Theme Of Heroism In The Odyssey

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According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary a hero is, “A mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability.” Odysseus, son of laertes, and king of Ithaca fits this description. In the novel The Odyssey, Homer writes a story of an epic hero who tries to return back home from the Trojan War. Odysseus has to overcome many obstacles make it back to Ithaca, like beasts and the wrath of the gods. Odysseus portrays heroism during the Trojan War, the cyclops, and the suitors.
Odysseus portrays heroism during the Trojan War. He bravely leads all of his men to fight the Trojans. Odysseus came up with the plan of him and his crew hiding in a wooden horse and then to attack the Trojans when they were least …show more content…
A storm brought Odysseus and his crew to an island where they found a cave full of food. The men find out the cave was home to a Cyclops named Polyphemus. Polyphemus trapped and terrorized the men. The men’s reaction is to kill the cyclops, but Odysseus realizes that they won't be able to escape the cave without the cyclops moving the boulder. “If I killed him we perished there as well, for we could never move his ponderous doorway slab aside” (Homer 869). Odysseus and his men stab the cyclops in the eye and as the cyclops yells in pain he moves the boulder. The men hide under the sheep as they escape the cave. Odysseus’ intelligence saves everyone once again making him a heroic figure.
Odysseus portrays heroism when defeating the suitors. Queen Penelope of Ithaca tells the suitors that she will marry the one that can string the bow and shoot an arrow through all the rings. The suitors fail on completing this task, except Odysseus who at the time was disguised as a peasant. After Odysseus says, “I did not miss, neither did I take all day stringing the bow” (Homer 696). Odysseus then kills the suitors and reclaims his home. He saved his wife, Penelope, from marry the

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