HaileyGaitan

Mrs.Parrott

English1PPeriod6

9January2015

Odysseus,Heroornot?

WhenpeoplethinkofheroestheytypicallythinkofBatmanorSuperman.Theyare

mainstreamcharacters.Ithinktheyhaveunrealisticqualities.Iknowthatmanypeoplethinkthat

heroesareperfectandimmortalbut,Ibelievetheyareregularpeoplewithgoodtraits.Heroesgo

aboveandbeyondforothers.Greeksalsohadtheirownviewofheroes.TheGreeksthoughtthey

hadtobephysicallystrongandclever.Heroesshouldhavegoodleadershipqualities.Heroes

shouldbeloyalandclever.InthisessayIwillbediscussingOdysseusandwhetherhehasthe

traitsnecessarytobeconsideredahero.

Allheroesshouldhavegreatleadershipqualities.IntheepicpoemTheOdysseyit

says,Odysseusconvincedhismentostopdrinkingwineandhangingoutwithenslavedwomen,

togetbacktotheship(Homer657).Odysseussawthathismenweregoingtogetintroubleif

theykeptdrinkingandstayingwiththesewomen.Theywouldnevergetbacktotheship.

Odysseususedhiswordstoconvincethementoreturntotheshipshowinggreatleadershipin

protectinghismenfromharm.Odysseuswasnotonlyabletoconvinceabunchofgrownmento

getbackontheirship,buttoleavethewomenthattheyhadbeendrinkingwith.Anexampleof

howIusedleadershipprinciplesinmylifecanbeseeninmychoices.RecentlyIwasinvitedto

gotoaparty.Thepartywasnotclosetohomeandwasgoingtoendlaterthanmycurfew.I
didntthinkitwasagoodidea.Ratherthanriskgettingintotrouble,Idecidednottogo,and

becauseofthissodidacoupleofmyfriends.ThisshowsleadershipbecauseIdecidedtodomy

ownthinginsteadoffollowingthecrowd.Aherothinkscarefullyabouttheirchoices.Ahero

makeschoicesbyusingcommonsenseandnotfollowingthecrowd.ThatswhyIthinkheroes

arealwaysalsogoodleaders.

Aheroshouldalsobeloyal.InTheOdysseyitsays,NowCirce,loveliestofall

immortalspersuadesOdysseustostaywithher.Odysseussharesmeatandwine,aftershe

restoreshisheart(Homer675).ThisquotetalksabouthowCirceconvincedOdysseustostay

withhereventhoughheismarriedtoanotherwoman.ThisshowsOdysseusisnotloyal.Hefell

forCircestemptationsforgettingabouthiswife,Penelope.Anexampleofloyaltyinourlifetime

isseenintheleaderNelsonMandela.Hewasloyaltohispeopleandbeliefsinapeacefulchange

for27yearswhileinprison.Hisfreedomandhisloyaltytohisworkmadehimasymbolforall

ofSouthAfrica.Inthearticle,WhyNelsonMandelawasaGreatLeaderitsays,Itisbetterto

leadfrombehindandputothersinfront,especiallywhenyoucelebratevictorywhennicethings

occur(Williams1).ThisissomethingNelsonMandelaactuallysaid.Whatthisshowsisthat

Mandelawasloyaltothecausehefoughtsolongfor,butdidnotneedtobeinthespotlight.

Mandelaputhispeoplebeforehimselfandstayedloyaltohisbeliefs.Youneedloyaltytobea

hero.Heroesmustremainloyalandnotgiveup.Overall,loyaltyisaveryimportanttraitfor

heroestohave.

Thethirdtraitnecessaryisbeingclever.PoseidonLord,whosetstheearthatremble,

brokeitupontherocksatyourlandsend.Awindfromseawardservedhim,droveushear

(Homer273275)isstatedinTheOdyssey.InthispartofthestoryOdysseustoldPolyphemus,
thecyclops,thathisboatwreckedoffthecoastofhisisland.Hisshipwasactuallyfine.

OdysseuswascleverintellingPolyphemusthathisshiphadwrecked,becauseheknowsthe

cyclopswilldestroyhisboatifheknewotherwise.Odysseusandhiscrewneedtobeableto

leavetheisland,soitwasimportanttobecleverwhiledealingwiththecyclops.Agreatlife

exampleofclevernessisseeninanoldKraftFoodsad.Itsays,Lettuce,counttheways.

Kraftusedthewordlettuceinsteadofletusbecausetheadwasforsaladdressing.People

remembertheadbecauseitisclever.Itmakespeoplelaugh.Kraftshopeisthatapersonwill

remembertheadwhentheyareshoppingandpurchaseaKraftproduct.Itsimportantforahero

tobeclever.Iftheyclevertheycanthinkquicklytohelpothersorgetoutofasituationquickly.

Asyoucansee,clevernessisanecessarytraitforheroestohave.

Ibelieveallheroesshouldhavegreatleadershipqualities,beloyal,andbeclever.

Odysseushadtwooutofthreetraits.Eventhoughhehadtwoofthethree,Istilldonotconsider

Odysseusahero.Odysseuswasmissingaveryimportanttrait,loyalty.Thestorieswehaveread

showthathehadmanytraitsbothgoodandbad,andthoughsomepeoplestillconsiderhima

heroIthinkthathewasjustaman.LearningaboutthesetraitstaughtmethatIshouldworkto

havethesequalitieseventhoughImnothero.Theyarejustgoodqualitiestohaveingeneral.

 Works Cited

Homer.TheOdyssey.
HoltLiteratureandLanguageArts.
Austin,TX:Holt,Rinehart,

Winston,1998.

Williams,Ray."WhyNelsonMandelaWasAGreatLeader."
WiredforSuccess
7Dec.2013.

Print.