Odysseus Epic Hero
Honors English 9
Epic Hero Analysis
What does it take to be an epic hero? To be an epic hero you are required to have five specific qualities. These consist of being human-like, being a confident and courageous solider, nobility, and being in a poem containing supernatural beings that has setting is vast in scope. In the poem the Odyssey, the main character fits the criteria. Odysseus is an epic hero. An important trait to being an epic hero is that the character is involved in a poem complicated by supernatural beings. To sail home in book 12, Odysseus has to navigate through the straits between two monsters, Scylla and Charybdis. As he is coming up on Scylla, he describes her: Her legs- And there are twelve- are like great …show more content…
When Odysseus arrives at the land of the Cyclopes, his men advise him to snatch some of the food and leave, but to his and his crew’s detriment, he decides to stay, “Yet I refused. I wished/to see the caveman, what he had to offer-/no pretty sight, it turned out for my friends” (9. 130-132). Though he knew it wasn’t the right thing to do, Odysseus decided to stay. It is a very human-like characteristic to make mistakes. Humans do the things they want sometimes; even if they know it’s not the right thing to do. It shows he can be very much like a normal person at times and though he is trusted to always do the right things, he messes up …show more content…
More fearsome, is it now, than when the Cyclops penned us in his cave? What power he had! Did I not keep my nerve, and use my wits to find a way out for us? (12. 143-147)
Odysseus proves how heroic he is. He is a strong and intelligent when it comes to dealing with danger. By saying this, he prepares his men not to be afraid and to trust him that everything will be okay, just like all the other times he’s gotten them out of troublesome situations. When they finally reach the monsters, his men don’t chicken out and go forth with what he told them to do. Odysseus is stated to be an epic hero due to the characteristics he demonstrates in the poem the Odyssey. He reveals each of the five requirements needed. He shows he has human-like characteristics, strength, nobility and confidence in his authority throughout his adventures in the Odyssey. With all these features, any character could be an epic hero, just like Odysseus.
Works Cited
Homer. “The Odyssey.” The Language of Literature. Eds. Arthur N. Applebee, et.al. Evanston, IL: McDougal Little, 2002. 894-937.
Epic Hero Analysis
What does it take to be an epic hero? To be an epic hero you are required to have five specific qualities. These consist of being human-like, being a confident and courageous solider, nobility, and being in a poem containing supernatural beings that has setting is vast in scope. In the poem the Odyssey, the main character fits the criteria. Odysseus is an epic hero. An important trait to being an epic hero is that the character is involved in a poem complicated by supernatural beings. To sail home in book 12, Odysseus has to navigate through the straits between two monsters, Scylla and Charybdis. As he is coming up on Scylla, he describes her: Her legs- And there are twelve- are like great …show more content…
When Odysseus arrives at the land of the Cyclopes, his men advise him to snatch some of the food and leave, but to his and his crew’s detriment, he decides to stay, “Yet I refused. I wished/to see the caveman, what he had to offer-/no pretty sight, it turned out for my friends” (9. 130-132). Though he knew it wasn’t the right thing to do, Odysseus decided to stay. It is a very human-like characteristic to make mistakes. Humans do the things they want sometimes; even if they know it’s not the right thing to do. It shows he can be very much like a normal person at times and though he is trusted to always do the right things, he messes up …show more content…
More fearsome, is it now, than when the Cyclops penned us in his cave? What power he had! Did I not keep my nerve, and use my wits to find a way out for us? (12. 143-147)
Odysseus proves how heroic he is. He is a strong and intelligent when it comes to dealing with danger. By saying this, he prepares his men not to be afraid and to trust him that everything will be okay, just like all the other times he’s gotten them out of troublesome situations. When they finally reach the monsters, his men don’t chicken out and go forth with what he told them to do. Odysseus is stated to be an epic hero due to the characteristics he demonstrates in the poem the Odyssey. He reveals each of the five requirements needed. He shows he has human-like characteristics, strength, nobility and confidence in his authority throughout his adventures in the Odyssey. With all these features, any character could be an epic hero, just like Odysseus.
Works Cited
Homer. “The Odyssey.” The Language of Literature. Eds. Arthur N. Applebee, et.al. Evanston, IL: McDougal Little, 2002. 894-937.