Hero: (noun) A man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. In the epic poem called “The Odyssey” by Homer, the main character, Odysseus, is forced from his home to pursue his duties as king of Ithaca. He leaves to protect his country and win the trojan war. Once Odysseus is in the midst of his quest, he is faced with many conflicts of which he must overcome. However, Odysseus lets many people down and hurts more people than he saves, yet he still receives full credit and respect somehow. Odysseus resembles the opposite of a paragon of virtue because he runs from his problems, and instead, he has his men fight the battle for him. Odysseus was a cowardly man who could not own up to his mistakes, but
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If a man or woman could not control themselves enough or even respect themselves enough to honor the rules you have set in place, does that person deserve to be respected? The answer is no, absolutely not. Putting a particular set of rules in place is the easy part, but following them can sometimes be difficult. I think it is unacceptable to establish rules, even if unspoken, for other people when you yourself are unable to stick by them and respect them enough to not break them. It is also being hypocritical to severely punish people when they break the rules, but when you do the same you expect no discipline in return. Odysseus proved himself hypocritical when he slaughtered all of the unfaithful maids who had slept with the intruders of his home; however, he returned home after spending several years away over which he slept with multiple women. When Odysseus shared this information with his faithful wife, Penelope, he brushed it off as no big deal and was quick to assume Penelope would be okay with it, so he would not have any punishment or discipline. TEXTUAL EVIDENCE + ANALYSIS It is hypocritical to assume no punishment in return for disobeying your own values, but to enforce disciplinary actions to those who broke the same rules. Odysseus cannot be considered a hero because he proved unable to follow his own rules, yet punished people severely for breaking the same rules as …show more content…
All Odysseus cared about was power, wealth, and his reputation. He disregarded his family values by being unfaithful to his loving wife Penelope, and he also ignored his son, Telemachus, for 20 years while he set out on a dangerous and risky mission to seek his father. Odysseus was mainly concerned about his reputation. A hero shares the glory of triumph with his men and army who truly were responsible for their country's victories. However, Odysseus was incapable to give credit to anybody other than himself. For example, when Odysseus stabbed the Cyclops, son of Poseidon, in the eye with a spear, he had already angered the beast enough, but he was irresponsible and simply greedy when he felt the need to shout out his name so that the cyclops would know who was responsible for escaping his island. Of course, Odysseus had come up with a way to escape the island for which he should be honored for, but he threw all his possible glory to heroism in the garbage when he angered the already irate monster by shouting out his name. TEXTUAL EVIDENCE + ANALYSIS This action was wrong and should he shamed for many reasons First, Odysseus took all of the credit away from his men and took all glory for himself. Second, he was willing to give up all of their locations just to prove he was a triumphant mortal, which could have easily caused a shipwreck, simply to prove his power, expand his
If a man or woman could not control themselves enough or even respect themselves enough to honor the rules you have set in place, does that person deserve to be respected? The answer is no, absolutely not. Putting a particular set of rules in place is the easy part, but following them can sometimes be difficult. I think it is unacceptable to establish rules, even if unspoken, for other people when you yourself are unable to stick by them and respect them enough to not break them. It is also being hypocritical to severely punish people when they break the rules, but when you do the same you expect no discipline in return. Odysseus proved himself hypocritical when he slaughtered all of the unfaithful maids who had slept with the intruders of his home; however, he returned home after spending several years away over which he slept with multiple women. When Odysseus shared this information with his faithful wife, Penelope, he brushed it off as no big deal and was quick to assume Penelope would be okay with it, so he would not have any punishment or discipline. TEXTUAL EVIDENCE + ANALYSIS It is hypocritical to assume no punishment in return for disobeying your own values, but to enforce disciplinary actions to those who broke the same rules. Odysseus cannot be considered a hero because he proved unable to follow his own rules, yet punished people severely for breaking the same rules as …show more content…
All Odysseus cared about was power, wealth, and his reputation. He disregarded his family values by being unfaithful to his loving wife Penelope, and he also ignored his son, Telemachus, for 20 years while he set out on a dangerous and risky mission to seek his father. Odysseus was mainly concerned about his reputation. A hero shares the glory of triumph with his men and army who truly were responsible for their country's victories. However, Odysseus was incapable to give credit to anybody other than himself. For example, when Odysseus stabbed the Cyclops, son of Poseidon, in the eye with a spear, he had already angered the beast enough, but he was irresponsible and simply greedy when he felt the need to shout out his name so that the cyclops would know who was responsible for escaping his island. Of course, Odysseus had come up with a way to escape the island for which he should be honored for, but he threw all his possible glory to heroism in the garbage when he angered the already irate monster by shouting out his name. TEXTUAL EVIDENCE + ANALYSIS This action was wrong and should he shamed for many reasons First, Odysseus took all of the credit away from his men and took all glory for himself. Second, he was willing to give up all of their locations just to prove he was a triumphant mortal, which could have easily caused a shipwreck, simply to prove his power, expand his