The Epic Hero In The Odyssey

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In book XXII of the epic poem The Odyssey, Homer uses lines 1-43 to strengthen the epic hero’s characteristic of having the will to destroy in order to cleanse and remain loyal to his family. This is achieved through the use of imagery and diction. The nature in which Odysseus kills the suitors is brutal, but is done in the regard of avenging his personal honor.
When Odysseus claims his first victim, Antinous, Homer describes his death vividly, “The arrow struck Antinous in the throat, and the point went clean through his neck, so that he fell over and the cup dropped from his hand, while a thick stream of blood gushed from his nostrils.” Homer’s purpose in describing the head suitor’s death so graphically is to exemplify Odysseus’s proficiency …show more content…
You have wasted my substance, have forced my women servants to lie with you, and have wooed my wife while I was still living. You have feared neither god nor man, and now you shall die.” By calling the suitors dogs he establishes himself as the superior, none of the suitors come close to him in any manner because they don’t possess any of the epic hero’s characteristics. He mentions that they didn’t revere the gods which is one of the pivotal parts of Odysseus’s personality, he’s able to understand that he has a dependence on the gods, but also acknowledges his personal strengths as well. Odysseus also calls out their effect on the servants, in the Greek society men have more freedom in terms of their fidelity, in contrast women are barred down and expected to be loyal only to one man, and since the suitors have destroyed the servants loyalty to Odysseus they have disrespected him greatly. In addition to this they attempted to steal his wife away, which is an extremely dishonorable act especially because they assumed him to be dead.
Lines 1-43 served multiple purposes in The Odyssey, its main ideals of gender roles within the Greek society and strengthened Odysseus’s characteristics. Within the previous books certain characteristics of Odysseus were not presented such as his will to destroy in order to cleanse. For example, in other books the main focus was to exemplify his ability to use intellect in order to resolve a problem. However the ideals of loyalty to family were somewhat presented, though Odysseus engaged in affairs with other
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