Odysseus as a Tragic Hero

Nearly every story in Greek mythology revolves around a character with a certain outstanding attribute, be it strength, intellect, or even musical talent. Heroes such as this might spend their lives questing for kleos, or the myth might simply be a tale in which the hero was trying to accomplish a certain task, such as returning home or rescuing a lover from Hades. In every case, these heroic tales would always end with tragedy; the hero would be killed by a jealous lover, go mad, or have a loved one taken away from him. However, one Greek hero existed whose story did not end with tragedy: Odysseus. Homer's The Odyssey is unique among all other Greek myths in that it is the only story in which the hero does not meet a tragic end; why is this so? From his words to his actions and from his companions to the way he handles certain situations, Odysseus is vastly different from all other mythical Greek heroes, a uniquity which leads to his story's eventual cheerful ending. To accurately show just how disparate Odysseus is from the other heroes of Greek mythology, the common characteristics of the Greek hero must first be discussed in order to show that Odysseus is part of this extraordinary group. Heroes such as Heracles, Achilles, and even Odysseus all shared various attributes which, with the exception of Odysseus himself, seemed to lead to each hero's tragic fall from grace. Each of the aforementioned mythical men was extraordinary in some way or another; Heracles, of course, was half-god and possessed incredible strength; Achilles was dipped by his mother Thetis in the waters of Styx and was made nigh-invincible, and Odysseus was incredibly intelligent and clever. In addition to each hero's extraordinary attribute, each one's story was full of interactions with the gods, either as adversaries, friends, mentors, or even family. Mortals whose lives have such ‘spiritual intensity' in fact assume an almost ‘divine status', as Morford and Lenardon say (Lenardon

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