Is Odysseus a Hero Essay Example
Odysseus is considered a hero in the book The Odyssey but is he really a hero? A hero is someone who is merciful, selfless, and gentle and Odysseus isn’t any of those three. He sacrificed his men, killed suitors, and was greedy. In homers, the Odyssey Odysseus is presented as the main heroic character, but he lacks many of the qualities to be considered heroic. Odysseus is not a good example of a hero in the odyssey in the archetype of a hero’s journey because of his dishonesty, Big ego, and carelessness.
Odysseus lies to many people including Eumaeus, Penelope, Polyphemus, Arete, Telemachus, the men on his ship, and Athena. He mostly lies about his identity. ¨Nobody—that’s my name¨. That is a quote that Odysseus said while leaving the cave that the cyclops were in. Odysseus’s dishonesty and deceit cause loss of trust and negative consequences.
Odysseus’s ego is one of the many weaknesses that doesn’t make him a hero. The first example is when Odysseus makes the maids at his house clean up the blood, and then he kills them, which shows his ruthless trait. Second, when Odysseus wants to brag about a gift from the Cyclops, that shows his big ego. Another example is when the Greek soldiers won the Trojan war, but He declared that he was the one who won the ultimate battle. He also thought that he had come up with the idea of the wooden horse and that the Gods didn't help when Poseidon sent a sea monster to destroy the Trojan who didn't think it was a gift.“Did I not keep my nerve, use my wits, to find a way out for us.” That is an example of how Odysseus thought he was the only person who made them successful, and it shows that he did not appreciate his men Odysseus shows his selfishness when he decides to stay on Kalypso's island because he chooses for seven years. It is also shown when Odysseus traveled to the Land of the Dead. He shows his selfish qualities thereby only traveling there for his own benefit.“’ I wanted to see and claim the stranger’s gift… So we lit a fire and made our thank-offering, and helped ourselves to as many cheeses as we wanted to eat; then we sat inside till he should come back with his flocks’” Odysseus is very selfish and only wants to see what glory the Cyclops gives him. Odysseus thinks that everyone should bow down to him.
A hero is “a person cited for his special achievements” according to the dictionary, but if you ask the public what a hero is, you will get the equal preferred reaction. They'll probably say “a person who does something for other human beings out of the goodness of his coronary heart. ” Odysseus, who's the primary individual of the book “The Odyssey” written by means of Homer, might match the dictionary’s definition of a hero; however in case you move deeper, searching at what humans feel a hero is, he doesn’t even come near. Within the book, Odysseus does nothing out of the goodness of his heart.
