Joseph Campbell once said, ”the cave you most fear to enter holds the treasure you seek”.This ideology of confronting one 's inner fears through obstacles and becoming more powerful each time, propel the hero of the story to become an epic hero at the end of their journeys of self-discovery. Odysseus in The Odyssey recited by Homer was certainly not exempt from the title of ‘Epic Hero’ due to his skills and his sympathizable traits’ and his fantastical adventures. While some may say The Odyssey is a tale of Odysseus piecing his life together, Odysseus is an epic hero nonetheless for his divine physical and mental abilities, with a wide appeal for his traditional Greek traits such as his yearning for his family and faith.
Odysseus is one of …show more content…
His motives can be best seen when, “he wept for pity… in the name of all those in the world [his family], wife, father, son…[Odysseus dead] mother’s spirit… made him grieve...on pang and pangs of tears”(page ). A man we previously saw as almost invincible now cries as though he is separate from the Odysseus we have come to know. These tears shed for seeing his mother die in the grief of her son 's departure, and to learn about his family left in peril, we truly see the real motivation for his action and his desperation to return home at any cost. As one would assume, when Odysseus ”returned home” to Penelope “he seemed strange man if man you are… this is no pride of mine… Actoris move the bed out...Woman by hell you have stung me now...Who dare move my bed” (page ). The bed was a symbol of faith only known to him and his wife, the bed being moved meant that Penelope has been straying with someone else and was seen as a direct attack against his faith in his wife and family. He gave up everything he had for the sight of his family for twenty years but this test of Penelope on her husband truly shows us how he values faith as the utmost priority and the actual reason he would put himself through the trials. Therefore, Odysseus is an epic hero due to his …show more content…
His outreach into his innermost fears of death, driven purely by his eagerness to see his family. The journey through one’s perils is one of discovery beyond what was thought possible, to triumph and brighten up the darkest corner of yourself. Dwelling in your fears, triumphing over all our fear is the path to become an Epic
Odysseus is one of …show more content…
His motives can be best seen when, “he wept for pity… in the name of all those in the world [his family], wife, father, son…[Odysseus dead] mother’s spirit… made him grieve...on pang and pangs of tears”(page ). A man we previously saw as almost invincible now cries as though he is separate from the Odysseus we have come to know. These tears shed for seeing his mother die in the grief of her son 's departure, and to learn about his family left in peril, we truly see the real motivation for his action and his desperation to return home at any cost. As one would assume, when Odysseus ”returned home” to Penelope “he seemed strange man if man you are… this is no pride of mine… Actoris move the bed out...Woman by hell you have stung me now...Who dare move my bed” (page ). The bed was a symbol of faith only known to him and his wife, the bed being moved meant that Penelope has been straying with someone else and was seen as a direct attack against his faith in his wife and family. He gave up everything he had for the sight of his family for twenty years but this test of Penelope on her husband truly shows us how he values faith as the utmost priority and the actual reason he would put himself through the trials. Therefore, Odysseus is an epic hero due to his …show more content…
His outreach into his innermost fears of death, driven purely by his eagerness to see his family. The journey through one’s perils is one of discovery beyond what was thought possible, to triumph and brighten up the darkest corner of yourself. Dwelling in your fears, triumphing over all our fear is the path to become an Epic