How Is Odysseus A Hero

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According to Ralph Waldo Emerson, “A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer”. In The Odyssey, Odysseus tries to get home to his wife and son, but he goes through so many challenges in his attempt to get home. Along the way Odysseus goes through life threatening challenges and could have died while trying to get home but in the end he is able to get home to his wife and son.Odysseus shows he is not a hero because, yes he is physically stronger, intellectually stronger, and emotionally stronger but in the end of it all his only goal was to get back home. Odysseus shows he is not a hero because he kills 100 men just because he is angry and loses his mind. Early in his journey Odysseus finds out that there are men who are planning on taking his wife and his kingdom and that he needs to hurry home and put a stop to it. …show more content…
After seeing his son, he is disguised as a beggar and he sees how his kingdom is being treated while people believe he is dead. He takes the challenge to shoot an arrow through twelve axes and as he does, his true identity shows. Odysseus then barricades the doors shut and says “Though you survive alone, bereft of all companions, lost for years, under strange sail shall you come home, to find your own house filled with trouble: insolent men eating your livestock as they court you lady. Aye, you shall make those men atone in blood”. Odysseus slaughters the men in a fit of rage and anger even after one of the suitors give him another option to be repaid for their betrayal and he does not listen and instead kills all of them with no remorse. Another reason that Odysseus is not a hero is because he puts his men through actions and challenges that could lead to their death.Odysseus put his men through a journey where they faced nothing but problems and where most of his men died because of