Odysseus: A Hero In Homer's The Odyssey

The Odyssey by Homer is about perseverance and tenacity for love. This epic poem reveals that a hero is one who remains faithful and calm while enduring and overcoming obstacles, which eventually creates a stronger and better person. While some believe Odysseus falls short of being a hero due to his weaknesses, his bravery and commanding aura overpower any insufficiency he may portray as a character. Odysseus is a character who demonstrates bravery through Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey. Accordingly, “Odysseus rushes to save his men from the enchantress” (Homer 1225). This shows he is a hero due to the fact he disregards being a coward and decides to be brave. Hermes gave him a moly to protect him from the witches tricks. He uses this to his …show more content…
Consequently, “I drew it from the coals and my four fellows gave me a hand, lugging it near the cyclops as more than natural force nerved them; straight forward they sprinted, lifted it, and rammed it deep into his crater eye” (Homer 1218-1219). This shows braveness and leadership due to the fact he and crew members are fighting off Cyclops and leading themselves to freedom. Odysseus and his crew are brave enough to sharpen the wooden stake, knowing if they made a sound it would risk the Cyclops waking up and killing them all in an instant. This reveals that Odysseus and his crew were going to go for a high risk high reward situation with risking the Cyclops killing them all but also if the Cyclops didn’t wake up they would escape by stabbing it in the eye with a sharpened stake and leave with most of the crew alive. A few other character traits that are perceptible are his leadership and …show more content…
One example would be, when he told Philoetius and Eumaeus to lock the doors so no one would escape. Homer 1256-1261. Odysseus uses his commanding aura to help himself and others as he defeats the suitors. If he didn’t command them to close the doors, most of the suitors would have escaped considering the fact that it was 2 versus nearly 100. This was also one of the main reasons he got to see his wife. While some rightly argue that Odysseus had more heroic characteristics and moments, it is evident that all heroic characteristics outweigh those. The most apparent traits include loyalty, bravery, and leadership. While it may be true that he made a few mistakes along the way, all of his right doings shadowed them. The evidence throughout the essay proves why he is a hero that everyone desires. In conclusion, while Odysseus is often labeled as a hero in The Odyssey, he is not without his flaws and apparent weaknesses, but when we take a deeper look into the epic poem and his person, we can see that every good act offsets those. His leadership and bravery in certain situations make him the hero everyone

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