Odysseus A Hero Analysis

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Heroes can come in many different shapes and sizes; old, young, short, tall, little or big. In the Odyssey, the main protagonist is Odysseus. He is attempting to return home from the Trojan War. Throughout the trip, he encounters many obstacles. Readers of the odyssey develop a strong opinion about Odysseus while reading. Some may say he is a hero; some may say he is not a hero. His decisions through problem solving and his selflessness made Odysseus a hero.

Odysseus is a hero because he is selfless. He shows this characteristic throughout the epic poem. In book 10, Odysseus' men were captured by Circe. Instead of fleeing after Eurylochus' warning, Odysseus quickly goes to save his men; "Eurylochus tells Odysseus what has happened and begs him to sail away from Circe's island." He instead goes to find this men and is able to free them. They continue to sail and soon they reached home, Ithaca.

Odysseus’ problem solving skills also made him a hero. He would always save his men and leave no one behind. During the Cyclops encounter, Odysseus was able to escape with all of his surviving crew; “Three abreast I tied them silently together, twining cords of willow from the …show more content…
The text states that Odysseus would ignore his men’s wishes and do what he thinks is fine; “Ah, how sound that was! Yet I refused” (376) and “I would not heed them in my glorying spirit, but let my anger flare and yelled…” (384). Even though he would not listen to them or would lead them into trouble, he would never try to kill his own men or leave them for themselves. When Odysseus and his men reached the Lotus Easters, many of his men were trapped by eating the Lotus. Odysseus could have let them, but he did not; he forced them back on the ship: “I drove them, all three wailing, to the ships, tied them down under their rowing benches, and called the rest…” (373). This saved his crew from being stranded in a foreign place with no way
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