The Heroic Traits Of Odysseus In Homer's The Odyssey

Sometimes being a hero is difficult. You don't always have to save a person's life. You can just put effort into it and try as hard as you can. Being a hero is loyal and responsibility. Odysseus is in between.

The Odyssey, by Homer, is an epic poem that is about a hero's journey to come home. In The Odyssey, Odysseus has many obstacles he has to face to find his way home, like Polyphemus the cyclops or Scylla and Charybdis. He finally makes it home and has to prove to his wife that he is truly Odysseus. Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus has important traits that help him survive resulting in his successful trip back home. In fact, his character traits can connect to others in the world, like determination. Odysseus’s determination throughout his adventures is a similar trait that I share and has brought us both success.

In the epic The Odyssey, the epic hero Odysseus shows many hero like traits, in my opinion the most important trait would be loyalty.

In The Odyssey, the character Odysseus can be considered a hero because he demonstrates many characteristics that are attributable to most heroes. After the battle at Troy, Odysseus strives to sail back to his homeland (Ithaca); however, he encounters some issues along the way and Poseidon attempts to make it impossible for Odysseus to return home. At the beginning of this journey, Odysseus wants to make it back to Ithaca with all of his crew alive. This selfless goal displays Odysseus acting for the greater good because he knows that these men have families that depend on them and would like for them to come home. Along the journey home, Odysseus and his crew come across a cyclops and become trapped in the cyclops’ cave. Odysseus’ over eagerness

The Odyssey by Homer is a book that involves the Journey of Odysseus and his men and the Obstacles they come across. The Odyssey portrays many themes including vengeance, hospitality, courage, bravery and more. Odysseus experiences some good and bad during his journey. He comes across people who help him, but also comes across creatures who hold him back. Odysseus is an Epic hero because of his quick thinking skills, bravery, and confidence for himself and his men.

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.

Odysseus, he’s known as a war hero on his way back to his homeland, who ends up going on a ten year long journey due to unforeseen circumstances. On this journey, he encounters many monsters, many ladies, and we see his good side and his bad side. Due to the fact that he’s very noble and brave (and in an epic poem), that makes him an epic hero. He’s also a very famous archetype for The Hero. Odysseus has some good traits, some bad flaws, and has been in some ugly situations, but overall he is a true hero.

Odysseus is a leader that portrays both non-heroic and heroic traits throughout the story. These traits reflect his way of thinking and what actions he takes. These traits fluctuate from bravery to overconfidence. Nonetheless, the traits all contribute to the hero and as a result, they contribute to the story.

Heroes have always stood out in time as wondrous beings. In literature they possess certain special traits. These traits are ones such as courage, strength, selflessness and intelligence. Theseus an Athenian hero possess some of these great qualities,“...he was as compassionate as he was brave and a man of great intellect as well as great bodily strength” (133). Throughout mythological stories Theseus proves that he is a hero by going on many journeys, while still showing his humility to others and expressing his courage.

In Homer’s Odyssey, the hero, Odysseus, is introduced as a classic hero. However, through his odyssey, the audience finds Odysseus to be much more than an everyday hero. While other heroes relied on their strength and ability in battle, Odysseus, while also having the skill of all of the other warriors, relies heavily on his cunning when faced with obstacles. Another way that he differs from the classic hero is that, once the great war is over, he does not seek more glory in new battles, but sets off on a journey to be reunited with his wife and son. However, Odysseus is still considered to be a classic hero because of his great skill in battle, his leadership qualities, and his immense pride in his abilities.

Most people believe Odysseus was not an admirable because he was arrogant, selfish and dishonest. Odysseus was an admirable character because he is loyal, clever and brave.

In Homer’s Odyssey, it is my belief that Odysseus is not heroic mostly because he was loyal when he was gone and left his wife. For example, when he went where Hades was all his men went and they ended up dieing.Even though some people may argue he is a hero because he had a good idea on how to win the war,also when Cyclops tried killing them Odysseus didn't say his name and stabbed him so they escaped. I maintain that he is not a hero because he wasn't loyal because he slept with Calypso and his men died.

Odysseus is successful in many different disciplines. While Nestor speaks to Telemachus, he mentions how Odysseus excelled above all the other soldiers in his strategic ways during the Trojan War (3. 136). Even the gods and goddess are aware and speak of Odysseus’ magnificent knowledge and skill. While talking about Odysseus, Zeus says, “Now, how on earth could I forget Odysseus? Great Odysseus who excels all men in wisdom, excels in offerings too he gives the immortal gods who rule the vaulting skies?” (1.77-80). Odysseus is not only very smart and clever, but also very athletic. He proves

The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey have been a part of human literature for several years. Both poems are from the category of epic poetry and have a time difference of at least one thousand years apart. Their themes explore different aspects of human cultures and ideologies. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a poem from early Mesopotamian culture while the onset of the Greek civilization inspired The Odyssey. The main characters for these epics are Gilgamesh, a demigod and ruler of Uruk, and Odysseus a great warrior returning home to his wife from war. The two main characters of these epic poems, Gilgamesh and Odysseus share similar and dissimilar traits. Among the qualities these characters display in the respective poems, connection to the gods, pride and courage come as shared traits between the two of them. While strength is a primary trait of both characters, they differ in the degree of strengths they possess. Odysseus displays suburb mental strength while Gilgamesh has more than mortal physical strength.

Since the beginning of time, heroes in society have constantly changed. As society changed their perception of people, modern-day heroes such as Superman and Batman differ much from the heroes of Anglo-Saxon times like Beowulf. Characteristics of monsters within this time interval has also changed with society’s views. The element of fear affects our perception in distinguishing a hero from a monster.