Dylan Demers Miss Brotherton English I- Period 7 March 7, 2010

A Heros Tale

Its not very often one comes upon a great and epic hero. Some may say you come across heroes everyday, like firemen and police officers. One could consider them everyday heroes but not the caliber of hero Odysseus is. What makes a hero? Well a hero is someone who is uncommonly strong and brave, intelligent, and compassionate; these things define Odysseus, and are why he is indeed a hero.

Odysseus may not be as strong as Hercules or Achilles but is still extremely strong. When Penelope decides to have each suitor try to string the great bow all of them fail, except the disguised Odysseus. A sweet new string upon a peg: so effortlessly Odysseus in one motion strung the bow.(1190-1191). But this is not the only time he proves his strength, he also proves it when he slays all the suitors. It takes a man of great skill and strength to take on as many as he did. As for bravery he is unrivaled. His valor is shown many times. The three most relevant being attacking Polyphemus, sailing past the Scylla, and venturing to Erebus. Erebus was the most feared place of all for Greeks, as is Hell to modern day people; it would take unimaginable valor to travel there.

Unlike strength, intelligence is Odysseuss area of expertise. In terms of an analogy Hercules is to strength as Odysseus is to intelligence. Odysseus has no trouble showing off his wittiness, in fact he constantly is. In The Cyclops when Polyphemus asks Odysseus what his name is he replies: Cyclops you ask my honorable name? Remember the gift you promised me, and I shall tell you. My name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends, everyone calls me Nohbdy. (358-361). After Odysseus and his men blind Polyphemus and the other cyclops ask him who as done him harm, he replies Nohbdy, Nohbdys tricked me. Nohbdys ruined me!(444). Therefore leading the other cyclops to believe nobody has hurt him. It really is amazing how quickly he comes up with his tricks. Some might say hes not a hero because of his trickery, but he is using his precarious language to save his men, and anyways would you tell a man eating Cyclops the truth.

The last quality of a hero is compassion. This is the most controversial trait when speaking about Odysseus, there are good arguments to both sides. In the end though Odysseus really is compassionate. Although he may stay with Calypso for many years he is always longing to see his wife. But when day came he sat on a rocky shore and broke his own heart groaning, with eyes wet scanning the bare horizon of the sea, (84-86). He is extremely compassionate for Penelope, if he was not why would he have gone through all the dangers and monsters to get back to her. He also cares for his men, even though it seems like he sometimes dislikes them. Odysseus is continually getting them out of trouble, although he is the one who sometimes puts them in it.

All in all, Odysseus is the definition of a classical hero. He has all the qualities of one, bravery, strength, intelligence, and compassion. You could not ask for more in any mortal man. Even if he is boastful at times, that does not make one evil does it? He should be praised for his excellence in Heroism.