Odysseus As An Epic Hero Essay

Due to the nature of an epic, the epic hero will be given a task that most people wouldn 't survive. The epic poem of a nation or people must have a protagonist, and that protagonist must embody the best elements from the most important elements of that culture. As such, he must have an epic journey fraught with danger and trials that challenge these elements to their very core. As the epic hero meets these challenges, performs honorably, and ultimately succeeds, he affirms his possession of the best traits of his culture as well as their value. For this assertion to be legitimate, the challenges that he overcomes must be Herculean, a term not coincidentally named after an epic hero of Greece. These challenges would kill most men who would …show more content…
As an epic hero in the Greek tradition, Odysseus is required to be a superb warrior. His strength manifests itself in multiple aspects of both the Odyssey and the Iliad. First of all, he is a captain in the Greek army. That is a title that doesn 't come easily. Odysseus 's rank is one major indication of his strength. On multiple occasions on his journey back to his island home he displays his superhuman strength. Poseidon does his best to keep him from home and sends storms and other trials that Odysseus must face. His entire crew dies, accentuating the fact that Odysseus is stronger than his companions. By far the clearest representation of Odysseus 's strength is how he handles the suitors who have been ravaging his estate. His wife, Penelope, tells the suitors that if one of them can string her husband 's mighty bow and shoot an arrow through twelve axes, she will have him for a husband. This is a task that only her husband could accomplish. One by one, the suitors try and fail to string to bow. This is a significant emphasis of the strength of Odysseus. Normal men couldn 't survive what he has, and they can 't even string his bow. Odysseus steps up to the bow, string it and fire an arrow through the twelve axes. He proceeds to slaughter all of the suitors. As they all lie dead in the room, the strength of Odysseus has never been