paper
Heroism in the Odyssey
Throughout The Odyssey, the audience views Odysseus in many ways, one way as a mighty hero. Greek culture strictly defines a hero while modern culture possesses a looser definition of a hero. Joseph Campbell defines a hero as, "someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself... The hero performs a courageous act in battle and saves lives." Through the lens of a Greek, Odysseus mirrors the picture of heroism. However, twenty first century humans consider Odysseus a famed adventurer. While many different people label Odysseus in different degrees of heroism, the readers find themselves both agreeing and disagreeing with Campbell's statement defining Odysseus as a hero, each individual reader must formulate their own personal opinion on how they view Odysseus, agreeing, disagreeing, or a little bit of both.
Heroism and heroes are two things that no matter what, will always be around, people will always admire heroes, and wish they could be them. While there is an endless supply of heroes from the beginning of time, there are only a few definitions, yet over time that definition has changed to an extent. Dictionary.reference.com defines hero as: “A man of distinguished courage of ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.” Campbell’s definition, “someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself… The hero performs a courageous act in battle and saves lives,” varies quite a bit from the twenty first century definition. In both Joseph Campbell’s definition and dictionary.com’s definition, several characteristics of heroes are laid out before us: courageousness, dedication, and selflessness. These can be considered the three pillars of heroism; these characteristics add character and depth to a hero, other than somebody who performed a glorious act. Courage, the biggest pillar, are the building blocks of a hero, without courage, you simply cannot be an admired hero. Courage allows you
Throughout The Odyssey, the audience views Odysseus in many ways, one way as a mighty hero. Greek culture strictly defines a hero while modern culture possesses a looser definition of a hero. Joseph Campbell defines a hero as, "someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself... The hero performs a courageous act in battle and saves lives." Through the lens of a Greek, Odysseus mirrors the picture of heroism. However, twenty first century humans consider Odysseus a famed adventurer. While many different people label Odysseus in different degrees of heroism, the readers find themselves both agreeing and disagreeing with Campbell's statement defining Odysseus as a hero, each individual reader must formulate their own personal opinion on how they view Odysseus, agreeing, disagreeing, or a little bit of both.
Heroism and heroes are two things that no matter what, will always be around, people will always admire heroes, and wish they could be them. While there is an endless supply of heroes from the beginning of time, there are only a few definitions, yet over time that definition has changed to an extent. Dictionary.reference.com defines hero as: “A man of distinguished courage of ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.” Campbell’s definition, “someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself… The hero performs a courageous act in battle and saves lives,” varies quite a bit from the twenty first century definition. In both Joseph Campbell’s definition and dictionary.com’s definition, several characteristics of heroes are laid out before us: courageousness, dedication, and selflessness. These can be considered the three pillars of heroism; these characteristics add character and depth to a hero, other than somebody who performed a glorious act. Courage, the biggest pillar, are the building blocks of a hero, without courage, you simply cannot be an admired hero. Courage allows you