Odysseus: Hero of the Epic
Before modern times, Homer, a blind poet, wrote an epic poem called the Odyssey. The Odyssey is the sequel to another epic by Homer, called the Iliad. These two poems cover the story of Odysseus, King of Ithaca, and his twenty years away from home. The Iliad is the bloody, yet compelling, tale of the Trojan War. The Trojan War lasts ten horrifying years. The Odyssey covers Odysseus's difficult journey back home to Ithaca, which, unfortunately, takes ten more years. He battles a Cyclops, several storms, which take the lives of a few of his crew members, and the wrath of gods and goddesses. His crew perishes by the time Odysseus reaches Ithaca to reclaim his title of King. The success of his journey has led several to argue whether or not Odysseus is an epic hero. An epic hero is someone who does not possess supernatural powers, embodies the goals and virtues of an entire nation or culture, is faithful to family, country, and gods and goddesses, is brave, intelligent, and physically strong. Odysseus proves he is an epic hero throughout the Odyssey, and especially shows his intelligence, lack of super powers, and extreme bravery. Throughout this epic, Odysseus reacts quickly to difficult situations, fully demonstrating his acute
The reason of the fake name is explained further on in the section. After Odysseus and his men blind the Cyclops, he belts out numerous roars in pain. A few other Cyclopes come to his aide. They ask him what’s wrong and who tricked him. The great Polyphemus cries out, “Nohbdy, Nohbdy’s tricked me. Nohbdy’s ruined me!” (905). The other Cyclopes walk off because they believe nothing is wrong, that nobody did Polyphemus any harm. In a second instance, Odysseus shows great intelligence. Upon returning home he keeps a constant beggar’s disguise, so his wife’s suitors won’t catch word that he’s back. If they did, they would seek him out and kill him before he had a chance to return home to his faithful wife. One of the greatest examples of Odysseus’ intelligence isn’t even found in the Odyssey. In its prequel, the Iliad, Odysseus and the Greek soldiers performed the infamous Trojan Horse trick. The Greek army is unable to penetrate the walls of Troy and enter their city. A brief summary of this event states, Throughout this epic, Odysseus shows his heroic traits in spades. Odysseus is definitely worthy of the title of epic hero. He was strong-willed; he was determined to return home at any cost. Odysseus makes himself a legend because of his part in the Trojan War, and his determination and success of his journey home to Ithaca. At times he lapses in character, but these lapses prove just how human he really is. Odysseus’ accomplishments override any argument which even remotely suggests that he doesn’t deserve the prestigious bestowed upon him. Through the retrogressions, his heroic qu
Some topics in this essay:
Trojan War,
Polyphemus Odysseus,
Prince Thebes,
Trojan Horse,
Ithaca Athena,
Cyclops Odysseus,
Ancient Greek,
Troy…the Trojans,
,
Odyssey Odyssey,
epic hero,
trojan war,
home ithaca,
throughout epic,
gods goddesses,
supernatural powers,
return home,
bravery throughout epic,
suitors grow,
goddess wisdom,
epic odysseus,
throughout epic odysseus,
title epic hero,
journey home ithaca,
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Approximate Word count = 1091
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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