Odysseus Being A Hero Essay

What makes a person a hero? A hero is a person who puts others lives in front of theirs and treats those people as the main priority. In the book, The Odyssey, the protagonist, Odysseus, does not fit into this definition of a hero, although I consider him a leader. The reasons behind my disagreement with Odysseus not being a hero is because he drove his crew into a lot of trouble that was caused by his selfishness and care of his own reputation. Some might argue that Odysseus is a hero and I have an understanding of that since he did pull through with plans in many situations with his crew.
An example of Odysseus caring too much about his reputation is when he was sailing away with his crew members from the Cyclops. Instead of getting away safely, Odysseus decided to shout at the Cyclops even when his sailors insisted that he should not. The sailors pleaded him not to say anything by saying, ”Godsake, Captain! Why bait the beast again? Let him alone!” (Homer 1121). However, Odysseus shouted at the Cyclops saying, “Cyclops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and
Odysseus was a nuisance but when they were stuck in the Cyclops cave, Odysseus encouraged them and made a plan by saying,”...I called my men and made a speech to them: ‘Old shipmates, friends, the rest of you stand by; I’ll make the crossing in my own ship, with my own company, and find out what the mainland natives are-. (Homer 1113).” In the text, Odysseus is going forward as a leader and assuring his crew members that they will get through the situation theyre in. Odysseus did get them out of that Cyclops cave, however as mentioned in the first paragraph, he ruined it by taunting at the Cyclops and placing a curse on himself. All in all, it is understandable why people would think of Odysseus as a hero but the actions he performed were more fitting into the definition of a