Bernard Evslin's The Adventures Of Ulysses: A Glorified Hero

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The epic poem The Adventures of Ulysses by Bernard Evslin, Ulysses is a man on a 20 year journey to return to his home of Ithaca, reunite with his son and reclaim his throne from his wife’s suitors. Along the way Ulysses meets monsters and must complete many quests. All the while, the gods are constantly interfering with Ulysses’ endeavors. What leads to Ulysses’ troubles are his mistakes. He often has errors in his judgement that allow adverse situations to take place. Although Ulysses is seen as a great warrior and leader, he makes many mistakes which portray him as a mortal man rather than a glorified hero. Upon his arrival in Ciconia Ulysses leads his men into battle against the Ciconians. His men trust him enough to follow him onto the island and there they…show more content…
The Island of the Racing Sun is where the day and night are so short that day seems to chase night across the sky. As they arrive Ulysses “fear[s] this Island of the Racing Sun” (Evslin 42), but does not voice his concern. Instead of warning his men of his fears, Ulysses sends a sailor to the top of a tree to look out. A good leader should never act on something that he is not completely certain about. He endangers a sailor by sending him to climb the tree. After a while, and the sailor does not returned, “[Ulysses] dispatch[es] another sailor to climb and see what happened to the first one” (Evslin 43). With out offering to climb himself, Ulysses carelessly sends another sailor after the second, totaling three sailors sent to their death. Eventually Ulysses sees that he should climb the tree. Ulysses does not know that the tree is actually a gigantic cannibal. Ulysses quickly leaves the island with his remaining men, but those who he has lost can never be returned. He shows weakness by not being brave and leading his men. He again loses some of his men and has nothing but his own cowardliness to

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