Odysseus Character Traits

“Heroes are ordinary people who make themselves extraordinary”, Gerard Way. This quotes represents the type of person Odysseus is from Black Ships Before Troy, he is not immortal and doesn't not have super strength, but he uses his intelligence to do amazing things. Odysseus was a very admirable hero, he was wise, valiant, and showed a deep regard for those that he cared about.

Christopher Reeve once said, “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” The great epic, The Odyssey by Homer reveals the courageous, daring life of Odysseus, as he travels from his victory in Troy to his home in Ithaca. Throughout the journey, Odysseus reveals his heroic traits of intelligence, skill, and resourcefulness.

Odysseus is a legendary hero in Greek mythology, king of the island. He is the main protagonist of Homer’s epic, The Odyssey. He is also a protagonist character in the other Homeric epic, The Iliad. In the epic Odyssey, Odysseus has many defining characteristics. His most distinguishing traits are strength, courage, and confidence.

Odysseus embodies the traditional traits of an Epic Hero in many ways. He is intelligent, cunning, confident, loyal, brave, and able to escape many deadly situations. In Homer's The Odyssey, Odysseus exemplifies these traits in his quest to return home to Ithaca. Throughout his journey from Troy, Odysseus uses what may be his greatest strength, his intelligence, to outwit his enemies and continue on his quest back to Ithaca. An example of Odysseus' intelligence and cunning comes when Odysseus and his crew are trapped in a cave with Polyphemus, a flesh-eating Cyclops.

In The Odyssey written by Homer the main protagonist, Odysseus, learns many things about himself on his journey back home and reveals the truth that mankind can be easily manipulated by someone who seems more powerful and or intimidating. Odysseus has a troubling time getting back home to his wife and kingdom when the god of the sea, Poseidon, does almost everything in his power to stop him from doing so. Along Odysseus’s journey he has to face many obstacles and he learns to display three main traits of bravery, wittiness and perseverance which he uses to get home safely and avoid the dangers of threatening people and or things that get in the way. Odysseus proves himself to be full of bravery, which he exhibits during a fight with a cyclops:

“Leadership consists not in degrees of technique but in traits of character; it requires moral rather than athletic or intellectual effort, and it imposes on both leader and follower alike the burdens of self-restraint.”-(Lewis H. Lapham). In the epic of the Odyssey, the main character Odysseus has many traits. Odysseus’ traits show the true characteristics in the story by seeing his character act under pressure and overcome it. Odysseus is a war hero, but after the war he will encounter challenges. He is an intelligent leader who is determined to end his epic journey and get home to his son and wife.

    When I say the name Odysseus, what traits come to mind? In The Odyssey by Homer, the epic hero Odysseus shows the reader what a hero should have been in the Greek culture at the time. A hero at the time typically showed great intelligence, skills in war, leadership, and planning, and they need to be a quick thinker incase things get out of hand. Odysseus showed all of the traits above, but had some other traits that stood out a little more. Those traits include strong physically or superhuman, arrogant, and bravery.

Tom Hanks once said, “A hero is somebody who voluntarily walks into the unknown.” In Homer’s Odyssey, the main character Odysseus showed lots of heroic characteristics, that cause me to believe he was an epic hero. An epic hero was defined as, a brave and noble character in an epic poem, admired for great achievements or affected by grand events, on dictionary.com. Odysseus showed heroic traits by having wit, being selfless and being hubris. Odysseus was successful on his journeys throughout the Odyssey was his wit.

In greek mythology, a hero encounters many different types of challenges. In the novel, The Odyssey, the author Homer displays the heroic protagonist Odysseus as brave and confident. These heroic traits help Odysseus fight his internal thoughts and battle external problems, such as goddesses and other mythical creatures. Odysseus’s brave trait shines most when he encounters two goddesses. Wanting immoral love, Calypso, who is a nymph, keeps Odysseus on her island.

Throughout the many traits Odysseus has, his bravery is the most outstanding. Odysseus shows his bravery in the quote, “We lit a fire, burnt an offering, and took some cheese to eat, then sat in silence around the embers, waiting.” (Homer page 760 lines: 219-221) Odysseus was waiting for the cyclops. His bravery was shown when he broke into the cyclops home, took the cyclops food, and sat there and waited for him. Usually when you break into someone's home you do not give them an offering and take their stuff for them to find. In the next quote Odysseus shows even more bravery to go home and not fear the consequences if someone recognizes him. “... Odysseus, in his beggar disguise, finds his way to the heat of Eumclaus, his old and trusty swineherd.” (Homer page

Odysseus- Odysseus is the main protagonist throughout the novel. He goes on many adventures with his crew, most of which get them into trouble. Odysseus is a strong leader and very courageous, however, his best traits that is shown multiple times throughout the book is his quick-wittedness. For example, without this distinguishing feature he wouldn’t have been able to escape from Polyphemus, the cyclops, and save his men.

Odysseus, the ruler of the island kingdom of Ithaca, was known by all for his cleverness and cunning, but what I noticed throughout my readings of Odysseus is that he is also shows some weaknesses at times. I will discuss examples of each of these prevalent traits throughout this essay.

Odysseus went anyway, ignoring his fears. A prime example of his courage was when he fought in the Trojan War. Odysseus could have not made it home, but he fought anyway. Lastly, Odysseus was an extremely clever and intelligent man. The only way Odysseus got home from his 20 years of traveling was from him using his clever tricks. He came up with the Wooden Horse Trick, which led his men to win the Trojan War. Most people would have never thought to lie in order to save their life, but Odysseus cunningly did. He told the people of Troy that the horse was a peace offering. Another example of his cleverness was when Odysseus told the Cyclops a fake name to make sure he could not find Odysseus and his men later in life. Those are only a few examples, for Odysseus used his brain a lot throughout his lifetime. Even though Odysseus had many heroic aspects, he also had many negative aspects. He was not a hero because more people around him died, rather than survived. Odysseus killed all of the suitors that had moved into his kingdom. He could have done the right thing and sent the suitors on their way, but he instead murdered them in an unruly

Odysseus, king of Ithaca, was probably on of the greatest warriors in the history of Ancient Greece. It is said that the poet, Homer, wrote the story of the Odyssey. In this story, Odysseus and his crew are trying to make their voyage back home to Ithaca after they have fought with the Trojans. During the long journey, Odysseus will show some of his character traits which include his bravery, cleverness, and wisdom that will assist him with the situations he encounters on his journey home.

One of the biggest traits Odysseus shows throughout the story is his bravery. The whole story Odysseus shows his courage. Taking every mission knowing there could be death; Odysseus still did not give up. Odysseus did whatever it took to make back to Ithaca for his wife and son. Odysseus showed courage by outsmarting the Cyclops. Odysseus went to the land of the dead just to bury a dead shipmate with no fear. But Odysseus showed his every bit of bravery when planning and fighting against the suitors. Odysseus set up plans to kill all the suitors with only 3 people with him. Odysseus refused to back down from the suitors so when the time came he was prepared. When all the suitors were killed Odysseus and his family had finally reunited. After 20 years of Odysseus bravery had all paid off. That’s why I think Odysseus shows he has lots of bravery throughout the story.