Odysseus Defines a Hero

1005 Words5 Pages
Odysseus Defines a Hero in 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. Others may define a hero as one who uses his brain as much as his strength to win. In Homer’s 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 defies the god Poseidon, telling him that he is unstoppable. Odysseus then gets back on his ship on starts to sail on Poseidon's waters back to Ithaca. The only problem was “… a storm against the ships, and driving veils of squall moved down like night on land and sea” ( line 71-72 ) causing sailing problems. 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 “Sweet milk and honey, then sweet wine, and last clear water; and I scattered barely down” ( line 553-554). 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. As well as having courage and bravery, Odysseus is also a 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 walls, he comes up with a different

More about Odysseus Defines a Hero

Open Document