The Epic Hero: Ulysses Essay, Research Paper

Imagine what it would be like if it was acceptable to commit adultery.

This is what the Ancient Greeks thought. They portrayed this belief in

an epic called the Odyssey. In this piece of literature supposedly

written by Homer, a blind poet, Odysseus was returning home after defeating

Troy. Just before he left for home he defied the gods, thus making them

angry. Therefore they made his journey home extremely difficult. We

study the Odyssey today because so much can be learned from it and

compared to it (i.e. Rip Van Winkle, Huck Fin, and Moby Dick). When Sir Arthur

Evens discovered the Odyssey and the Iliad they confirmed much about

the Trojan War that before was thought to be myth. The epic hero in the

Odyssey is Odysseus. To the Greeks an epic hero was supposed to be

courageous, intelligent, and loyal. Although Odysseus is courageous when in

Hades, intelligent when up against the Cyclopes, and loyal when he

comes back home to his wife, his most important aspect is his intelligence.

I think this trait is shown with the Lotus Eaters, the Cyclopes, and

when he returns home and outwits the suitors.

Odysseus was courageous when he visited Tiresias in Hades. One of the

aspects that the Greeks thought an epic hero should have was courage.

Odysseus definitely displayed this when he ventures into the flaming

depths of the Underworld to talk to a dead person?s spirit knowing he

might never come out alive. If Odysseus had not gone into the Land of the

Dead then he might never have found his way home to Ithica. When

Odysseus was in Hades he not only showed courage but loyalty.

Odysseus showed that he was loyal when he returned back home to his

wife. When the Greeks thought of a person as being an epic hero that

meant the person was loyal. Without a doubt Odysseus demonstrated loyalty

since he could have stayed on Circe or Calypso?s island forever. If he

had stayed on either Circe or Calypso?s island for any longer than he

did things would be a lot different in Ithica. The suitors would have

continued to waste Odysseus? food and wine and one of them would have

married Penelope and might have killed Telemachus. To outsmart the gods and

return to Ithica Odysseus not only had to have loyalty but he also

needed intelligence.

Odysseus? greatest advantage was his intelligence. Intelligence was

one of the three qualities associated with being an epic hero. Odysseus

displayed his shrewdness when up against Polyphemus the Cyclops. When

Odysseus blinds Polyphemus the Cyclops yells, ?Nohbdy, Nohbdy?s tricked

me, Nohbdy?s ruined me!? because Odysseus told the giant his name was

Nobody. Odysseus showed he is very intelligent when he had the foresight

to do this. If he hadn?t said his name was Nobody then when Polyphemus

yelled, ?Odysseus, Odysseus has tricked me, Odysseus has ruined me!?

then all the other Cyclopes would have come running and Odysseus and his

men would probably have been eaten or killed. In that situation he used

his intelligence to save his own life and the lives of his men.

Odysseus also shows his intelligence in the Cyclops cave when he chose

to blind Polyphemus instead of kill him. By doing this he also saves

lives but this time from death by starvation. If Odysseus and his men had

killed the Cyclops then all the men would have starved because they

could not move the massive stone door. The Cyclopes might have come

eventually and opened the door but, having the sense of sight, would have

eaten the men anyway. This is another classic example of why Odysseus is

the epic hero and the other men are not.

Even though Odysseus displayed courage in Hades and loyalty when he

arrived back home to his wife his greatest trait was his intelligence

considering he went into the Cyclops? cave and came out alive. If Odysseus

had not had the courage to enter the Underworld he might have never

gotten home. If he had not been loyal and come home to Ithica then someone

else would have married his wife and taken over Ithica. If Odysseus had

not had the brains enough to outwit the Cyclops then he might have lost

his life. As you can see from the life of Odysseus? flute player in the

movie, the unintelligent shall be terminated.