Writing Wednesday Oct. 3 (My Birthday!)

Odysseus is a hero in Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey. His heroic characteristics are shown many times throughout the poem. He is a normal human being with super human characteristics, as many heroes are from this time period. He is very intelligent, a leader, and he is not afraid to ask for help. He also has flaws such as being too cocky at times.

            First of all Odysseus has three main characteristics that make him a hero. These are he’s intelligent, good at leading, and he often times asks for help. HE is intelligent many different times throughout the book but one that really stuck out to me was when Odysseus was in the cave. He and his men got trapped in the cave and he plotted a plan against Polyphemis. HE got him really drunk and when he asked Odysseus what his name was Odysseus replied with “Nobody.” When Polyphemis passed out Odysseus stabbed his eyes therefore blinding him. Polyphemis let out with a cry and said, “Nobody’s killing me!” No one came to his rescue since they didn’t think anyone was killing him. Secondly, Odysseus is good at leading his crew. When the lotus fruit mesmerized the crew, Odysseus was the one that forced them back into the ship. Lastly, Odysseus is good at admitting he needs help and is not afraid to ask for it. Many times throughout Odysseus prays for help from the gods. An example of when he receives help would be when he almost drowned due to Poseidon. Poseidon hates Odysseus with a passion and at one point in the book while Odysseus was sailing Poseidon stirred up a giant storm almost drowning Odysseus. He asked for help and received some from both Athena and Ino. These are only a few of the many characteristics of Odysseus that are heroic but in my opinion they are the most important.

            Along with his heroic characteristics he also obtains flaws. The main flaw that I see in what we have read of the poem so far is he can become very cocky at times. This mainly stuck out when Odysseus is departing from the island where the cave was. As he is departing he reveals who he truly is. Little did he know Poseidon is related to Polyphemis thus resulting in Poseidon hating Odysseus.