Firemen who went into burning, collapsing buildings to save lives on September 11,
2001; a poverty-stricken woman who established a school for the world’s poorest children in the slums of Calcutta, India; and an African-American man who stood up against violence to change his racist society. These are all examples of modern-day heroes, celebrated for their selfless deeds and admired for their humble bravery. However, what about a man who cheats on his wife, leads hundreds of men to their death, and spends much of his time crying or telling stories about his own greatness? For many past generations, Odysseus from Homer’s The Odyssey has been heralded as the ultimate hero; however, it is clear by his arrogant actions throughout this epic that he lacks the characteristics of true faithfulness, compassion, and courage to be considered heroic by today’s standards.
It can be inferred from the first time the reader meets Odysseus in Book V that he is no ordinary hero. First of all, he is weeping helplessly, purportedly missing his wife and home in
Ithaca. By today’s standards, a truly courageous hero would have found a way to make it home.
For Odysseus, however, it takes seven years and the gods Athena, Zeus, and Hermes to intervene before he is finally able to return to his wife. Furthermore, Odysseus’s tears appear to be spurious because he has spent the past seven years sleeping in another woman’s bed. During this
“imprisonment,” he allows the other woman, Calypso, to fall in love with him. Without any sense of faitfulness towards either Calypso or his wife, Penelope, he leaves the former brokenhearted and resumes his journey home with no intentions of confessing his infidelity to the latter.
Odysseus’s last stop before returning to Ithaca is Scheria. It is at King Alcinous’s banquet where Odysseus shamelessly boasts of all his brave adventures from the past 10 years. He recalls exciting battles against the Cicones and the Cyclops and reflects back to a year spent with yet another woman, Circe. However, during this flashback, the reader can see how Odysseus shows little compassion towards the many lives lost or guilt for the immoral “pleasures” he enjoyed.
He does not admit that many lives could have been saved and he could have returned home much more quickly had he been a better leader of his men and not allowed his curiosity to control his destiny. As a result, it is clear that Odysseus is exceedingly arrogant and lacks the compassion that a modern-day hero would embody.
This is not to say that Odysseus is completely useless or wimpy. There are many scenes in which he demonstrates bravery, wit, and strength. For instance, during the Cyclops scene, he creates the name “Nohbdy” to remain anonymous, he successfully leads the blinding of the
Cyclops, and he and his men cleverly escape the cave under the bellies of sheep. However, during such events that go well, Odysseus does not give any credit to the gods or his men who help him. Similarly, when things go wrong, such as the scene where he falls asleep and his men eat Lord Helios’s cattle, Odysseus blames the gods for his own errors. A hero’s courage does not have to come in the form of physical strength; sometimes, it can simply be the courage of admitting a mistake or giving credit when it is due. Odysseus clearly lacks this kind of courage.
Therefore, one of literature’s most famous protagonists, Odysseus in Homer’s The
Odyssey, should not be considered a hero by modern-day standards. He lacks compassion, courage, and faithfulness, as evinced by his 10 years of fighting and fun prior to returning home.
Although the Ancient Greeks may have considered Odysseus to be the ultimate hero, society has since come a long way in terms of establishing what a truly heroic hero is. One might wonder, then, why is The Odyssey still taught in schools when there are better stories of real-life heroes out there to explore?