The Hero In Homer's Epic Poem, The Odyssey

Find a penny pick it up, all day long you 'll have good luck. Epic heroes manage to escape impossible challenges and defeat terrifying monsters. Odysseus from Homer 's epic poem, The Odyssey, manages to make a difficult journey home with the help of the Goddess Athena. The Gods have a lot to do with his challenges and his successes. Throughout the story several Gods and Goddess interact with the might hero. Odysseus 's journey raises the question, did he reach his might quest through his bravery and intelligence or through pure luck and help from the Gods. Throughout his journey he shows intelligence and bravery, but the assistance of the Gods cannot be ignored in his success. One example is when his men are captured by the witch Circe. Odysseus …show more content…
He escapes the Cyclops through his own genius. When he and his men are trapped in a cave being picked of one by one, Odysseus comes up with a plan to blind their capture and escape. He sharpens a log, sticks it in the fire, and stabs it into the Cyclops ' single eye. Once blinded Odysseus and his men trick the Cyclops by hanging on the bottom of the sheep to get out of the cave they are trapped. Odysseus and his brilliant mind are responsible for the escape. Another example is when he tries to trick Athena to earn her respect. This wasn 't just luck it was intelligence and intuition on Odysseus 's part. Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus shows a great deal of bravery. He takes on all the suitors in his home in order to reclaim his property. Even though he has the help of Athena through out the book, his bravery and intelligence are what wins her favor. When Odysseus makes his trip to the underworld it shows his great …show more content…
His bravery and intelligence helped keep him alive when others perished; it brought him favor from the Gods, and helped him become victorious over his enemies. His brains and bravery alone did not save him, luck and help from the Gods saved his life many times. He wouldn 't of been able to take back his home without the help of Athena, but his bravery and intelligence allowed him to be successful. If he had been weak, stupid, and cowardly the Gods would be useless to help him and they wouldn 't want to. If Odysseus would of been alone, depending solely on his bravery and intelligence he wouldn 't of been successful either. The combination together allowed him to be victorious at the end of the