Although this crafty hero has many other great qualities, these qualities are the highlights of his character. Odysseus’s best quality, in my opinion, is his sneaky cleverness. Odysseus is always thinking, and he shows it numerous times throughout his adventures. One of his most crafty plans, on page 225, was when he tied himself and all of his men to the Cyclops’s ram’s bellies and escaped from the Cyclops into their ship. Polyphemus, the Cyclops, didn’t sense that the Odysseus and the men were hiding, and when he let is rams free, the crew escaped.
As in the story when he escapes from Cyclops cave he showed that he was brave and a great strategist when he poked Cyclops eye with pike of olive, he decided not to kill him because if he killed Cyclops, he would not be able to get out of the cave. This also shows he was wise and cleaver and able to think about the situation before doing anything. At the time when Cyclopes is making the meal of his friend he bravely said “Here is some drinks for you which we carry” (9 ;). These are some qualities which I can say I possess. His impulsiveness with Cyclops almost destroyed him and his companions but his bravery and clever strategy were able to save almost all of them.
Alexander knew how to be smart by not letting people think of him as a cataclysmic man. Also, he was tutored by one of the greatest philosophers of all time, Aristotle.Also, His crazy, but effective war tactics led him to many victories. Lastly, Alexander the Great had a very reckless and courageous mind. He was determined and never let down his army. Alexander, the intelligent, tactical and ambitious young man was the greatest military leader of all time because he led his army to many great victories without suffering devastating amounts of casualties.
This arrogance leads him to becoming slightly obsessed with retaining his pride and not letting anyone slight his bravado. To uphold his name and pride, he mauls his opponents without remorse, heroically takes on the river Xanthus, and even sacrifices twelve Trojan men at Patrocius’ funeral (Cook, 57). Though finally in the final chapter, Achilles shows his remorseful side when he’s reminded of his father when Priam asks for Hector’s defiled body back (Cook, 48). Achilles encompasses many traits immanent in the culture of his time period, mostly of honor and glory for his name, but he also relinquishes those traits with a forgiving side of remorse and grief, even though it usually ends in intense anguish. On the contrary, Hamlet embraces several of these characteristics in the form of a very different character.
Achilles vs. Agamemnon In the epic poem, The Iliad, Homer describes the social collision of Achilles and Agamemnon who fight over pride and anger. While both men are prominent figures in the poem only one man is justified in his actions. Achilles has the vindicated point of view because he is the greater warrior. He thrived in every area for success and succeeded his great reputation every chance. He fought nobly in all battles and believed in tradition when called upon.
Odysseus is a perfect match to the hero archetype from his time period because of the bravery that he portrays through out his journey and the selflessness he has towards others. He is brave because he left his family to go fight in Troy not knowing whether he would survive or not. Odysseus showed his bravery by confronting the Trojans and tricking them into bringing the horse into Troy. Because of that, Odysseus and his men were able to attack and defeat the Trojans. He is
Through these battles, Beowulf’s strength, humbleness and courageousness is revealed. These are characteristics that are crucial in defining an epic hero. However, every epic hero has a tragic flaw. Beowulf’s tragic flaw is his pride. His tragic flaw is evident throughout the novel thinking he can win them all.
Here we instantly see Odysseus’ good leadership shine through, as he only sends three men to investigate the island. This shows good leadership because, if there were to be any danger inland, the rest of his convoy would have remained unharmed. Odysseus also shows positive characteristics when he uses force to drag those who had sampled the lotus, back onto the ships. Although, this may not sound all too pleasant, he was actually being loyal to his comrades by not leaving them to waste away on the island, browsing on lotus for the rest of their lives. The quote is, ‘I had to use force to bring them back to the hollow ships, and they wept on the way, but once on board I tied them up and dragged them under the benches.’ In this episode, Odysseus also shows his bravery.
Odysseus emerges as a true epic hero when he overcomes all these obstacles, and reunites with his wife and son after twenty years. Odysseus’ most precious trait is his intelligence. This is proved many times throughout the epic, but especially when Odysseus and his men land onto Cyclopes’ island. Polyphemus, a giant, eats six of Odysseus’ men as he is angry with them. Odysseus’ quick thinking helps him and his men escape the island of Cyclops.
Noel Mendez Mendez 1 Mrs. Hinton English 3Period 2 August 31, 2012 Epic Hero Beowulf achieved many quest of tremendous value to himself and society. In the Epic From Beowulf translated by Burton Raffel, Beowulf did something that many people aren’t capable of doing. Beowulf proves to be a man of courage, leadership, and power and he can fit the image of an Epic hero in many ways. Beowulf was considered courageous during his lifetime because of everything he accomplished. Beowulf shows bravery in line 158 “… Death was errand.” He states that he will fight to his death.