Odysseus As A Hero In Homer's Odyssey

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What constitutes a heroic act? A heroic act is when someone shows extreme courage. Whether it is when saving lives or when undertaking actions desperately as a last resort. In my opinion, Odysseus was extremely heroic. But, he also had moments where he was a coward.

For example, in book 9 of the Odyssey, he was very heroic. Odysseus and his men were trapped in the Polyphemus, the Cyclops cave. There was a huge rock covering the cave entrance, trapping the men in there. In this book, Odysseus would be known as a hero since he saved himself and most of his men. Sadly, six of them got eaten by the cylcops. Odysseus knew the only way out was for Polyphemus to move the rock, but they knew he wouldn't do that. So, he had to come up with a plan. …show more content…
After he fell asleep, the men quietly sharpened a giant wooden stake, picked it up, and stabbed the cyclops eye while he was asleep. The cyclops woke up screaming in pain, "Nobody's killing me now by fraud and not by force." Polyphemus thinks Odysseus' name is nobody because after finding out the cyclops is the son of Posiden, he knew that he would die if he knew his true identity. After Polyphemus was stabbed in his eye, he ran over to the entrance of the cave and moved the rock. The men were going to just run out, but the cyclops were standing there waiting for them. Odysseus and his men escape by clinging onto the bellies of the cyclops sheep as they go out to graze. Once the men are all safe on board the ship, Odysseus calls to Polyphemus and reveals his true identity. Then they set sail to the sea. …show more content…
Odysseus and his men went through a cave to get around the Clashing Rocks. Odysseus must then confront either Scylla or Charybdis. As they went through the foggy cave, they heard hissing and then they saw the six-headed creature who swallowed a few men. Odysseus told all the men to get down and hide from the six-headed creature. As they finally row out of the cave, they come to the edge of a waterfall. The boat falls, but gets caught on something. The men hang while only a few feet away was Charybdis, a monster whirlpool that swallows everything that comes in contact with it, three times a day. Odysseus and his men hold on for as long as they can. But many of them lose their grip and fall into Charybdis. As the whirlpool is about to close, Odysseus and the rest of the men fall. The whirlpool closed and everything went silent. But, after a moment, Odysseus pops up from the water. Yelling for his men, he said. But, there is no response. Odysseus is now the only one left. Although all of his men are gone, I still believe that Odysseus was a hero in this book. He did everything he could to make sure his men would stay out of harm's
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