Not So Much a Hero
A heroic person is who does courageous acts for the sake of his family and peers. In the epic poem, The Odyssey by Homer, the protagonist, Odysseus, has not been a heroic person throughout the poem. Odysseus, Son of Laertes, has journeyed off with his crew in search of returning home and has not met the requirements of being a hero. Instead he displays he is insensible towards others, disloyal, and untrustworthy.
One characteristic that Odysseus presents is being insensible towards his crew members. An example of this is when Odysseus and his men are trapped in the Cyclopes cave, Odysseus says “Now came the time to toss for it: who ventured along with me? Whose hand could bear to thrust and grind that spike in Cyclops eye” (279). This shows that Odysseus fails to symbolize what his members are feeling. For this reason because Odysseus want to decide who to help him brawl Cyclops with a toss of a coin, he does not show a heroic decision. Each time when Odysseus does something wrong the Gods, particularly Zeus, would give his men troubles on Odysseus’s actions. For example, just after wanting to depart the island, Zeus “disdained the offering: destruction for my ships he had in shore and death for those who sailed them, my companions” (512). This shows Odysseus has disobeyed Zeus; leading him to destruct Odysseus’s ships and men. Proving that Odysseus is endangering his crew members by his absent of feeling towards others. Not only does Odysseus lack feeling, but is untrustworthy to his peers.
Odysseus has many conflicts of whether he is a trustworthy person. An example of showing Odysseus being untrustworthy is when the Cyclops asks why he is here, Odysseus answers “He thought he’d find out, but I saw through this and answered with a ready lie: