Odysseus, an Epic Hero
by Lillian Bonar
Essay: Odysseus, an Epic Hero
Pages: 11
Rating: 3 stars
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Picture this, a hero of great legends who travels to the underworld and back to get directions to his home from a
blind prophet. It sounds like quite an impossible journey, but that’s exactly what makes Odysseus all the more
interesting. The Odyssey, an epic poem orally transmitted by Homer, a Greek poet, had to contain some sort of
attributes that Greeks valued in a person. That one embodiment of what the Greeks found intriguing in a character
is Odysseus. Odysseus is known as what is called an epic hero. An epic hero is a protagonist of a story that holds
the most important attributes of a civilization. Odysseus, being based in ancient Greece, is the embodiment of
intelligence, loyalty, and strength.
To begin, one trait that makes Odysseus and epic hero is his intelligence. In order for him to have survived
through his journey, he had to have an enormous amount of intellect. To have lived through a Cyclopes is an
accomplishment of its own. His ability to think on his feet and to plan well has helped him survive throughout his
disastrous journey. When he was trapped by the Cyclopes, Polyphemus, he had to carve, smooth, and sharpen a
gigantic spear-shaped-pole out of a large tree, in which he and his strongest men would then use on the
Cyclopes. In order to follow through his plan, Odysseus had to sedate him. He gives Polyphemus an extremely
strong wine, in which Polyphemus asks him his name. Reluctantly, Odysseus replies: “My name is Nohbdy, mother,
father, friends, everyone call me Nohbdy.”(1.274-1.275) when the Cyclopes passes out, Odysseus and 4 of his
strongest men stab Polyphemus in his eye with the sharpened pole that he and his men prepared. Blinding him,
Polyphemus howls for the other Cyclopes to come to his aid. When ...
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