kinds of other entities. Due to the supernatural and dangerous nature of his enemies and his remarkable physical strength and intelligence, it is apparent that Odysseus, the main character of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, is an epic hero.

Perhaps the most exciting and attention grabbing parts of The Odyssey are the frightening,

After getting his ship destroyed by Zeus’ lightning Odysseus is able to stay alive at sea hanging onto the broken mast of his ship for nine days “Once through the straight I drifted in the open sea before I made shore” (Homer 224.)This is a great feat of strength because he is able to hold onto a shard of wood for over a week without ever letting go. Any normal human’s arm would get weak after just a few hours of doing this. A good example of his smarts would be that he told the cyclops Polyphemus, who had him and his crew trapped in a cave, that his name was Nobody. After Odysseus came up with an escape plan and blinded him, Polyphemus attempted to tell the other cyclops about Odysseus or “Nobody’s” attack on him. “Nobody tricked me, Nobody’s ruined me!” he tried to tell the cyclops but they only responded with “If nobody has played you foul there in your lonely bed, we are no use in pain given by great Zeus” (Homer 157) The cyclops did not believe that anyone had harmed Polyphemus and they did not help him catch Odysseus because he had described his attacker as nobody. This shows Odysseus’ cunning and wits because he included such small details in his escape plan that could have meant the difference between his life and