Odysseus Is An Epic Hero Essay

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In the beginning of The Odyssey, Odysseus tells King Alcinous in his court that he is as “formidable for guile in peace and war”. This means that he is intimidating and clever in times of war and peace. Odysseus characterizes himself and tells the king of the qualities that make him an epic hero. An epic hero is defined as a brave and noble character in an epic poem, admired for great achievements or affected by grand events. In the beginning of the epic poem, Homer opens up the story by giving a short summary of Odysseus. Within the summary, he gives examples of how Odysseus was brave during the war and his journey home. When Odysseus was on the ship with his men he fought valiantly against all the different monsters. He was intelligent and when it came down to fighting, Odysseus knew what he was doing. Odysseus characterizes himself accurately because of his strategies he used in the war like defeating the Cyclops with wit, getting past the sirens with …show more content…
A moment of cleverness for Odysseus was when he told his ship members to put bee’s wax into their ears as they passed the sirens. At another time of intimidation was when Odysseus was back in Ithaca, in his home. The suitors were trying to shoot from his bow to marry his wife. Odysseus was still dressed as a beggar. He asks for a chance to shoot from the bow. When the bow is given to him, he acts like does not know what to do with it. All of a sudden, however, Odysseus shoots from the bow with ease. This creates a shock factor within the audience (or the suitors). Odysseus goes on to killing all of the suitors in a very bloody fashion. This further proves the intimidation factor of Odysseus. At this time, he seemed very frightening and powerful. Here we get a glimpse of what his demeanor during the war must have been like. Odysseus proves in this moment upholds both the traits of intimidation and

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