Odysseus – A Different Type of Hero
The Homeric epic, the Odyssey, is set in the peaceful years following the Trojan War, and concerns the returning heroes on their journeys home, in particular Odysseus of Ithaca. Odysseus is an epic hero; he displays courage, superior strength, and leadership, all qualities that people admire. While displaying these archetypal heroic traits he also displays his weaknesses as a man, particularly his excessive pride, which actually make him easy to relate to. So by demonstrating his strengths, and overcoming his weaknesses he becomes an epic hero, not only in Homer’s time but in the 21st century as well. Yet these archetypal heroic qualities are not his only heroic qualities, in order to win his battles and find his way home he needed to display other qualities such as cunning, shrewdness, and ingenuity.
The early part of The Odyssey concerns Telemakhos and his journey. In Sparta at the court of Menelaos and Helen, Telemakhos learns of the......
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Approximate Word Count: 1169
Approximate Pages: 5 (260 words per double-spaced page) |