The characteristics of a good hero
are courage, intelligence and pride. Odysseus shows many of those
characteristics throughout his journey. Odysseus goes through many obstacles on
his journey and how he deals with them determine how heroic he really is.
Odysseus
is wise and strong when he faces obstacles on his journey but every hero has a
flaw. Odysseus gets sentimental when he comes face to face with Telemachus. Odysseus
proves he’s courageous with his endurance. At the beginning of the poem it says
he’s weeping alone which shows bravery. His Hubris or pride is another characteristic he posseses.
Odysseus's glory makes him reveal his identity to the Cyclops and bring
Poseidon's wrath down on him.
Odysseus's intelligence helps him
out in some obstacles throughout his journey. When he escapes from the cave of
the Cyclops or when he hides his slaughter of the suitors by having his
minstrel strike up a wedding tune. He is also a convincing and can manipulate
his audience easily. When he first approaches Nausicaa on the island Scheria,
he wins her trust with his comforting approach.
Odysseus is a hero at some point but
he does get greedy and selfish. During the War at Troy he was protecting his
people and being intelligent with it also. In books nine through ten, he is not
playing the role of a hero. He makes several selfish acts throughout the four
books. Odysseus refused to leave the cave of the Cyclops. He risked the lives
of his men which was a selfish act. In book ten, he was unfaithful to Penelope
and fell under the spell of Kirke.
Odysseus would be considered an epic
hero since he protected his men through the war. Yet, he was also selfish at
some points. He always tried to do the right in order to protect his men which
makes him an epic hero.
