Odysseus, an epic hero?

          Odysseus has one main goal, to get back to Telemachus and Penelope. His long journey consists of overcoming many obstacles and getting to the next one. Odysseus is very confident in himself and believes he can achieve almost anything. He leads his crew with courage and not showing doubt when facing a problem. In chapter nine, when stuck at he is quick to think when Polyphemus asks about Odysseus' name he finds a response that will work in his favor. While the crew was worried Odysseus stayed strong and comforted his crew. Odysseus is highly intelligent, he is quick to think in tricky situations. 

          In tough situations, Odysseus occasionally consoles to the gods. Occasionally Odysseus is given insight to his journey ahead. He is not a very loyal leader in chapter twelve when he does not tell his crew of the syclla. Odysseus was right and wrong about not telling his crew because he did not want to start an  uproar amongst the crew, but the death of six men might have been able to be prevented. Odysseus is an epic hero, but has his flaws like many other heros.

Hero Analysis

           Odysseus is very confident in himself. He is not as modest as he maybe should be. Sometimes his confidence gets him into trouble. In The Odyssey chapter nine, If Odysseus had not called out to
Polyphemus, he and his crew wound not have had to face Poseidon's wrath. When Odysseus was
taunted by a prince in the games, he was quick to stand up to him and beat him. Odysseus is not like
many other heroes, he is very cocky. An ideal hero would be humble, and try to stick to his main goal or journey instead of taking longer than the journey should have.
          Odysseus does not try as hard as another hero might in his situation. When on the island with Calypso, he did not make it his best efforts to move on with the journey. Odysseus wants to return home to his family, but he might not have as much of a drive because he might fear what he will come back home too. He is not certain that his family is still even alive until chapter eleven when the ghosts tell him. Odysseus has his flaws that make him weaker as a hero but he still holds heroic characteristics.