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Kane Koning 11-04-13 5th hour The Odyssey essay He has spoken to the gods, he has defeated the cyclops Polyphemus, he has walked through Hades and lived. He is odysseus the hero. In the story the Odyssey by Homer, a man by the name of Odysseus and his goes on a journey to return to Ithaca after the Trojan war. They soon find that this is no ordinary journey and Odysseus will need to prove himself as a hero if he wishes to return home. In the Odyssey, Odysseus shows that he has the traits and abilities of an epic hero with his first sign being his larger than life ability to talk to the gods. In this story Odysseus is favored by the gods and they give him advice to help him survive this dangerous journey. The first god to help him on his trip back would be Athena who gives him advice and moral support along the way. She had advised Odysseus to disguise himself as a beggar when he returned to Ithaca to avoid being recognized by the suitors. Hermes had also been a great help to Odysseus in his journey. He advised Odysseus to eat the moly plants to avoid getting affected by Circes potions. He also helped by relaying Zeus message to release Odysseus from Calypsos island. Aeolus had even helped Odysseus by bagging up all the bad winds to help him with an easier trip home. Odysseus had been helped by most gods because of how they favored him for his courage and cunning and proved his larger than life ability and showing how he was an epic hero. In this journey, Odysseus had to use his wits many times to keep him and his crew alive. He showed cunning when he faced the cyclops, Polyphemus and he knew he would need to use his cunning if he wanted to escape alive. Odysseus had to find a way of tricking the cyclops to let them out without

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killing him or they would be stuck there forever. Odysseus had told the cyclops that his name was nohbdy so the cyclops would sound as if he did nothing when screaming to the others about his eye. When Odysseus stabbed Polyphemus in the eye they would still need to escape without being caught so he came up with the plan to tie his men under Polyphemus sheep so they could escape unnoticed when he let out the sheep. Odysseus also had to deal with challenges like when facing the suitors after returning to Ithaca. He made the swineherd and Telemachus hide all the suitors weapons as they tried stringing Odysseus old bow. Then Odysseus, disguised as a beggar sneaks in and strings the bow, reveals himself, and killed them to reclaim his old home. Odysseus had to use his cunning in many situations to make sure he had survived this perilous journey and proved himself as a hero. Throughout Odysseus journey he showed great courage in his travels because he knew if he didnt have courage, he would never see his home again. One of the best examples for this heroic trait would be his trip to the underworld. During this trip Odysseus had to travel through the land of the dead alone and avoid the spirits of the lost souls that followed, trying to claim his sacrifice as their own.