Caitlin Jacobs

Mrs. Chalmers
Honors English 9
January 29, 2016
Introduction:

The Odyssey by Homer (translated by Ian Johnston) tells the epic tale of
Odysseus, and his journey home. This journey spans 10 years starting after the Trojan
War. When Odysseus goes to war he leaves behind his son Telemachus and wife
Penelope. Throughout the story Odysseus is faced with numerous obstacles. He defeats
these obstacles using courage strength, selflessness/self-sacrifice and intelligence.
Odysseus is a hero because he embodies most if not all of the characteristics of a hero.
Those characteristics are courage, strength, self-sacrifice (selflessness), and intelligence.

Body Paragraph 1
Odysseus showcases his intelligence many times throughout the novel. To my
heart the best plan was as follows: in Cyclops flocks the rams were really fat- fince, large
creatures, with thick fleecy coats of deep black wool. I picked three at a time and,
keeping quiet, tied them up together, with twisted willow shoots, part of the mat on which
the lawless monster Polyphemus used to sleep. The middle ram carried a man. The two
other on either side were for protection. So, for every man there were three sheep. I, too
had my own ram, the finest one in the whole flock by far. I grabbed its back the swung
myself under its fleecy gut, and lay there, face upwards, with my fingers clutching its
amazing fleece. My heart was firm. We waited there like that until bright Dawn.(9.426-

441). This is an intelligent plan because Odysseus realizes that the only way to escape is
to tie themselves on to the underbelly of the rams. The second time that Odysseus uses
his intelligence to get past the sirens in book twelve. He plugs ears and his mens ears with
ear wax so that they are not tempted by the sirens call. Once Id plugged my comrades
ears with wax, they tied me hand and foot onto the ship, so I stood upright hard against
the mast. They lashed the rope ends to the mast as well, then sat and struck the grey sea
with their oars.(12.141-145) This is yet another showcase of Odysseus intelligence and
how he uses his intelligence to ensure that him and his men are not harmed by the sirens.
This is intelligent because he is definitely unable to free himself from the restraints. He
clearly instructs his men to not untie him under any circumstances.

Body Paragraph 2
Odysseyus illustrates his strength with the Cyclopes and with the suitors. They
lifted up that stake of olive wood and jammed its sharpened end down in his eye, while I,
placing my weight at the upper end, twisted it around(9.373-376) This truly
exemplifies Odysseus strength it shows the reader that he can hold his own against
something that is 10 times the size of him. It illustrates his physical power. The second
example of his strength is when the suitors try to shoot his bow and they all fail to do so.
His own son was not successful Then, going and standing in the threshold, he tried to
test the bow. Three times he made it tremble, as he strove to bend it, and three times he
relaxed. (21.45-51) Next a suitor named Leiodes tried the bow, but couldnt string
it.(21.150) The suitors heat the bow trying to make it easier to shoot; this had no effect
on their shots. Odysseus gets the bow and arrow and shoots it without the slightest

struggle. He set it against the bow,on the bridge, pulled the notched arrow and the bow
string back-still sitting in his seat-and with a sure aim let the arrow fly. It did not miss,
not even a single top on all the axe heads.(21.290-294) This shows that Odysseus
strength is superior to all and this is a very important quality to have as a hero.

Body paragraph 3
Odysseus is selfless when it comes to his man and he embodies the trait of selfsacrifice. Self Sacrifice is the Sacrifice of ones personal interests or well-being for the
sake of others or for a cause. Odysseus sacrifices cost him greatly. Odysseus was
warned by Teiresias not to touch the cattle of Helios but he lets his men rest on the island
and they disobey his command not to touch the cattle. His sacrifice for his mens rest
came with a great consequence. All of his men went overboard and died he was the sole
survivor.

Conclusion:
Odyssues is a true hero he uses intelliegence to realize that Athena is right. He
realizes that