Ulysses: An Epic Hero

In the book The Adventures of Ulysses by Bernard Evslin, Ulysses goes through many trials and is an ideal example of an epic hero. In the two stories “Cannibal Beach” and “Nausicaa,” the heroic elements of Ulysses reaching a low point and Ulysses being tested to show the worthiness of his quest are clearly displayed. In both stories, Ulysses reaches a low point in his quest. In “Cannibal Beach,” Ulysses and his men come to an island with giant cannibals that look and are as tall as trees. In the story, Bernard Evslin says “It was a giant's leg he had been climbing, and the cloth-like bark was cloth indeed, the stuff of his garment. And he had realized then that that the three sailors he had sent aloft had climbed to a mumbling death.”