Odysseus's_Heroic_Qualities

Chase Dolan Period 7 November 15th What Makes a Hero a Hero' What makes a hero a hero' Webster's New International Dictionary defines a hero as "a mythological or legendary figure endowed with great strength, courage or ability, favored by the gods." This definition for a hero seems to resemble Odysseus very closely. But surely people outside of literature can also be heroes. From Webster we learn that a hero can also be "a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities and considered a model or ideal." Is Odysseus a hero by this definition' I certainly believe he makes the cut. These characteristics of a hero are definitely shown by Odysseus, and that they make some sort of a checklist that we can use to identify heroes both in literature and in everyday life. Further, I propose to show that heroes can be of the everyday variety: the firefighters, aid workers, and soldiers who are willing to risk their lives and make huge sacrifices to help others. To be considered a hero, a man must posses or obtain certain “heroic” qualities and characteristics. If Odysseus is a hero by definition then can't “ordinary” people that also posses the qualities to be a hero' Two of in my opinion the most important characteristics a hero must have are strength (ancient Greeks actually believed that physical strength was a heroic quality) and mental stamina. For Odysseus one perfect example of how he had extreme mental stamina is when he was in the cave with Calypso for many, many years and was told about his mothers death, he still stayed strong and he still focused on his number one goal; to get home. Odysseus stayed strong throughout the entire poem and never gave up. One perfect example of Odysseus's extreme physical strength is when he is on his extremely long multiple day swim that Athena sends him on. The first few days of the swim go fine but then suddenly Poseidon, god of seas and earthquakes lashes out on Odysseus attempting to make him fail the journey Athena has sent him on, Poseidon causes relentless storms in the ocean while Odysseus is swimming, although the storms were extremely tough to get through Odysseus eventually washes up on the shore of the small island Scheria. Another extremely important quality that all heroes must have is courage, courage is a necessary trait because without courage a hero could not get anywhere. In Odysseus's case he shows courage many different times, one example is when Odysseus asks Circe about what would lay ahead in his journey home. Circe tells Odysseus that there is a cave within a jagged mountain that has a large dark cloud above it that never resides, she tells him that inside the cave is a fearsome monster by the name of Scylla. She tells Odysseus that no sea man has ever been able to pass the great Scylla without loss of men, instead of being afraid Odysseus instead asks “Only instruct me, goddess, if you will, how if possible, can I fight of Scylla when she raids my crew'” This shows courage because even when Odysseus is told that no one has ever passed the great monster without great loss he shows that instead of allowing his men to die terrible deaths at the hand of Scylla he would rather risk his own life fighting her off. Another great example of Odysseus’s extreme courage is when Odysseus goes onto the island of Circe, he sends his men on to the island first so that they can scout the island. The soldiers Odysseus sent had been gone for a while when one of Odysseus’s soldiers came running back to the ship telling him that Circe had turned the rest of the men into pigs , instead of fleeing from the situation Odysseus instead heads on to the island in search of his men, even though he is again warned by another man on the island that Circe will turn him into a pig as well. Odysseus keeps going in search and rescue of his men, when he finally arrives to the location of his men, he makes a deal with Circe that if she will reverse the spell she has put on his men then he will sleep with her (which is what she wanted) so she agreed. In the end do to Odysseus’s courage he actually benefited by not only getting his men freed but also getting some information out of Circe. One example of Beowulf's courage is when he overcomes the hideous monster Grendel in order to help out the Danes. Beowulf sits through the night uncertain of what was going to happen, this alone shows an extreme amount of courage because clearly Beowulf is full of fear but because he has courage he can manage his fear. The fact alone that Beowulf had gone in against the great monster Grendel just in order to help the Danes shows not only courage but also loyalty and generosity.