...Odysseus v. Telemachus In Homer’s, The Odyssey, he tells the stories of Odysseus journey home and about his son Telemachus’ search to find him. Homer emphasizes Odysseus’s and Telemachus’ variances in strength when they try to string a bow, he demonstrates the differences in their courage when they discussed how they are going to get revenge on the suitors, and he talks about their different opinions on compassion. What sets Odysseus apart from everyone else is his strength. However, his son Telemachus is very strong too but Homer wants you to see the sheer strength of Odysseus. Homer uses the distinctions, in the strength of Telemachus to the strength of Odysseus when they both attempt to string the Odysseus’ bow. Telemachus tries to...
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...In the words of Christopher Reeve, “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” A hero doesn’t have to save the world from a world wide mass destruction like superman. They also don’t have to be male. In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, the main character Odysseus and real life modern day hero Razia Jan model what a good hero really is. Odysseus and Razia Jan reveal how a good hero is someone who can overcome obstacles because it exhibits determination, inner courage, and selflessness. A good hero has the determination to keep moving even when there are hardships along the way. Through his entire journey Odysseus is being thrown into danger and terrifying situations nonstop....
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...The story of the Odyssey starts with Odysseus, a Greek war hero in the Battle of Troy. He is trying to make his way back to his home in Ithaca. His wife, Penelope, is waiting for him to return home from war. She does not know if her husband is still alive, but still remains faithful to him. Even with all of the suitors that have bombarded Odysseus’ home trying to take his place, Penelope still remains loyal to her husband. Their son, Prince Telemachus, is still at the home with all of the suitors. He desperately wants to remove them from the home, but does not have the will power or fighting experience to take down all of the men. Many men want to take over the palace, especially Antinous. He plans to kill Telemachus and control the palace. Odysseus meanwhile is alive on the island of Ogygia. He is bound here under the control of Calypso. The Greek goddess, Athena, wants to help Odysseus out. She goes to his son Telemachus disguised as Laertes. She persuades him to approach the suitors in a meeting, and also prepares him to journey to Pylos and Sparta. Nestor and Menelaus tell him that his dad is still alive but stuck on Calypso’s Island. Zeus sends Hermes to save Odysseus from the island. Hermes talks Calypso into letting Odysseus build a ship and leave. While sailing, Poseidon sends a storm to stop him from getting home. Athena saves him once again and lands on Scheria. He spends the night recalling all the adventures he had experienced on his trip. After he tells his...
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...Odysseus is an exceptional hero who holds a number of traits that make him so. Some of these being his courage, leadership qualities, and his sharp intellect. He also possesses negative qualities, as every moral does, like his unfaithfulness and his overbearing self pride. His journey back to his home and family in Ithaca from the Trojan war is a long and treacherous one. On this journey he has shown these traits and proved his heroic ways. A few positive traits that Odysseus holds are courage, leadership qualities, and an immensely sharp intellect. On his journey he encounters many horrific monsters, such as the 6-necked Scylla in book 12. He steers his ship directly at this creature knowing that 6 men from his ship will be slain. He is also a very strong leader. He proves his leadership by saving his men, who had been turned into pigs, from the enchantress going by the name of Circe. He does this, in book 10, by facing her and threatening to kill her. The last...
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...Odysseus: An Epic Hero In The Odyssey written by Homer, the main character is Odysseus, an epic hero. He has to leave his home Ithaca, and ends up on a great voyage landing on many islands. All of which, is home to gods and goddesses, good and bad. Along the way he shows his very heroic characteristics, while battling these supernatural forces. For example when he fights the Cicones, the singing sirens, or even the one eyed beast. However ,Odysseus the great epic hero was still able to stay strong and proceed his way home. To begin, his loyalty is revealed by his crewman. He is almost like a big brother to them. His first sign of loyalty is revealed once he sees his undead crewman, Elpenor, left unburied on Circe's island. Elpenor has too much to drink, and ends up falling to his death. After, Elpenor falls, he asks Odysseus to return and bury him properly, so Odysseus ‘’...cut down timber on the foreland, on a high point, and built his pyre of logs’’ (209). Odysseus does not want one of his men to live unconsoled in the Land of the DEad, especially after he sees him face to face after his death. This is when he returns to...
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...Kshithi Bhanu Singh Second English St. Stephen’s College What are the constituent attributes of a Greek Epic Hero? Explicate with reference to Odysseus and Achilles. The definition of an epic hero is very wide and varied. It includes a lot of attributes and criterions, but for a particular hero to reach the epic stature, it isn’t really necessary to fulfill all the demands and to come up to all the standards. In a very conventional sense, an epic hero is supposed to possess these qualities or is supposed to come up to these standards: 1. Is an important figure from history or legend. 2. Is usually favored by Gods or even partially descended from Gods i.e. semi-divine nature. 3. Takes part in a cyclical journey or quest, faces adversaries and returns home with significant transformation. 4. Illustrates traits, performs deeds and exemplifies certain morals that are valued and held dear by the society/ culture from which the hero comes. 5. Usually embodies cultural and religious beliefs of the people. 6. Has no superpowers, but is smart, brave and has fears too; which he must overcome to protect his friends, family and / or nation. 7. Can also be a warrior of some sort who performs extra-ordinary tasks that most find difficult. 8. Is also a polished speaker who can address councils of chieftains or elders with eloquence and confidence. Literature is replete with examples of epic heroes. Classical Greek literature in particular has produced...
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...When people think of a hero, they think of people like Batman and Superman. Odysseus on the other hand, is his own kind of hero. At tough times through Odysseus’ journey to get back home, he still proceeds to go home with the same will and force to see his loving wife, Penelope. In his effort to get back to Ithaca, Odysseus uses all his force to protect his men from the dangerous creatures and bad guys of the world. Odysseus is the greatest hero of all time because of his care and safety for his crew, motivation to go back home, and loyalty to his wife Penelope. One thing about a hero is they need to make sure that their city is in line and they need to take care of their people. Like Odysseus, he takes cares of his men like they are his brothers....
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...A hero “is a typical man, who is admired or idealized for his courage, exceptional achievements, or noble qualities” according to the dictionary, and most people would probably agree too that a hero is “someone who does something extraordinary for other people or a country. Odysseus, the main character of the Odyssey written by Homer, would probably fit the definition of a hero for some people. However, when going deeper on what a hero is or supposed to be, Odysseus is not even close to own that title. In the Odyssey, Odysseus is revealed as an authentic hero. After analyzing the three major characteristics of a hero which are selflessness, compassion, and intelligent it is seen that Odysseus has only one of them and should not be viewed as...
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...In life there are leaders and there are followers Odysseus is an example of a leader. Odysseus is a great hero, he has been away for 20 years going through obstacles he faces in life just to stay alive for his family. He fights with all his might just to make it back home to the great island of Ithaca. He has to fight off many monsters in his journey to help save him and his men, just in the end for him to be the only one left who survived in the war. Odysseus has many traits other than the ones I’m going to talk about but these ones are my favorite about him. These traits show a lot about what kind of person he is the ones I picked were brave, determined and intelligent. One of Odysseus many characteristics is that he is brave. He showed his bravery in many ways such as fighting courageously in the war with troy, he faced great dangers on his decade long voyage home. He never backs down from a challenge, and he always keeps his head high in dangerous situations to fight off anyone that comes near to harming him or his men. Odysseus faces the Cyclops Polyphemus, travels to the Underworld, overcomes the Sirens, out works the monsters of Scylla and Charybdis, and leaves behind the beautiful Calypso while many things also pop up...
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...short that has no sleeve holes and her reasoning behind it is so that when they attack him, he cannot fight back. She decides to draw him a bath and she plans to try and get him to wear the shirt and to kill him in the tub. It is very ironic because ancient Greek warriors are always known for dying with honor and integrity and going out with a fight and in this case he could not do that because she killed him so easily. Odysseus travels down to the underworld in order to seek answers to some of his curiosity; in the underworld he meets Achilles and Agamemnon. The whole time he is down their he notices that all Achilles does is whine and complain about why he hates being dead and says how much he would rather be alive as someone else’s servant than to be the ruler of the underworld. The only thing that Odysseus says is that he knew he would face some life or death obstacles while sailing to Troy. Once Achilles killed Hector, a warrior from Troy, it was clear that he would die soon after, but he would be remembered for all eternity. After Achilles is reminiscing, Odysseus starts talking with...
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...Odysseus the Great Do you ever thought of how hard it is to be a hero? How about what a hero really is? In Homer’s timeless epic The Odyssey,Odysseus of Ithaca is the hero. A hero is someone who is loyal to his country, family and gods. Odysseus, king of Ithaca because he is loyal to his country, family, and gods. “Odysseus leaves the ship and rushes to Circe’s hall. The god Hermes stops him to give him a plant that will act like as an antidote to Circe’s power” (page 7580).This shows loyalty to his country because Odysseus is willing to eat something that might kill him to save his men. “I sent out two picked men and a runner to learn what race of men that land sustained.They fell in, soon enough, with lotus eater, who showed no will to do us harm, only offering the sweet lotus to...
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...Is Odysseus a Hero? The definition of a hero is: a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. In the epic poem Odyssey by Homer, the main character Odysseus has both positive and negative qualities. Two of Odysseus’s negative qualities are that he is arrogant and reckless. However, he is a tactician and he is also patient. Therefore, in the epic poem the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is a hero. His notable weaknesses are him being arrogant and reckless. He is arrogant because he thinks he's great because the “gods know his name.” This is arrogant because he thinks he is better than average people because his name is known by the gods. Another reason he is arrogant is because he tells the cyclops...
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...the ten year journey of Odysseus trying to get home. He faces many challenges but eventually makes it back home. An epic poem must have a epic hero, plot, setting, archetypes, and themes. The Odyssey has all of these characteristics. The three that are the most present are epic plot, archetypes, and epic themes. Epic plot is a very present in The Odyssey. Epic plot consists of a long journey with many complcations. Throughout Odysseus’ long journey, he faces many challenges and peril. One instance of epic plot is that in the ninth book where Odysseus encounters the cyclops, Polyphemus. Polyphemus traps him inside his cave. Odysseus uses his intuition to get out of the cave. Another instance of epic plot is in the twenty-second book during the mass killing of the suitors. Divine intervention occurs on the behalf of Odysseus. “Athena’s presence becomes known to all, as the shape of her shield becomes visible above the hall” (1260,1261). Athena interferes by protecting Odysseus from the suitors’ arrows. Epic plot can also be...
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...November 18, 2012 World Literature I Odysseus and the idealist Don Quixote What is a hero? To be a hero means winning honor through competitive combat in ancient Greece and the middle ages. In those historic eras warriors, knights, and kings were honored the most. A hero was someone with a smooth fighting technique and would face death at any moment. Heroes were the people who would lead their armies, fellow knights, and comrades into battle and earned tributes for their courage and great deeds performed during their combat. In other light, the cowards of ancient Greece and the middle ages were considered a burden and were affronted. Throughout many books authors have explained different aspects of what it means to be a hero. Homer, author of the Odyssey, and Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote, convey this characteristic frequently. In the Odyssey, Odysseus was a skillful fighter, but it was yet the proof Homer’s readers needed of his heroism. Odysseus also transpired characteristics of restraint and mercy. On the other hand, Cervantes’ character was not born a hero. He was fooled by chivalric ideas of heroism and sets out to reform the world along with his witty companion. Odysseus and Don Quixote are from two totally different eras, but both of them tried to conquer the world with their heroic acts. Not only their heroic acts made them well known, it’s also their imagination that makes them stand out. In comparison, imagination is what makes Quixote the hero, and imagination...
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...that the Greek King of Ithaca, Odysseus, returns from the Trojan War a hero. However, is Odysseus really considered the definition of a true hero? Les Brown’s quote relates to Odysseus’ journey because throughout Odysseus’ quest he makes many mistakes which he forgives himself for so he is able to continue on his way home to Ithaca. His journey can be looked at closely, as well as his flaws, lessons, and steps to becoming a hero, when looked at through the twelve stages of Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey. A hero’s journey is the trip an individual takes in order to complete an important task which may contain dangerous adventures and life-threatening experiences. The hero’s journey is a series of...
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