This quality made his journey a lot more difficult than it should have been; in fact, he would not have been forced to embark on this odyssey if it weren’t for his arrogance. His hubris is revealed when he says that he triumphed over the Trojans without the help of the gods and when he gives out his name to Polyphemus right after he tricks him. Over the course of the odyssey, Odysseus develops humility when he finally accepts that he needed the gods’ help and apologizes to Poseidon. He was able to fix his flaw to become a better
Heroes always do something that most people don’t.” Philip Zimbardo's statement stays true in The Odyssey by Homer. In the book Odysseus, the king of Ithaca has to leave his family to fight in the Trojan war. He leaves behind his loving wife, Penelope along with his newborn son, Telemachus. Unfortunately, even after the Trojan war Odysseus faces many hardships and troubles returning home to Ithaca Throughout all hardships, Odysseus proves himself as a hero in The Odyssey. For starters, Odysseus is a hero because he shows many leadership like qualities.
After his men and him escapes unnecessarily losing two men in the process, Odysseus taunts Polyphemus which leads to him saying “ Hear me Poseidon, sustainer of the earth, god of sable locks. If I am yours indeed and you claim me as your son, grant that Odysseus, sacker of cities and son of Laertes, may never reach his home in Ithaca”(Homer 124) . This quote shows that one of Odysseus’s many flaws is that he allows his pride to take control of his actions and doesn’t clearly consider the consequences. Another instance of Odysseus’s foolish pride is when he crossing the threshold Circe advises Odysseus to
Odysseus is in between. Odysseus is a hero because he has saved many of his men from the Cyclops and tried to save as many as he can. In The Odyssey, the Cyclops was eating Odysseus men, Odysseus gave him a bunch of wine to drink and then got him drunk, later that night Odysseus stabbed him in the eye and the Cyclops went blind. This shows that Odysseus is a hero because if he never stabbed him or got him drunk, he would eat them all. Also in The Odyssey, after the Cyclops being stabbed in the eye, Odysseus and his men hid under sheep to escape the cave of the Cyclops.
The previous quote also shows that Odysseus has a very good reputation with the gods, and it is also the reason that Odysseus escaped the island. The tribulation at sea continues at the beginning of book V with Athena talking to Zeus in the presence of all the other gods except Poseidon about Odysseus returning to his home, Ithaca.
Poseidon, god of the sea constantly throws obstacles at Odysseus because Odysseus blinded his son, Polyphemus. Athena, on the other hand, tries to help him make his journey back to Ithaca. Odysseus, showcases two important characteristics of a hero in The Odyssey: grand events affecting him, and bravery. First, one characteristic that Odysseus shows throughout the story includes bravery. Odysseus shows bravery in many points throughout the poem.
Before he slaughters his opponents, he responds to Eurymachus’ plea: “There will be killing ‘till the score is paid. You forced yourselves upon his house” (1468-1469). In order to maintain his honor, Odysseus chooses to take the suitors’ lives because punishment is seen as just and fair. Since the suitors invade Odysseus’ house and avoid combat, instead begging for their lives in front of him, they break Greek code; in other words, they negatively respond to the generous hospitality they receive and choose not to fight for their lives, which shows great dishonor because they break important traditions of hospitality and combat as set by the
In “The Odyssey”, Odysseus is a strong warrior, physically strong and intelligent. A great epic hero who is the King of Ithaca, and was part of the Trojan War. The story begins when the Trojan War is over and he travels back to his home to get back to his wife Penelope and son Telemachus. As he finds his way home from the Trojan War, Odysseus journey to Ithaca is prolonged through a major character flaw in which he cannot control. Through his journey back home, Odysseus makes poor decisions by falling into temptation, and thus people around him suffer from the consequences.
Odysseus went on a long journey to get back home to his wife and son. He was the leader for the Trojans and led them into battle he even led some into victory. Odysseus had a Son back home and a Wife back home his wife was starting to loose hope, but his son wasn’t. Odysseus and his family finally got all back together and never left each other’s side. **** Odysseus had a great life before the gods made him go to war.
Odysseus was an effective leader in battle, an amazing fighter, and he was the person who helped defeat Troy by using the wooden horse. Although everyone thought this was a heroic action by Odysseus to obtain victory, the gods were not so happy with him, especially Zeus. The gods punished Odysseus by making his journey back home difficult for him and his men. Even though Odysseus was being challenged by gods, he had traits that were of an epic hero. Also, throughout his journey he had friends and companions to help him travel back to Ithaca safely and obtain his kingdom once again.