Heroes In The Odyssey

Homer’s The Odyssey describes the tale of a man who tries to find his way home after the end of a war. The hero Odysseus has a long journey home, of which he survives due to his cunning and persistence. In Ron Howard’s film Apollo 13, Jim Lovell and his crew, must find their way back to Earth safely after numerous technical problems arise. The captain Jim Lovell is a hero in the way that his success and communication skills with the team on earth saved him and his crew from a devastating end. Heroes are needed in cultures all across the world in any time period, because the people of that culture or time period need someone to look up to. Heroes provide a story with a role model, although they are not perfect. Heroes often reflect values
An event where Odysseus is described to have used his cunning is his encounter with the Cyclops, Polyphemus. After Polyphemus traps Odysseus and his men in a cave, blocked by a big boulder, Odysseus tricks Polyphemus into becoming intoxicated. Odysseus then stabs Polyphemus in the eye, and tells Polyphemus that his name is Nobody, however sparing his life. Odysseus spares his life because he knew the screams of the cyclops would capture others’ attention and drive the other cyclops to remove the boulder. Rather than telling the cyclops his real name, Odysseus tells him that his name is Nobody so that the other cyclops won’t look for him. After other cyclops remove the boulder to check on Polyphemus, Odysseus and his men escape under the bellies of sheep. “My wits kept weaving, weaving cunning schemes-/life at stake, monstrous death staring us in the face-/till this plan struck my mind as best. That flock,” (IX 471-473). This passage shows how Odysseus came up with a plan to get him and his crew out of the cyclops’ cave, and came up with the idea while on his feet. Being able to think of plans on your feet is a skill not many people have. Not only did his plan use logic to escape under the bellies of the sheep to avoid being seen, but it also used cunning to trick Polyphemus into getting
Jim Lovell and his crew work hard to ensure the Apollo 13’s safe return back to earth. While trying to get the Apollo 13 back to earth, Lovell and his crew as well as the team back on earth show signs of success. Success in keeping the trio in space alive, while also trying to solve problems as they come up, so as to keep the trio alive and get them back to earth safely. “Failure is not an option.” (Howard). This phrase is the movie’s tagline, due to the devastating consequences that failure would ensue. The tagline shows that the movie and the heroes are trying to achieve success, in everything they do. This reflects a valueof the 90’s, because the 90’s were a prosperous year. The Cold War had finally ended which made the Cold war and the Space Race, an event that could finally be documented as part of the past, due to our success in the Cold war. The fact that it could finally documented as part of our past rather than a current day event is part of what drove Apollo 13 to be made when it was made. Success is also a value that most heroes have, due to the fact that if he or she were not successful in what he or she did, then he or she would not be counted as a