Odysseus: An Epic Hero

Odysseus: Nothing But an Epic Hero Odysseus, man of exceptional wit, bravery, and intelligence, epic hero The Odyssey written by Homer, is nothing short of extraordinary. He fearlessly leads his remaining men home to Ithaca, doing everything in his power to get them back alive and well. While this is undoubtedly a noble deed, Odysseus slips up more than he does any good, therefore making it unfit to call him a hero. A hero is someone who is compassionate, selfless, and wise. He is selfish, disloyal, hypocritical and harsh; everything a hero is not. Odysseus may be an epic hero, but he is far from a true one. While true heroes are portrayed as selfless beings, Odysseus is the exact opposite. Odysseus kills his men with his own selfishness.
“...but since we’ve chanced on you, we’re at your knees in hopes of a warm welcome, even a guest gift, the sort that hosts give strangers” (9.300-02). If Odysseus had not been so keen to receive gifts for his own good, something a hero absolutely does not do, he and his men would not have been trapped in the cave being devoured alive. Furthermore, when the men finally escape, Odysseus just has to spice things up a little bit more. He calls out to the raging Polyphemus, taunting him, and even worse, giving him his name. Odysseus is so eager to be known for stabbing the cyclops, he does not realize the penalty this has for his men and himself to return home. He clearly shows that he thinks about himself more, and he does not think thoroughly; a trait a true hero does not posses. One of the main reasons Odysseus wants to return home is to see his wife, whom he hasn’t been able to hold for twenty years. Even so, during the process to return to his beloved, he cheats on her; his disloyalty ruining his shameful image even further. “-and when she’d finished, then, at last, I mounted Circe’s gorgeous bed…”(10.385-86). Odysseus cheats on his wife without even thinking twice; a disgusting, villainous deed. Odysseus could leave it right there and go home, but instead, he stays there for a year. By doing this, Odysseus is being furtherly disloyal, as well as hindering the journey back to Ithaca. This section of The Odyssey certainly displays Odysseus corrupt character, unworthy of being titled a ‘hero’. When Odysseus returns home, everything is a mess, so he slaughters the suitors in the process of taking back his kingdom, and decides to purge the staff of disloyal maids.
However, this act is highly hypocritical. Odysseus orders twelve maids to be killed because they were ‘disloyal’, meaning they had fallen in love with the suitors: “You sluts-the suitors whores”(22.490)! But can they really help it? Young women of the kingdom are living with the young men, and relationships are natural and bound to happen. And besides, Odysseus should not be the one talking, since he delays his journey home to have an affair with a goddess. Odysseus is also undeniably harsh in treating the maids. He makes them clean up the bloody mess of destroyed suitors, and then hangs them. Even though in his mind they were awful women, he didn’t have to kill them in such a painful, dishonorable way. This shows that Odysseus has no compassion, nor wisdom, the characteristics of a hero. Despite being brave, intelligent, and witty, Odysseus true character proves him to be nothing but an ‘epic hero’. He has qualities that no one admires; qualities that make him unappealing and lousy. Odysseus, hero of The Odyssey, is not as he seems. In reality, he is just an epic hero, and anything but a true
one.