What makes Odyssues a classic Greek hero? How can
Homer’s The Odyssey be characterized as the story of an
epic hero?
• Odysseus is intelligent, but his intelligence is of the cunning, sly
type . . . Not the book-smart type.
• He is, after all, a man of “twists and turns . . .” The Greek term
for this versatility is “polytropos”, or “turning in many
directions.” Odysseus is a man of deceptions and disguises.
Odysseus is a wanderer who seeks to
return home.
• The sharpness with which he led his men in
the Trojan War is the same devious aptitude
he uses to find his way back home after the
war. It is also the same intelligence he uses to
outwit monsters and other foes who block his
path and threaten his men’s lives.
Characteristics/Examples
• Odysseus mocks reliance on strength alone. Strength
without cunning is what dooms the suitors to
Odysseus’s deception.
• Odysseus cuts his losses to Charybdis and Scylla
through careful navigation.
• Odysseus is also able to use the strength of his mind to
enjoy the siren’s song without falling prey to their
seductive dangers.
• Even Odysseus’s encounter with Achilles in the
Underworld is a reminder of how brutish glory brings a
short, violent life. Odysseus’s glory, or kleos, is won by
his wits and will yield hima long, peaceful life.
Physical Strength
• While Odysseus demonstrates cunning,
farsightedness, adaptability and other aspects
of intellectual prowess, he is by no means a
physical weakling! He is not enormous, but he
is powerful, and he is both an excellent athlete
and a formidable soldier. This combination of
intellectual and physical excellence is called
“arete” in Greek.
• In order to use his cunning and his strength,
Odysseus must be willing to face danger with
courage. He does not shrink away from his
leadership role in times of great peril.
Fortunately . . .
• Odysseus also has the help of the gods at
times. In the beginning of the epic, Athena
represents Odysseus favorable to the other
gods at council meetings. Ultimately, Zeus
helps Odysseus rule peacefully once he finally
arrives home.
• Of course, the gods are not always pleased.
Poseidon makes Odysseus’s journey a true test
of his wit and valor.
What else?
• Odysseus is also an aristocrat. He is a member
of the ruling class who seeks to recapture his
“rightful” place after his long years away at
war. He returns to one last battle in which he
takes revenge on interlopers… rude, crass
suitors for his wife’s affections and
possessions . . . And reasserts his claim to his
palace, a beautiful wife and a loyal son to be
his proper heir.
A few notes on his atypical status…
• Yes, like most classic heroes, Odysseus must
prove himself again and again and again, and
the perceptions others have of him are of vital
importance to his heroic stature, but ….
…unlike heroes such as Beowulf who search out
the dragon and the danger . . .
• Odysseus is always willing to find another way
around danger if possible. He doesn’t run, but
he is willing to hide . . . Behind disguises,
behind well-timed silences, amongst sheep
and at a dinner table!
As with many tragic heroes, Odysseus has faults that lead to disaster.
Unlike tragic heroes, Odysseus is able to use his conniving to escape
the ultimate price others have to pay for his mistakes.
• Odysseus has a voracious appetite and a
mortal’s weakness for comfort.
• He wastes valuable time from his “nostos”, or
journey home, on Calypso’s island where he
indulges in sex, food and a basically hedonistic
lifestyle. When he finally misses the
excitement of activity and glory, he politely
leaves for home.
More evidence of appetites . . .
• He wants to colonize the Cyclops’ island.
When he and his men are trapped and in
severe danger of being eaten down to the last
man, Odysseus thinks of a clever ruse to
escape the monster. Just before he and his
men are truly free of the beast, his appetite
for fame makes him careless and he reveals
his name. By doing this, he earns Poseidon’s
wrath.