In the myth “Perseus”, Perseus is a young man who had to defeat Medusa, a gorgon. Perseus lacked a wedding gift for Polydectes, the ruler of the island (Hamilton 200). The guests were expected to bring a gift. “Each guest, as was customary, brought a gift for the bride-to-be, except Perseus alone. He had nothing to give,” (Hamilton 200). To make up for it, Perseus had to slay Medusa and bring back her head. In fact, it was Perseus who offered to venture out and kill the gorgon to compensate for his lack of a gift.(Hamilton 200). “He stood up before them all and and did exactly what the king hoped he would do, declared that he would give him a present better than any there. He would go off and kill Medusa and bring back her head as a gift,” …show more content…
Venus, the mother of Cupid, despised Psyche because the mortals payed more attention to Psyche than they did Venus because Psyche was so beautiful (Hamilton 121). The mortals often compared Psyche to Venus. “They would even say that Venus herself could not equal this mortal,” (Hamilton 122). One day, Psyche accidentally burned Cupid with candle oil (Hamilton 129). Venus saw this as an opportunity to take out her anger on Psyche for always getting attention from the mortals and capturing the eye of Cupid (Hamilton 129). “She was determined to show Psyche what it meant to draw down the displeasure of a goddess,” (Hamilton 129). Psyche offers herself as a servant to Venus in order to make up for harming Cupid (Hamilton 130). Venus made Psyche complete many strenuous tasks, like going to the river Styx, going to the underworld, and collecting wool from sheep at a dangerous river (Hamilton 131-132). This part of the story is the perfect example of “the road of trials.” Psyche was faced with many trials, but was able to complete them with the help of supernatural …show more content…
One time, Theseus and his good friend Pirithoüs ventured down to the Underworld because Pirithoüs wanted to take Persephone for himself (Hamilton 219). Hades knew their plan and had tricked them into sitting in the Chair of Forgetfulness (Hamilton 219). They were stuck on the chairs (Hamilton 219). “They could not arise from it. It was called the chair of forgetfulness. Whoever sat on it forgot everything,” (Hamilton 219). Luckily, Theseus’ cousin was able to free him, but Pirithoüs was stuck there forever (Hamilton 219). Hercules “He tried to do the same for Pirithoüs, but could not. The King of the Dead knew that it was he who had planned to carry off Persephone, and he held him fast,” (Hamilton 220). This is an example of “rescue from without.” Theseus was stuck in the underworld, but with the help of Hercules he was rescued and brought back to
In The Odyssey, in “Circe’s Island” Odysseus shows that he is a hero, loyal to his men and never leaves them behind. On Circe’s Island, Odysseus sends his men to go search for any life on the island. Afterwards, they did not return back to the ship because they were turned into pigs by Circe. When one of the men escaped he told Odysseus and Odysseus went to save them.
According to the myth, Minos was imprisoning his enemies in the Labyrinth so that the Minotaur could eat them. The labyrinth was such a complicated construction that no one could ever find the way out alive. Son of Minos, Androgeus, went to Athens to participate to the Panathenaic Games, but he was killed during the Marathon by the bull that impregnated his mother Pasiphae. Minos was infuriated, and demanded Aegeus the king of Athens to send seven men and women every year to the Minotaur to advert the plague caused by the death of Androgeus.
Even though people typically believe that the main hero of Homer’s the Odyssey is Odysseus himself, the true hero of the Odyssey is Penelope. Even though her entire story isn’t told in the epic poem, you can still tell that she went through struggles and trials just as her husband Odysseus did. Along with going through trials, she comes up with witty ideas in order to overcome them. She is very clever, and she also plans long-term. She is loyal to Odysseus and faithfully waits for his return.
In the epic The Odyssey, the epic hero Odysseus shows many hero like traits, in my opinion the most important trait would be loyalty. Odysseus, the hero of The Odyssey, first shows the trait loyalty on the Land of the Lotus Eaters. Odysseus sends three of his best men to check out this island, but bad luck has them and they run into Lotus Eaters who are addicted to the Lotus Plant. The next they know is the three men become addicted also.
The return home for many heroes is difficult because their lives have changed so drastically that they can no longer live the life they once had. They can’t make peace with their past and the changes that the adventure brought them. Perseus was able to make peace and become a master of both worlds. Perseus accepted his identity as a demigod and a hero who would protect humanity from Hades while starting a new life with Io. Perseus’s adventure had finally come to an end and throughout the course became a true
The Greek mythology has got to have the most fascinating and at the same time, the most detailed myths in the world. It was actually created thousands of years ago that has been passed down for generations. These myths often features stories about the gods and goddesses as well as heroic battles between monstrous creatures and mortals that teaches intelligence and bravery to its readers. These ancient tales are either painted or carved on pots and statues. That is why in this article we will bring you some of the greatest heroes in Greek myth.
In part one of Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus uses his epic hero qualities to help him out on his quest to get back home to Ithaca. He’s shows superb intelligence when fighting the cyclopes in “Book 9.” That’s a quality of superhuman intelligence that Odysseus possessed all throughout his entire journey. Another epic hero quality that helped Odysseus was help from Greek gods and goddesses. In part two of Homer’s Odyssey, Athena helped out Odysseus when he got back to his home land.
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.
Thus, is the reasons why Odysseus is not a hero because he went in a journey which left
The king of that island would’ve never expected Perseus to win against Medusa, therefore he sent him on the quest -- so Perseus would never return. “Medusa was one of the three horrible Gorgon sisters, so
When Odysseus arrived in Phaeacia, he told the story of how he was held captive by a Cyclops and escaped by blinding him. During the
Hercules and Theseus, two great heroes from mythology, seem to be similar in many ways. Both extremely brave and noble; with a love of danger and adventure mixed with compassion, creates the perfect heroes. Their stories intertwine with one another’s when Hercules has to save Theseus from the chair of forgetfulness in Hades. Theseus saved Hercules when he was distraught with intent to kill himself. In a similar way, they both stood by their friends no matter the cost.
An epic hero is a someone with impressive qualities who is widely admired for completing many awe-inspiring tasks. In the world of the Ancient Greeks’ Odysseus is a household name. His mix of cleverness and recklessness allows him to finagle himself out of dangerous situations. Each time a new trial presents itself, it is another opportunity for Odysseus to showcase his strength and bravery by surviving. However, the majority of the time, this survival only applies to himself and not the people around him.
Many of the crew members were invited in the palace for some food and drinks. However, this food was drugged and turned the men into swine. One of Odysseus’ men decided to stay outside of the palace while the others went in. This man went back to tell Odysseus of what had happened. On the way to the palace, Odysseus met Hermes, the messenger god, who gave the hero a gift: “Hermes gave Odysseus an herb to counteract the effects of Circe’s drug.
Odysseus suffered the consequence of being away from his son, Telemachus, and his wife, Penelope for 20 years. Odysseus was told by Athena and other gods, what to do during his journey. All of them told Odysseus that he couldn’t tell his men because they’d suffer a consequence. Odysseus listened to Athena and the gods because he only thought about himself and didn 't think about what his crew would say or do. When Odysseus and his crew passed by the mainland where the Cyclops lived, they were only going to stay for two days, but then out of curiosity, Odysseus wanted to see what kind of beast the Cyclops was which made them almost die.