The Odysseus, King Of Ithaca

Odysseus is truly an epic hero, he has many different perils and dangers that he must face. He is a Greek soldier who fought in the Trojan War and is trying to return home. Some of the gods and goddesses are on his side, however, some are not on his side. He was stranded for ten years before he could finally go back to his family, and home on Ithaca. Odysseus is an epic hero because of his physical strength, his mental sharpness, and his cunning ability to always get out alive.

Odysseus is an epic hero in The Odyssey, by Homer, in which the reader follows Odysseus in his epic hero’s journey. In the Odyssey, Odysseus like all heroes, just wants to see what’s the next adventure, what’s the next mission. However, in doing so, he gets himself in many dangerous situations and to get out of them he must use trickery. While Odysseus is known for his intelligence, trickery, impressive strength and power, but these trait are just his use of deception and disguise.

Temptation is like a trap, it tries to make you do bad deeds that will affect you. The story The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus was forced to fight in the Trojan War. After the battle Odysseus sailed back to Ithaca, his homeland facing many temptations they could not resist in doing. Odysseus and his men faced many challenges, but most of the challenges were due to their temptations. For example, Aeolus the god of wind, gave Odysseus a bag filled with wind.

Is there value in celebrating certain individuals as heroes? Heroes encourage individuals to aspire to be greater. Heroes possess attributes such as bravery, honor, and justice. On the other hand, heroes aren’t perfect they do have flaws. However, flaws do not negate the positive influence heroes possess.

Throughout The Odyssey there are many examples that prove the significance of the Homeric value of “hospitality.” Due to the unadvanced ways of transportation and communication, many days could be spent in an unknown location and the hosts of the location were supposed to treat the guests very well. For instance, as Odysseus arrives on the island of the Phaeacians, he is greeted with welcoming hospitality. Nausikaa, “But now that you have taken refuge here, you shall not lack for clothing, or any other comfort due to a poor man in distress (VI.205-207.104.) Clearly Nausikaa and Phaeacians are aware of the challenges Odysseus has endured and offered him clothes, food and any comfort he wants, all hospitable acts.

In one of the episodes, Odysseus encountered Polyphemus: a Cyclops who held Odysseus and his men captive. Despite the wishes of his crew, Odysseus did not kill the Cyclops; Odysseus knew that if the Cyclops were to die, the men would not be able to move the boulder blocking the exit. Instead of killing Polyphemus, Odysseus blinded him by driving a sharpened staff into his eye. Blinded, Polyphemus sat by the exit blocking any passage; the men were faced with another issue: how would they slip away? Odysseus knew that in order to escape he needed to devise a carefully thought out plan, so he “drew on all [his] wits, and ran through tactics, reasoning as a man [would] for dear life, until a trick came–and it pleased [him]” (Homer 993).

An Epic Hero Odysseus is an epic hero. Do you think Odysseus is an epic hero. According to Homer's epic poemOdysseus was a King of Ithaca. Homer described Odysseus as a man of wisdom, shrewdness, eloquence, resourcefulness, courage, and endurance. Odysseusis the son of Laertes.

Seconds turned into minutes, minutes turned into hours, then days, then months, and then years, but yet the immortal fool, Odysseus, has not yet returned to reclaim his throne and his title “The King of Ithaca”. This savage was too greedy. He left his home, his wife, and especially son, and I knew something had to be done about it... As I was on top of a steep cliff, I gazed upon the city of Ithaca as if I were an eagle hunting for its prey, perspicaciously looking to see if Odysseus would return. Like usual, the answer always contained some form of negative association and I ended up murmuring to myself:

According to Merriam-webster.com (2014), A Hero "is a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities". A person can rarely be called a hero if they are not brave. If this person is not able to speak up or act in a way that backs his cause or defends it because of fear of the consequences then they are not considered a hero since they lack valor. A hero to me is someone who recognizes the consequences of their heroic actions and is committed to continuing their cause until the truth comes out even if it means suffrage to them since that displays how truly courageous they are. Merriam-webster.com (2014) states that initially the word hero derives from both the Greek as "hērōs" or Latin "Heros"; it was first used in the 14th century.

According to the internet, a hero is a person who is idolized or looked up to for their outstanding achievements. For me a hero is person who gives of something for themselves to help the good of others tremendously. Throughout times the ideal hero has changed from war time heroes, to comic book and movie heroes. In today’s society it is more exciting to watch a man in tights pretend to save lives in a movie than a man or woman sacrificing their lives to keep this country strong and the people protected. I believe that it different throughout culture because it’s different from person to person.