Epic heroes are portrayed as some of the greatest men in history, rivaling all that came before them. Some epic heroes are even practically god-like. What is the key to all their larger than life accomplishments? What are the traits that make normal people successful? With consideration of historical evidence, successful men do indeed share a lot of the same characteristics. Nearly all successful men in history have been at least one of the following: smart, strong, brave, or lucky. Now what is it that makes epic heroes so successful? Is it that they are smart, maybe, but attempting to identify the source of their success by looking every epic hero as one group will never go far. It 's best to look at just one and observe the traits characterized
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Odysseus is the hero of Homer 's Odyssey and is one of the most famous epic heroes to ever have his story told. We are faced with the question of whether Odysseus is smart, strong, brave or lucky.
In Homer 's Odyssey, Odysseus demonstrates his superior intellect on more than one occasion. He frequently manipulates other to do his bidding without them even noticing it, not something that someone of lame intellect would be capable of. Odysseus also serves as one of the Greek army 's most respected strategists and is an extremely cold and calculating individual. Odysseus is the kind of man that rarely does something without considering all of the possible ramifications of his actions and if he doesn 't like his chances of things going his way, then he will shift the odds in his favor and change the plan so that he may come out on top. During the Trojan War, Odysseus is accredited with the conception of the infamous Trojan Horse, one of the most brilliantly executed plans in …show more content…
He was one of the most imposing men on the battlefield, he fought with both his bronze and his brains which made him a fierce opponent on the field of battle. He demonstrates his strength on multiple occasions and it is made more than evident by these events that he is a strong man. When he arrives in the land of the Phaeacians and they celebrate with games that test ones strength, even after being set adrift at sea for weeks, he still manages to out-do every challenger he faced in those games. When he makes it back to Ithaca and is disguised as an old beggar and another beggar, Irus, challenges him to a fight, Odysseus nearly kills him with one punch that he purposefully holds back. Then, at nearly the very end of the book, he strings the bow that no other could and then proceeds to massacre an entire room full of healthy men for trying to steal his wife and his kingdom away from him while he was
Odysseus is the hero of Homer 's Odyssey and is one of the most famous epic heroes to ever have his story told. We are faced with the question of whether Odysseus is smart, strong, brave or lucky.
In Homer 's Odyssey, Odysseus demonstrates his superior intellect on more than one occasion. He frequently manipulates other to do his bidding without them even noticing it, not something that someone of lame intellect would be capable of. Odysseus also serves as one of the Greek army 's most respected strategists and is an extremely cold and calculating individual. Odysseus is the kind of man that rarely does something without considering all of the possible ramifications of his actions and if he doesn 't like his chances of things going his way, then he will shift the odds in his favor and change the plan so that he may come out on top. During the Trojan War, Odysseus is accredited with the conception of the infamous Trojan Horse, one of the most brilliantly executed plans in …show more content…
He was one of the most imposing men on the battlefield, he fought with both his bronze and his brains which made him a fierce opponent on the field of battle. He demonstrates his strength on multiple occasions and it is made more than evident by these events that he is a strong man. When he arrives in the land of the Phaeacians and they celebrate with games that test ones strength, even after being set adrift at sea for weeks, he still manages to out-do every challenger he faced in those games. When he makes it back to Ithaca and is disguised as an old beggar and another beggar, Irus, challenges him to a fight, Odysseus nearly kills him with one punch that he purposefully holds back. Then, at nearly the very end of the book, he strings the bow that no other could and then proceeds to massacre an entire room full of healthy men for trying to steal his wife and his kingdom away from him while he was