Odysseus As A Hero Analysis

For years, people have viewed Odysseus as a lousy hero with many faults and mistakes. His flaws include his arrogance, his treatment to his crew, and his lack of faith to the gods and his family. While initially reading the Odyssey, these reasons are obvious, but once reading the whole epic I was able to see through his flaws which actually led him home. Although Odysseus tripped on many occasions, he stood up and protected his men, escaped many monsters and immortals, and made wise and clever decisions. Odysseus went through a long, rough adventure and survived the entire voyage while managing to keep his family intact. Odysseus’ flaws don’t cover up the hidden positive actions that were made through his actions. Therefore, Odysseus is the archetype hero people claim he is.

Since the beginning of his travels, Odysseus cared for his men and watched their backs. When encountering the Cyclops in Book 9, he strapped his men to the sheep to help them escape and let himself exit the cave last. On Circe’s island, he refused to eat the meal she provided until she changed his men back into humans from swine. Because Odysseus had consideration for his men’s

The decisions Odysseus made during the long trip to Ithaca made positive differences in the story’s result. Odysseus tricked the Cyclops by giving him false information about his identity which opened up the opportunity to escape. Another wise decision made by Odysseus was the fact that he took the path past Scylla recommended by Circe to get home which killed six of his men compared to them all. During the Siren’s song, Odysseus had the men plug their ears and tie him to a post so he would be able to hear the song but keep everyone safe. It may sound wrong for Odysseus not to inform the others of the dangers the crew would face, but if he did the crew would have messed up the plans to get home and chickened out during the