Crazy Horse’s forces didn’t have advanced arms, but he had better wisdom and tactics of war. He defeated extremely arrogant Custer. While at the end of the poem, Custer said that he would be reborn whenever dictators need him or whenever movie-goers want to watch him. This is an ironic and humor ending. Through this ending, Alexie indicates his view on Custer: he was standing on the side of dictators; he was a bad guy.
Owen Connelly’s book “Blundering to Glory” is about a brilliant man without limits, having a gift from God never seen before, the greatest commander of all time…Napoleon Bonaparte. “Blundering to Glory” goes into great details covering Napoleon’s childhood to his quick rise to fame. Napoleon Bonaparte had a great impact on most of Europe. He was a “scrambler” with no sense of when to stop. The author also puts a lot of emphasis on Napoleon’s mistakes or “blunders.” He had many victories because he never stopped attacking his enemies by using the ignorance of his enemy’s commanders.
What qualities does an epic hero have that the average person may lack? In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is poised under pressure, brave, and intelligent but can sometimes rush through his plans and not think them through all the way. A modern day hero that I can compare to Odysseus would be Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, the only Medal of Honor winner to survive the actions that earned him the reward since the Vietnam War. Sgt.
One of the best examples that I can think of is when Beowulf fought Grendel and won. He stood bravely infront of the monster Grendel, and fought gallantly to victory. Without that time of terror, Beowulf’s true colors of Heroism would not have shown. To sum up everything that I just said, I think that Emerson would consider Beowulf a hero due to all of the battles that he fought gallantly and won. Not once in the story did Beowulf show a sign of weakness, even without any armor, he still fought bravely and
Beowulf possesses many of the traits of an archetypal epic hero; he is strong, humble, and willing to fight to death if necessary. One of the most obvious heroic traits of Beowulf’s is his strength, which is a vital feature in Anglo-Saxon heroes. Beowulf had the strength of thirty men and is blessed with strength beyond that of an ordinary man. Although strength is a key characteristic in defining an epic hero, it alone is not enough to define an epic hero (Greenfield 3). Along with strength, one must have other distinguishing traits to be considered an epic hero.
After meeting both Cody and Daisy, Gatsby dedicates himself to becoming wealthy. Gatsby has all more of a reason to strive to become prominent. Daisy has become the only thing that matters to Gatsby, and it takes a truly great man to be capable of that kind of love. Gatsby deserves to be called great simply because he is a war hero. The war was crucial to Gatsby’s development as a man.
Not much was expected of him because of his small size. “Soaring and reaching so high—not just for the basket, but to aspired to be a hero.”(Irving) But Owen Meany possessed a power within him that would allow him to make John Wheelwright believe in God. “Owen Meany believed that ‘coincidence’ was a stupid, shallow refuge sought by stupid, shallow people who were unable to accept the fact that their lives were shaped by a terrifying and awesome design—more powerful and unstoppable than The Flying Yankee.”(Irving)In the end of the story, Owen Meany becomes an ultimate true life hero especially after facing several trials and tribulations put into place by not having a complete family. He endure life changing events that weren’t always for the better. When John and Owen went to the airport for John's return flight,a day Owen believed that he was destined to die, they see a group of nuns escorting a column of Vietnamese war orphans through the halls.
An epic hero demonstrates many extra ordinary qualities that make him a super human being. He is not only strong and courageous; but is also an intelligent and an excellent leader. Like any other hero, an epic hero faces struggles, usually in a battle or a war, but wins in the end. Homer’s Odyssey is an account of heroic adventures of Odysseus after being in the Trojan War for ten years. Odysseus emerges as a true epic hero when he overcomes all these obstacles, and reunites with his wife and son after twenty years.
Another similarity is that they are great warriors and the result from their defeats gives them a divine impact which makes them very influential people. To some degree Hercules is faced with the morality, for the death of his family. For Hercules he is commanded by Apollo to do certain tasks as a punishment for his sins, so that his spirit might be cleansed from evil. It is then that Hercules begun to complete his 12 Labors. Although Hercules completes the 12 Labors he continues to do many more adventures.
Odysseus: The Human Hero In the Odyssey, the main character, Odysseus is a good example of an epic hero. An epic hero depicts certain traits that other characters do not have such as being a natural born leader, appealing to the opposite sex, having “superhuman, larger than life” qualities that portray him braver and stronger than ordinary people, on a quest of great importance to himself or his people, has “good” on his side, and defeats monsters or Gods. Odysseus possesses all of these traits during his voyage home. “Cyclops, you ask my honorable name? Remember the gift you promised me, and I shall tell you.