Odysseus Epic Hero

Words: 2427
Pages: 10

Sometimes it’s not black and white or cut and dry, whether the protagonist of a story is flawed or valiant. When Odysseus of Ithaca finally goes home, the readers see him change from a flawed human to an epic hero. When Lord Odysseus, King of Ithaca, crosses the sea to Troy for battle and war, only his newborn and wife are in mind to keep him alive. After he creates the Trojan Horse and helps Greece win the war with Athena by his side, he and his hundreds of men travel from mythical island to mythical island. In the epic poem The Odyssey written by Homer, the readers feel like they are a part of Odysseus’ journey across the sea and as a man. Throughout the story, it is evident that Odysseus evolves and portrays more and more heroic traits. …show more content…
Another example of him being assertive in this passage is when he gets the rest of the men to move on with their day, and start the rowing process. The passage quotes, “... and called the rest: ‘All hands aboard; come, clear the beach and no one taste the Lotus or you lose your hope of home.’ Filing in to their places by the rowlocks my oarsmen dipped their long oars in the surf, and we moved out again on our seafaring.” (Lines 213-215, Homer) Now, this is a colossal big part of the passage. It ultimately explains how Odysseus tells the rest of the men to stay here and never see Ithaca again, or join him home. You can see how they immediately file into place. This quote shows the assertive power he has in his voice. He only says a few things that get his crew to get on task. This is productive leadership and assertiveness used by Odysseus to his men. When you’re a hero, you need this trait. Imagine a hero is about to go up against giant cannibals, if the crewmen don’t listen to the leader, then they could all die. Odysseus proves he’s ready to be a hero with this trait, and takes on whoever he needs to, and embodies a part of a heroic