What Makes Odysseus An Epic Hero

“Heroes need monsters to establish their heroic credentials. You need something scary to overcome.” Written by Margaret Atwood a writer (BQ). The epic poem The Odyssey is about a man named Odysseus who is trying to get back to his homeland of Ithaca. Odysseus has been fighting in the Trojan war for ten years and runs into many Gods, Goddesses and some monsters who may help him, or endanger him. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus is an epic hero because he is on a quest, has superhuman intelligence, and performs brave deeds.

What defines an epic hero? First of all, the word epic is defined by Merriam Webster as “a long narrative poem in elevated style recounting the deeds of a legendary or historical hero.” Additionally, an epic hero is described as “a brave and noble character… admired for great achievements and or affected by grans events.” Odysseus “Son of Laertes and gods of old…master marine and soldier…formidable for guile in peace and war” will forever be remembered as an epic hero for “[his] fame has gone abroad the

A hero is a person who is admired or idealized for courage, bravery, a strong warrior, a great leader, or their cunning to save the lives others. In the epic poem The Odyssey, written across generations and spoken by Homer, Odysseus is the king of the island Ithaca. He is struggling through a ten-year journey home after the Trojan War. Odysseus must battle, magical creatures and stand against the fury of the gods. Odysseus must either let his fate fall in the hands of death or prove himself to be a true hero.

He also encounters the suitors, who are a group of men that try to marry Penelope, when he returns to reclaim his home. During these situations, Odysseus gains leadership and tactical skills from fighting in the war in Troy, which costs him 10 years of his life and another 10 years of sailing out on the sea from Poseidon 's curse. Odysseus is therefore a heroic and efficient leader because he plans his moves ahead of time and is vigilant at all times to ensure his safety. Yet, though Odysseus possesses these heroic leadership qualities, his arrogance sometimes leads to his downfall and inability to lead. While Odysseus is a little arrogant, he can also be a great leader because he is able to trust his second in command, Eurylochus, and give him more power while he is away.

In his several journeys, he faces several hardships that delay this goal. These hardships, occurring especially during his call, challenge, and return, include, but not limited to, lack of crew members, death, a cruel witch, and loneliness. Despite these hardships, Odysseus progresses through them with his emotional and physical strengths. Throughout The Odyssey, written by Homer, Odysseus demonstrates the qualities of an epic hero, physical and emotional strengths, through his call, challenge, and return in this poem. Odysseus proves his emotional strength as an epic hero when he stays with Calypso for several years but despite this, his heart only lies with Ithaca and Penelope during this time, not with Calypso.

Several times Odysseus shows contempt towards the mystical creatures that he has to fight against. Throughout the twenty year journey, he shows many moments of great bravery, and heroic actions, which is why he can be considered an epic hero. Here he fits one of the many qualifications of being an epic hero. Odysseus is a fantastic example of an epic hero. Another way that Odysseus proves to be an epic hero, is that he was tempted quite often throughout his

Bob Riley states, “Hard times don’t create heroes. It is during the hard times when the hero within us is revealed.” When hard times arrived in the epic poem, by Homer, Odysseus endured these moments. He is a character who is seen as very high person in society. Odysseus may not think of his actions, but many see it within him. After a ten year war in Troy, Odysseus and his crew members travel back to Ithaca occupying about ten more years of their life.

How would you feel upon returning home after 20 years to find your house commandeered by suitors desiring to gain your wealth and power? The epic poem ' 'The Odyssey ' ' centers around the protagonist Odysseus and his journey returning home after the Trojan war. As any other conventional epic poem, the protagonist is an epic hero, which is evident about Odysseus. Odysseus most fits the description of an epic hero in the sense that he journeys, has superhuman strength, and has a major flaw. A large portion of Odysseus ' life is a journey.

They are many ways to define an a epic hero. An epic hero has characteristic like significant and glorified, is ethical and morally upright, has superior strength, intelligence, and or courage, is a strong and responsible leader and much more. These characteristics define two men who are Hector and Achilles. The two men are example of an epic hero. The better epic hero is hector because he had significant and glorified by the people.

The Odyssey by Homer tells the story of Odysseus’ drawn-out, treacherous journey through the dark and unknown seas to Ithaca. After successfully defeating the Trojans in the Trojan War, Odysseus faces various obstacles, which test his worthiness in society. Odysseus is the iconic epic hero because he exemplifies all of the characteristics of that archetype. An epic hero is a figure in society that is idolized because of their admirable traits and ability to spark hope within the hopeless. The concept of epic heroism is incredibly significant because of its eternal life and its survival through ancient times to modern popular culture.

Epic Hero Essay “The gods have tried me in a thousand ways. But my first name: let that be known to you, and if I pull away from pitiless death, friendship will blind us, though my land lies far.” In the epic poem “The Odyssey” by Homer, while traveling back from the Trojan War, Odysseus and his men were struggling to go back to their homeland safely after what they had done to the son of Poseidon. Odysseus is an epic hero because he was a great warrior, came from a noble birth and was capable of great strength and courage. In The Odyssey, Odysseus shows that he is an epic hero because he was a great warrior. Odysseus was a great warrior, who has shown instances, for example in book 10, page 96 “But I rushed at her with my sword drawn as though

Even though his mission is to save one man and risk many of his men, he presents a full effort to complete this mission no matter how senseless he believed it was. He proves his intelligence and strength. He remains positive and calm no matter the circumstance. His flaw is that he is too good-hearted, which in the end, gets him killed. Both Maximus Meridius and Captain John H. Miller have the qualities of a tragic hero, which are: a high position, a fatal flaw, and a downfall caused by their flaw.

“Aye but nothing my ship and my crew couldn 't handle, so tell me about your year. It must have been amazing traveling all over,” he leaned in, listening intently and Emma blanked. She tried to think off ways to rework her year with fins into a plausible story. “I explored everywhere that I could, large kingdoms and little hamlets. I mostly stayed by the coast if I could,” Emma hoped that her answer would satisfy him, “Tell me about your year, taking the high seas into the palm of your hand.” Hook launched into a tale about how he and his crew narrowly avoided capture by a king 's naval ship, taking with them more riches than they even knew what to do with.