Odysseus as an Epic Hero Essay

Plato said, A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. Homers The Odyssey is no exception to this idea. This theme of heroin figure is focus and portrayed by the main character. A hero definitely has to be brave. He is Odysseus, a famous Greek epic hero, displays all these qualities throughout his journey home, and abroad. Odysseus conquers this characteristic in several ways. He is considering a hero because he was a very intelligent, brave man, and physically powerful.

Odysseus is on a long quest to get back home and faces many monsters such as Cyclopes that are a lot more ugly and evil than anyone in real life. Throughout the Odyssey story, the idea of intelligence keeps coming up again and again. He used his cleverness to make a plan to get Cyclopes to role the stone away and for them to be able to escape. For example, Odysseus had offered some wine to Cyclops the said, Cyclops, you ask my honorable name, and I shall tell you. My name is Nobody: mother, father, and friends, everyone calls me Nobody. (Homer, 1. 272-275). He had tricked Cyclops to drink the wine to make him sleep. Then for them to escape, he did poke the Cyclopes in the eye. Also by withholding his true identity from the Cyclops and using the alias nobody, and because of this he was able to protect and save his mens live. He showed great bravery and the ability to do rational reasoning. We must obey the orders as I give them. Get the oar shafts in your hand, lay back hard on your benches, hit this breaking sea. (Homer, 12. 151-155). He used logic thinking to save his men from Scylla. When the time comes, those gentlemen, for a man, will be dead against giving the bow or quiver.(Homer, 21. 95-97). He was being patient waiting for the right time to take control. During the times that he lived being a thinker was unheard of, but with this ability Odysseus was able to withstand his enemies who block his path and threaten him and his mens lives on his journey. Being able to use knowledge to outsmart other people is an important trait for a hero because it allows them to make good decisions to get out of bad situations. Odysseus was willing to face danger with courage.

Tested with even the toughest obstacles, Odysseus still led a heroic victory. Living a life with immortals and Gods around you, it was not ordinary to be a mortal and carry the strength of a God. He fights the monster Cyclops, the suitors who are going behind is back at home and trying to steal his wife, sleep with Circe to save his men who has been transformed to swine. He clearly demonstrates bravery when he crosses through the strait because he knows he is risking being killed by Scylla and Charybis. When Odysseus fights with suitor, there were many suitors. He carried out the plan anyway, showed his bravery and put aside his fears. Odysseus had to go through twenty years of turmoil before he could get home to his beloved Penelope and son, Telemachus. Now shrugging off his rags the wiliest fighter of the islands leapt and stood on the broad door still, his own bow in his hand. (Homer, 22. 231-233). He poured out at his feet a rain of arrows from the quiver and spoke to the crowd: So much for that. Your clean-cut game is over. Now watch me him hit the target that no man has hit before, if I can make this shot, help me, Apollo. (Homer, 22.234-238). He drew to his fist the cruel head of an arrow for Antinous- Odysseuss arrow hit him under the chin and punched up to the feathers through his throat. (Homer, 22. 234-247). Odysseus endured all of this with the hope that someday he would again be with his family. Being only human, Odysseus' bravery was tested to the extreme. So obviously Odysseus has proven is bravery.

Odysseus does not shrink away from his leadership role in times of great danger. In his quest, Odysseus uses his superior and super human strength to overcome the suitors. In The Odyssey, Penelope holds a contest for all the suitors. She declares that she will marry the one who can string and shoot Odysseus's bow through all the twelve axes. None of the suitors were able to bend the bow and string it. Odysseus disguised as a beggar then asks if he can try the bow. Odysseus took his time, turning the bow, tapping it, every inch, for boring that termites might have made while the master of the weapon was abroad. (Homer, 21. 187-189). But the man skilled in all ways of contending, satisfied by the great bows look and heft, like a musician, like a harper, when with quiet hand upon his instrument he draws between his thumb and forefinger a sweet new string upon a peg: so effortlessly Odysseus in one motion strung the bow. Then slid his right hand down the cord and plucked it, so the taut gut vibrating hummed and sang a swallows note. (Homer, 21. 197-206). Odysseus is the only person strong enough to string his bow and fire it through ten axe handles. He also has emotional strength because he is constantly dealing with the fact that he is homesick and missing his wife. Strength is an important aspect of a hero because a heros strength is seen as his main physical power. Strength allows him to do things that others cannot.

Odysseus is ultimately a heroic figure, a literary icon and an adventurers idol. His Intelligence, his bravery, and his strength help him throughout his journey back home. Without these traits and characteristic that Odysseus has, it would not has been possible for him fight in the war and make it home safety. Throughout the story he is the best character to exemplify the theme of heroin figure.