As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.” What makes a hero? To be known as a hero is one thing, but what is a true hero? Well, it depends on whom you ask. To some, a hero might just be a person who is courageous and brave. To others a hero might be a person that is a strong fighter and leader who wins battles; however a hero might also be considered a person who uses his brain just as much as a fighter uses his sword. Odysseus, in Homer's, "The Odyssey", holds a few ideal characteristics of a hero. Odysseus' courage, strength, and his most distinguishing characteristic, his sharp intellect are what make him an eminent hero.
One characteristic that plays a great role in Odysseus's heroic journey is his courage. This certain characteristic shows up many times throughout the epic poem and is the reason that Odysseus gets in many of the life-threatening situations that he does. Along the way home, Odysseus' courage and cleverness saved him and his men from monsters such as the Cyclops Polyphemus. They were all stuck in the cave, so without Odysseus’ courage they would have never been able to sidetrack the Cyclops into going to sleep. This would have then …show more content…
One example of this intellectual decision making was when he knew that he and his men were going to be tempted with the lotus flowers. Odysseus forewarned his men by exclaiming that "... no one [is to] taste the Lotus, or you will lose your hope of home"(Homer 373). Odysseus' orders were not followed by his men, which caused Odysseus to have to drag them back onto the boat and tie them to the benches. He was smart, he knew that the flowers were going to be tempting, but he had to resist all urges to eat them. If he was not thinking, he would have let himself and his men eat the flowers, causing them to never again reach
One characteristic that plays a great role in Odysseus's heroic journey is his courage. This certain characteristic shows up many times throughout the epic poem and is the reason that Odysseus gets in many of the life-threatening situations that he does. Along the way home, Odysseus' courage and cleverness saved him and his men from monsters such as the Cyclops Polyphemus. They were all stuck in the cave, so without Odysseus’ courage they would have never been able to sidetrack the Cyclops into going to sleep. This would have then …show more content…
One example of this intellectual decision making was when he knew that he and his men were going to be tempted with the lotus flowers. Odysseus forewarned his men by exclaiming that "... no one [is to] taste the Lotus, or you will lose your hope of home"(Homer 373). Odysseus' orders were not followed by his men, which caused Odysseus to have to drag them back onto the boat and tie them to the benches. He was smart, he knew that the flowers were going to be tempting, but he had to resist all urges to eat them. If he was not thinking, he would have let himself and his men eat the flowers, causing them to never again reach