Unheroic Behavior In The Odyssey

Odysseus should be considered unheroic because he refused to listen to anyone's suggestions and kept putting his men in dangerous situations.For example, Odysseus’ men told him to take the cheese and lambs and leave but Odysseus told them,”Ah, how sound was that! Yet I refuse, I wished to see the caveman, what he had offer- no pretty sight, it turned out, for my friends” (Homer 5). This demonstrates unheroic behavior because they didn't know whether or not the cyclops would be nice but instead of putting safety first, Odysseus insisted on meeting the cyclops. He let his curiosity take over and stopped caring about what would happen to them. Also, when Odysseus and his men finally escaped from the cyclops cave, Odysseus continued to yell at the cyclops,” O’ cyclops would you feast on my companions, puny am I in a cave mans hands? How do you like the beating we gave you? (Homer 13) This shows that Odysseus wasn't worried about what the cyclops would do to him and his men, he just wanted to get revenge on the cyclops for keeping them in his

For example, some people consider him a hero because Odysseus said,” 3 abreast i tied them silently together, twining cords of the willow from the agres bed then slung a man under each middle one to ride there safely”(Homer 11). They say this demonstrates him being heroic because he had an escape plan for him and his men. This is why some people may argue that Odysseus should be considered a hero.

Despite the argument that Odysseus is hero, overall he should be considered unheroic because he didn't try to help his men when they were getting eaten by the cyclops. One example of this is before Odysseus gave the cyclops wine, “ Then he caught two more men and feasted on them(Homer 8). This shows that he didn't try to stop the cyclops he just let his eat his men. This is why Odysseus should be considered