Odysseus As Epic Hero In Homers The Odyssey
How do you define a hero? Some may define a hero as someone with great courage and bravery -- to others a hero might be a strong warrior and leader who wins battles, someone else might define a hero as one who uses his brain as much as his muscles to win. In Homer's epic poem, Odyssey, Odysseus is portrayed as a hero by every definition.
Courage and bravery are two things that Odysseus has a lot of. This is evident when he fights the god Poseidon, telling him that he is unstoppable because he can't be. Odysseus then gets back on his ship on starts to sail in on Poseidon's waters back to Ithaca. Pride is good to have, but in Odysseus's case, it's a little too much. On the other hand, he does things that make him a great hero. When Circe turned his crew into animals, he climbed straight up a mountain, risking his life just to save his crew. He will do anything to get back to Ithaca and see his wife and son, no matter how crazy it is. He even goes into the underworld to speak to a prophet about how to get back to Ithaca. Being brave and courageous is all about being willing and able to go to the extremes to help or possibly save people or even a place in need.
In addition to having both courage and guts, Odysseus is also a pretty strong warrior and leader. Living as king of Ithaca, he leads his fleet of warriors across Poseidon's sea into a great battle against the Trojans. It is here where Odysseus and his fleet of warriors defeated the Trojans because of his great leadership. Knowing that he cannot defeat the Trojans from outside the immense walls, he comes up with a different plan. A plan that will get him through the walls with a little help from Poseidon. He makes a giant wooden rabbit (Trojan Horse) and has it delivered as a gift to the Tojans. They accept the gift and open the walls for the horse, not knowing that inside the horse was Odysseus and a small fleet of soldiers. The Trojans had a great celebration for what they...
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