An epic hero is considered a willing, strong-minded, brave and courageous person with the qualities of a leader. In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is a survivor of the Trojan War who now faces the challenge of returning home. Throughout his story, he perseveres through his challenges demonstrating his traits as an epic hero such as placing his duty as his main priority. The book depicts Odysseus as an epic hero from playing the roles of boldness and intelligence.
Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus has proven time and time again, to have the qualities of an epic hero. Specifically, Odysseus portrays many traits of an epic hero such as boldness which is exemplified by Athena when she boasts to Zeus, “‘...All the labours of Odysseus, that indomitable …show more content…
Odysseus exhibits an impressive level of intelligence, beyond any mortal man, to the capacity of the gods just like when he uses his wits to his advantage during his huge meddle with the Cyclops, Polyphemos, “‘Cyclops, here, have a drink after that jolly meal of mans-mutton!’” (113). In this passage, Odysseus’ intelligence is depicted when he fools Polyphemos into getting drunk allowing him to proceed with his scheme in order to escape with his men. He uses Polyphemos’ naiveness to his advantage so he can grapple his way out of the cave to resume his odyssey back to Ithaca. Subsequently, he is clever enough to fool the cyclops once more when he utters, “‘...Noman is my name; Noman is what mother and father call me and all my friends,’” (114). In his current situation, he utilizes his advantage of intelligence to formulate a diversion to deceive his adversary. Thus, this dexterous act of Odysseus creates an illusion for the other cyclops to believe that Polyphemos is shrieking for no evident reason, for no man is killing him. With these selective qualities of boldness and intelligence within Odysseus, he certainly meets the qualifications to be considered an epic
Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus has proven time and time again, to have the qualities of an epic hero. Specifically, Odysseus portrays many traits of an epic hero such as boldness which is exemplified by Athena when she boasts to Zeus, “‘...All the labours of Odysseus, that indomitable …show more content…
Odysseus exhibits an impressive level of intelligence, beyond any mortal man, to the capacity of the gods just like when he uses his wits to his advantage during his huge meddle with the Cyclops, Polyphemos, “‘Cyclops, here, have a drink after that jolly meal of mans-mutton!’” (113). In this passage, Odysseus’ intelligence is depicted when he fools Polyphemos into getting drunk allowing him to proceed with his scheme in order to escape with his men. He uses Polyphemos’ naiveness to his advantage so he can grapple his way out of the cave to resume his odyssey back to Ithaca. Subsequently, he is clever enough to fool the cyclops once more when he utters, “‘...Noman is my name; Noman is what mother and father call me and all my friends,’” (114). In his current situation, he utilizes his advantage of intelligence to formulate a diversion to deceive his adversary. Thus, this dexterous act of Odysseus creates an illusion for the other cyclops to believe that Polyphemos is shrieking for no evident reason, for no man is killing him. With these selective qualities of boldness and intelligence within Odysseus, he certainly meets the qualifications to be considered an epic