Odysseus Character Analysis Essay

Genesis Buffalo

Lori Hitt

9th Grade Literature

21 January 2017

                                               Odysseus Character Analysis Essay

        In the epic, ‘The Odyssey”, the character Odysseus displays traits that give him the image of a hero. Many people say that Odysseus was an epic hero despite his many flaws. He was also said to be an archetype of manhood. The character traits of Odysseus define him as a person that many of his peers can count on for stability and glory. The character of Odysseus displays strength, courage, and confidence throughout the story. Odysseus is a strong leader that is admired by his peers and even his enemies.

        Readers feel as though Odysseus is an epic hero. His character traits make this statement true.  The traits that define Odysseus as an epic hero is that he’s very intelligent and determined. For example, in the story, Odysseus uses his intelligence by tricking the cyclops by telling it that his name was “nobody” and disguising his men as sheep which tricked the Cyclops. This also shows how brave he is because it takes a lot to defeat a cyclops but Odysseus accomplished that. Throughout his journey, Odysseus was being tested to see if he could continue ad he never gave up. He was determined to reach his goal of survival and glory. By Odysseus being an epic hero, he protected his men and made sure that they got home safely.

        Odysseus displayed many qualities in the story. His god-like image or quality was portrayed by him keeping his men together and inspiring them. As a result of this, Odysseus earned the trust and loyalty from his men. Other qualities of Odysseus are courageous, confidence and ambition and clever. Odysseus shows that he is very clever by getting out of many situations that weren’t pleasant at all. Doing things that no other man would do shows how brave and courageous Odysseus is.  Even though Odysseus has many qualities that portray him as a great man, he also has many flaws and weaknesses. The most common flaws that he has are his love for women and cruelty. Odysseus’ love for women is displayed in the story when he slept with another woman while he was married. Odysseus displays cruelty by having maids clean up the blood from the suitors. After the task was completed, Odysseus hung all of the maids which is very cruel.              

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