Hero Analysis

In The Odyssey by Homer, there is a character named Odysseus. He is the main character and hero of the story. Homer portrays him as a hero, which means that he has some of power and a flaw or two. Odysseus goes through a long journey to return to his palace in Ithica. His heroic qualities and personality flaws play a big part in his return home.

            Odysseus is portrayed as a strong human. He leads his crew around, protecting them, making sure they don’t die. He risks his life to ensure the return of his crew. In book nine Odysseus comes up with a risky plan to get out of the cave they were stuck inside. It was very risky, but he led it.

            Odysseus definetley has some personality flaws. One big one I can think of is the fact that he falls in love easily. When he gets captured by Calypso and trapped on her island, he ends up finding it hard to leave. He actually got sad when he had to leave her. Also, when he got to Aeolus and met Circe he ended up liking her too. He and his crew stayed with her for a whole year before the crew convinced Odysseus that they had to leave.

            Both the heroic characteristics and personality flaws contribute to the story. They are what pushed him foreword and held him back. If he didn’t have all these things contributing to his character, he would have nothing interesting in the story.