Is Odysseus a Hero?

Is Odysseus A Hero?

We've all heard of superheroes like Batman, Superman and Spiderman, but back in Ancient Greece who do they look to as a hero? The answer to that question would be a man known as Odysseus. What, you may ask classified this man as a hero? He is considered a hero because in the novel, The Odyssey, he portrays almost all the characteristics of heroism such as selflessness, by putting himself before his men, and wisdom in deciding the smartest ways to get back home, and bravery in all situations he encounters, a few main things every hero must possess.

Being altruistic is a huge aspect of being a hero and Odysseus proves he is in many situations throughout the book. For example when Odysseus and his men are stuck in the cave of the cyclops he proves himself to be very selfless by choosing himself as one of the men to fight the cyclops without question. He states “Now time to toss for it, who would venture along with me”(Homer 658). This represents how he always puts himself before his men immediately offering up himself, he also shows his altruism at the point in the story when three of his men encounter the lotus eaters and fall into their ways by eating the lotus’ causing them to lose sight of home, Odysseus goes onto the island by himself ignoring all the possible dangers to himself. He says “I drove them all three wailing to the ships”(Homer 663), instead of making one of his other men go rescue the others he chooses to put himself at risk by going to save them himself.

Being intelligent also plays a big role in heroism you may be strong but without being intelligent how will you be able to decipher wise from unwise decisions. Odysseus proves himself very intelligent when he comes up with the idea of the the Trojan Horse tactic that would save many men and give them a head start on Troy overall leading to the victory of the Trojan War. From the Iliad the author says “Odysseus...Who thought of the famous Trojan Horse trick that led to the downfall of Troy”(Leeming 643), this shows that even Homer believed Odysseus was intelligent and deserved to be portrayed as a hero. He also proves that he is very clever when he and his men were trapped in the cave of the cyclops Odysseus was the one who said not to kill him because he was the only one clever enough to realize that if they killed the cyclops they would have no way to move the giant stone that would trap them in the cave. At this point in the story Odysseus says “If I killed him we perished there as well,