To begin with, a hero can be defined in many ways in multiple different cultures. According to Maya Angelou, she believes a hero can be defined as, “...any person really intent on making this a better place for all people”(Maya Angelou.) However, an ancient civilization known as the Greeks have six values one must fulfill to be known as a Greek hero. One person commonly known in Greek mythology is the Son of Laertes, Odysseus. Odysseus’s story was told by Homer and has been carried out for centuries. His long and troublesome journey is permanently marked into our history and the Greeks. The six values of qualifying to be a Greek hero are the importance of fate, loyalty to friends and family, cleverness, love for home and family, kindness to
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Hubris is having excessive pride or self-confidence. When Odysseus displayed that he had hubris, he put himself equal or above the gods. That put him in an uneven place with the gods and mostly Poseidon. For example, while his men ate the Lord of Noons’ cattle he said, “ ‘o father Zeus and gods in bliss forever, you made me sleep away this day of mischief! ‘O cruel drowsing, in the evil hour! Here they sat and a great work they contrived”(899). Odysseus made things worse when his men ate the cattle, and then blamed the god of the zenith, noblest of the gods for Odysseus lack of control over his men. These are one of the few moments where Odysseus is questioned if he should be a well known Greek hero. However, Odysseus did learn his lesson after Zeus stuck his ship with a lightning bolt. Odysseus’ remaining men fell to the sea and only Odysseus survived the wreck by holding onto the mass. During the episode of The Cyclops, Odysseus went against having respect the gods when he replied to the cyclop, “ if i could take your life I would and take your time away, and hurl you down to hell! The god of earthquake could not heal you there”(479)! Odysseus presented his lack of awe for the gods and further angered Poseidon. This incident did not help with his tie to Poseidon specially after the fall of Troy. However, Odysseus payed for his hubris, and the mighty Poseidon made it impossible for him to set foot on Ithaca. Until he learned his place, he could never make it to his home on Poseidon’s
Hubris is having excessive pride or self-confidence. When Odysseus displayed that he had hubris, he put himself equal or above the gods. That put him in an uneven place with the gods and mostly Poseidon. For example, while his men ate the Lord of Noons’ cattle he said, “ ‘o father Zeus and gods in bliss forever, you made me sleep away this day of mischief! ‘O cruel drowsing, in the evil hour! Here they sat and a great work they contrived”(899). Odysseus made things worse when his men ate the cattle, and then blamed the god of the zenith, noblest of the gods for Odysseus lack of control over his men. These are one of the few moments where Odysseus is questioned if he should be a well known Greek hero. However, Odysseus did learn his lesson after Zeus stuck his ship with a lightning bolt. Odysseus’ remaining men fell to the sea and only Odysseus survived the wreck by holding onto the mass. During the episode of The Cyclops, Odysseus went against having respect the gods when he replied to the cyclop, “ if i could take your life I would and take your time away, and hurl you down to hell! The god of earthquake could not heal you there”(479)! Odysseus presented his lack of awe for the gods and further angered Poseidon. This incident did not help with his tie to Poseidon specially after the fall of Troy. However, Odysseus payed for his hubris, and the mighty Poseidon made it impossible for him to set foot on Ithaca. Until he learned his place, he could never make it to his home on Poseidon’s