Odysseus: the Epic Hero of Ancient Greek Mythology

To define one hero, do you need to define all heroes? Or can you define one by stating their strengths, and that is it? It would all depend on how you define a hero, so how do you do that? For some, a hero could be defined as a person who has an immense amount of Endurance, Bravery, Spirit and Fortitude, and more, but, others may see a hero to be an able and active leader or someone they are able to look up to. Heroes can also be defined as someone who evenly use their brains, as much as they use their strength.

In the Poem “The Odyssey”, Odysseus is depicted as a hero by every manner. He is daring, brave and noble, that is portrayed when he confronts the god Poseidon, telling him he is ruthless and single-minded, as he retires back to his ship and sails on the waters, back to Ithaca. Pride is a good thing to have, infact, it is a great thing to have. At times though, you can be considered to have too much pride – and unfortunately, that was the case with Odysseus while he had far too much pride, Odysseus still did things that produced hero like qualities, making him a hero. As Circe spun his crew to animals, Odysseus ascended up the mountain and exposed his own life to risks, just to save his crew. Odysseus would do anything to avenge Ithaca, so he was prepared to see his Son and Wife again, no matter how crazy things became. To be brave and to have courage is about having the willingness to help, and about the possibility to save people or save places when in need.

Besides just being courageous, and brave Odysseus was also a warriors. He was strong, confident, respectful, and a leader. Odysseus Lived as the king of Ithaca and he led his crew of warriors across Poseidon’s sea, and towards a great conflict with the Trojan’s. It was here when Odysseus and his crew, crushed and conquered the Trojans, due to the great leadership of Odysseus. Odysseus cropped up a plan, knowing he would be unable to overthrow the Trojans from the outside. This was when Odysseus and his crew built a wooden horse. As someone presented the Trojan’s with the Wooden Horse as a gift, Odysseus and his crew were able to invade and overthrow the Trojan’s from the inside. The Trojans accepted this gift, and when they fell asleep, Odysseus and his crew lurked out and decimated the Trojans – and although the warriors were strong, they used their intelligence to help them overthrow and crush the Trojans. Intelligence was one of the things that Odysseus had a lot of, and the reason he was able to endure the missions he proceeded on. Throughout the story, Odysseus hesitates before he acts – he evaluated the situation in front of him, before he lets his crew go forward to a battle. He does not let them go in blindly, and this is a sign of great leadership and heroism on his part.

Odysseus had many flaws – he was a chronic cheat, and he had problems with being overconfident and presenting with too much pride, but this was something all heroes struggle with times. This doesn’t make him less of a hero, as he was able to own these things, he could be considered as just as much of a hero as before. Odysseus was a man of honour, and a man who fought hard a war and won.