Odysseus
Odysseus the Hero
The Odyssey by Homer 152 BC
Homer is the traditionally accepted author of the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Odyssey was about Odysseus' trip home. The excerpt I read dealt with Odysseus' encounter with the cyclops Polyphemus.
Odysseus' Heroic traits
Odysseus' has three main heroic traits which are his leadership abilities, his wisdom and creativity, and finally his courageous acts.
Traits
Leadership
"Inspired my men with encouraging words . So no one would hang back in fear." This is heroic because he saved his men's lives and the others on the boat.
Honesty
“We are Achaians coming from Troy, beaten off our true course by winds from every direction across the great gulf of the open sea, making for home, by the wrong way, on the wrong courses. So we have come. So it has pleased Zeus to arrange it.”’ This is where Odysseus saved the people on the boats by saying that it was not their fault that they landed on the island.
Creativity
"My name is nobody. Nobody, my father, mother, and friends call me." Odysseus tells Polyphemus that his name is nobody so when Polyphemus would yell in pain after Odysseus attacked him he would yell, "Nobody is attacking me". The other Cyclopes thought that he was speaking crazily and did not try to attack any of Odysseus' men.
Reveiw
Odysseus was a hero because he was a good leader, honest, and creative. This is shown through out the story of Odysseus and the Cyclopes.