...odyssey there is a character named Odysseus. Odysseus goes on an amazing journey and along his way he goes through many things that mold him into an epic hero. Odysseus also proves his heroism through his behavior. During the story Odysseus often presents us with his great intelligence, his superhuman strength, and also his great leadership and bravery. However though Odysseus does not always act like a hero and does immoral things but when the time is right, the true heroic side of him will come out and we will see how heroic Odysseus really is. Odysseus is a true epic hero and has the the personal characteristics to prove it. Throughout the Odyssey Odysseus presents us with examples of his superhuman strength. That is characteristic...
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...Odysseus has everything he needs in order to take on the role of hero throughout his journey. In Odysseus’s personality, he possesses the ability to strategize. The protection and care that Odysseus gives to his men help in portraying him as a hero. Odysseus has a goal-oriented mindset, the work and effort he puts into achieving his goal shows the heroic side of him. The character traits worn by Odysseus’s personality make it easy to see the hero inside of him. Odysseus possesses character traits amongst a wide variety that make him a hero in Homer’s, The Odyssey. Having the ability to strategize in all aspects of life aids in the characterization of Odysseus as a hero; Odysseus clearly displays his abilities through his decisions over the...
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...The Odyssey by Homer is an epic about Odysseus. Odysseus is a hero that went to war and got cursed by a god,so he had to overcome obstacles and learn his lesson, that was the only way he could go back home. He travels over a vast setting. He faces supernatural foes and receives supernatural help. Odysseus is also a great warrior. Finally i would be discussing the journey of Odysseus . Through his ability as a warrior readers infer that Odysseus is an epic hero. I believe he is a great warrior because he had fought with all his powers to defeat the Trojan war. He have no retreat when the Trojan tried to back off he kept pushing his warriors to keep fighting. Odysseus is a great warrior because they had ask him to come fight the war. Finally Odysseus has really strong warriors just like him....
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...According to Karen Hunter, in 1949, Joseph Campbell published “The Hero With A Thousand Faces” which is a book that introduces his creation of the monomyth (Hunter). A monomyth is the concept of a single tale or story. The tale or story represents a mythological adventure being magnified in the rites of passage. Also, the myth goes around in a cycle and is repeated with different social and cultural references throughout the world. Furthermore, Leeming explains that, “the monomyth itself is an expression of the journey of the hero figure, of our journey through physical and psychic life, and of the evolutionary path of humanity to full consciousness” (Leeming). Homer’s use of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth in the Odyssey seen with Odysseus, the hero and main character, provides a great structure throughout the epic in several ways. To begin, the monomyth in the Odyssey can be divided into 11 stages of the hero journey. The first stage that structures Homer’s epic is birth or the ordinary world. Odysseus is born to his father Laertes in Greece under no distinguished ancestry to boast of. Rasovsky stated, As Odysseus grew to be a young boy he showed signs of his talents which included archery (Rasovsky). Going further on with Rasovsky’s findings, Odysseus was intelligent, clever, and exhibited strength through his appearance (Rasovsky). In the Odyssey, Odysseus’s ordinary world is on the peaceful island of Ithaca. Odysseus is the well-loved and respected king of the island. He has a wife...
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...Was the great Odysseus the hero that everyone believes he was? Odysseus was a king of Ithaca that was summoned for the Trojan War, to fight for ten years until the fall of Troy.But, when this great hero decided to not pay the gods their dues, he was cursed to sail the seas for ten more years. Odysseus was a hero, and he showed traits of this when his men had to face the cyclops, the son of Poseidon, the god who cursed him.Odysseus and his men entered the lair of the Cyclops unannounced, after running out of food, and landing on it’s island.In search for food, the men entered the cyclop’s home and ate his goat cheese.The Cyclops discovered them in his lair, and ate one of his men on the spot.Odysseus had to be sly, and smart to make it out...
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...Was Odysseus a good hero? The generic definition of a hero is “a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.” There is many ways that Odysseus can be considered a hero, but i feel as though there are more ways he can be considered not a hero. Three reasons that will prove that he isn’t a hero is: Odysseus didn’t take advice from people which led to great consequences, and also Odysseus was very self-centered and didn’t care for others lives, and finally, Odysseus cheated on his wife multiple times. There is multiple occasions that Odysseus was offered advice that would've helped him, but he was just too arrogant to use it. An example of this is when Circe gave advice about Scylla and how he should choose to go to her instead of passing through the whirlpool of Charybdis because of how dangerous it would have been. Odysseus partially took that advice, because he went to Scylla, but when he got there he decided not to fight her. When Odysseus decided not to fight Scylla the 6 headed monster, six of his men died, and it was all his fault....
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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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...“Great heroes need great sorrows and burdens, or half their greatness goes unnoticed. It is all part of the fairy tale.” ― Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn. We can see Peter Beagles, an award winning american author, quote still apply to heros of now. From fictional heroes such as superman or real heros such as Nelson Mandela; both went through hardships. Superman lost his civilization and faced many difficulties when he was transferred to earth. Nelson Mandela faced the racism that took grip of Africa causing his rise to power to be a long and enduring journey. Even old heros of ancient times faced hardships making them the legends they are remembered as. In The Odyssey by Homer, the brave hero Odysseus, was loved by the people of ancient Greece. He goes through many hardships after winning the war at Troy....
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...capacity to create a trend or a genre, therefore it gives the piece of work a feeling of transcendetality. Two great authors from the Western civilization that take part of a modern literary culture that is characterized for its epic stories and epic characters that follow along the definition of an epic hero. An epic hero is a brave and noble character in an epic poem, admired for great achievements or affected by grand events. Dante’s Aligheri’s Inferno and Homer’s The Odyssey respectively have two characters that fulfill what is like to be recognized as a brave and noble character. Throughout both poems, we can see how each character has unique qualities that make them outstand and set them up as a leader, but at the same time, they have the flaws of any human being. It is clear when a character overcomes the status of any human being and sets the lead as a hero. An important trait of an epic hero is the fact that starts a journey; it may be of a personal matter, such as Dante, or of societal matter, like Odysseus. In The Odyssey, Odysseus is a war hero travelling home after a period of twenty years. In this epic, Odysseus is brought out as a hero with superhuman courage. In most cases, he has been shown fighting with supernatural forces. One characteristic of this journey that is different from Dante is that the hero in this epic fights against external forces. Odysseus faces many challenges while traveling home. To begin with, he is cast on an island that is surrounded by waters...
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... written by Homer, is a series of poems that describe the heroics of Odysseus following the events of The Iliad. Throughout the books, there are many characters who show the features of a hero, who is someone who overcomes an impossible task or foe, even themselves, and can be occasionally given recognition for their feats. Two characteristics that a great hero and a great leader need are caution and cunning, and none show these better than Penelope and Odysseus. Penelope shows caution and Odysseus shows cunningness, who show these traits the best, which shows that great leaders need to be cautious and cunning. Caution, as shown by Penelope, illustrates the concept that great heroes need to be cautious. In book twenty-three, lines 94-100, Penelope is in distress, trying to think of how to approach the stranger who...
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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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...2016 Odysseus As An Epic Hero To most people, a hero is a strong, brave person with an amazing costume. Heroes usually have super-powers and are constantly saving people. However in the novel The Odyssey by Homer an epic hero is a character with great bravery and courage to do the tasks that might not be very easy. Odysseus definitely defines these requirements. He is on a long quest to get back home and faces many monsters and deadly situations. Throughout the Odyssey, while facing many obstacles and distractions, Odysseus must be brave and make courageous choices to make it home. A example of a great monster Odysseus comes upon was the Cyclops Polyphemus. Odysseus was trapped in the...
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...What is a hero? Is a hero someone with superpowers? Not exactly, a hero is a man or a woman of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his or her brave deeds and noble qualities. The stories of “The Epic of Gilgamesh” and “The Odyssey” are tales of two different heroes from two different periods. Gilgamesh and Odysseus are both considered heroes, but they have different abilities and accomplishments. Gilgamesh was the king of Uruk in Babylonia, on the river Euphrates in what we know today as Iraq. He lived about 2700B.C. Gilgamesh was considered a hero because of his amazing physical strength and fighting ability. The author describes Gilgamesh as “superior to other kings, a warrior lord of great stature…” (The Epic of Gilgamesh Page 32 Tablet 1 Line 27). Gilgamesh used his strength and stature to defeat powerful beings. One example would be his victory over Humbaba, the monster who guards the Cedar Forest. He fought this beast to build a reputation on his quest for immortality. Another example is his triumph over the Bull of Heaven that Ishtar sends to destroy the city after being mocked by Gilgamesh. He was also considered a hero by the way he protected his men. The author compares Gilgamesh to a “strong net, the protection of his men” (The Epic of Gilgamesh Page 32 Tablet 1 Line 31). He took care...
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...Isabel Mendoza English 12 S1 Anna Dowlen 12 May 2016 Odysseus the Hero By definition, a hero is someone who is admired for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. Odysseus represents the definition of an archetypal hero gorgeously merely from the fact that he receives super-natural help from the gods. He resembles his home (Ithaca) in the way that puts him as the main protagonist based upon his exceptional morals, which were considered to be boundless courage and respect for the gods and their traditions. With his outstanding qualities he is looked upon for guidance throughout the story as he tries to overcome the many obstacles that stand in his way as well. Odysseus is an archetypal hero mainly from the fact that he receives help from the gods. For example, Euanthes who grants Odysseus in his trouble gifts that will get him and his crew the opportunity to regain their strength. He also receives help from an entity named Dawn. In a way this character represents Odysseus and almost foretells the struggles he will later be facing. In a section he introduces this entity, “Young Dawn with her rose-red fingers shone once more we all turned out, intrigued to tour the island.” From there we can see the struggles he faces with himself to overcome the many obstacles that Zeus inflicts on Odysseus in hopes to prevent his journey to go any further. Another characteristic of an archetypal character is one in which all heroes contain a flaw that prevents them...
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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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