Daniel Azimi

Do Heroes Have Responsibilities?

Are heroes obligated to obtain and complete tasks that affect not only themselves, but the

lives of others as well? To answer this question, one may look at the epic poem, The Odyssey by

Homer, a famous Greek philosopher at the time. The main character of the story is a mortal man

named Odysseus, king of Ithaca, who goes on a journey to return to his homeland after fighting

in the Battle of Troy, encountering many obstacles along the way. Odysseus is an epic hero that

carries many responsibilities, from formulating elaborate plans, to leading his men, to protecting

the ones closest to him.

Odysseus is an extremely cunning and intelligent man, formulating elaborate and

successful plans out of thin air, almost effortlessly. When the captain and his crew landed on the

island of the Cyclops, one of them, Polyphemus, trapped them inside his cave by sealing the

door. In lines 265-284 of The Odyssey, Odysseus forms a plan to handicap the Cyclops: “Now

came the time to toss it: who ventured along with me? Whose hand could bear to thrust and grind

that spike in Cyclops’ eye, when mild sleep had mastered him? As luck would have it, the men I

would have chosen won the toss- four strong men, and I made five as captain” (279-284). This

plan illustrates his cleverness and his ability to analyze a rough situation and turn the tables. The

king also travels to the Land of the Dead to receive his prophecy from an oracle named Tiresias.

“Then I addressed the blurred and breathless dead, vowing to slaughter my best heifer for them

before she calved, at home in Ithaca, and burn the choice bits on the altar fire; as for Tiresias, I

swore to sacrifice a black lamb...Thus to assuage the nations of the dead I pledged these rites…”

(555-561). This part of his ever growing goal to reach Ithaca and be reunited with his family

perfectly demonstrates his wisdom, sacrificing only the best of his flocks to lure out the oracle

and receive valuable guidance. Finally, in lines 1117-1158, Odysseus conveys his most elaborate
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and complicated plan yet, this time with the help of his son, Telemachus, and the goddess of

strategy and warfare, Athena. “The swineherd later on will take me down the port-side trail- a

beggar, by my looks...put aside two broadswords and two spears for our own use, two oxhide

shields nearby when we go into action. Pallas Athena and Zeus All-Provident will see you

through, bemusing our young friends. Now one thing more. If son of mine you are and blood of

mine, let no one hear Odysseus is about”(1122-23,1150-56). His plan is to get rid of the suitors

that occupied his own palace in his absence, all of them looking to marry his wife, Penelope, in

order to remove Odysseus from the throne and rule over all of Ithaca. The renowned warrior

draws on his wits once more, disguising himself as a poor beggar, fooling the suitors into

thinking that he is a man of little status, waiting until the time is right to reclaim his rightful

throne, displaying both immense acumen and dexterity in such a dire circumstance. The epic

hero also possesses another fine quality of a noble and honorable man: leadership, emerging the

most before and after unforeseen circumstances.

The king of Ithaca is also an instinctive leader, commanding his men and giving accurate

orders throughout their unfortunate journey. The commander and his men dock in the land of the

Lotus, where some of the crew members sent to explore the terrain fell victim to the

mesmerizing effects of the Lotus plant. Odysseus says: “I drove them, all three wailing, to the

ships, tied them down under their rowing benches, and called the rest: ‘All hands aboard; come,

clear the beach and no one taste the Lotus, or you lose your hope of home... we moved out again

on our sea faring”(101-05, 109). The hero shows his leadership by granting orders to his men to

leave this land immediately while bringing back the three men who consumed the Lotus and fell

under its spell. The group of warriors land on an island unknown to them at the time, later

realizing it is the land of the Cyclops; the leader ventures out with his best fighters to scout the
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island and collect information. “We beached there, and I told the crew to stand by and keep

watch over the ship: as for myself I took my twelve best fighters and went ahead”(134-137). The

hero proves his level of authority once more, personally selecting the strongest men of his crew

to discover the potential riches hidden on the island and bring them back to the ship. Odysseus

travels to the Land of the Dead to beckon the soothsayer known as Tiresias to receive his

prophecy and plan his following actions accordingly. Tiresias utters: “Stand clear, put up your

sword; let me but taste blood, I shall speak true. At this I stepped aside, and in the scabbard let

my long sword ring home to the pommel silver, as he bent down to the somber blood”(626-630).

The epic hero’s actions show his leadership in a different light, displaying his strong initiative,

charting his desired course solely by himself. The son of Laertes feels a sense of obligation to

protect the people he cares about the most, no matter the method or cost, ultimately to make

things right.

The son of Laertes encounters multiple obstacles that stand in the way of him reaching

home and reuniting with his family, but these obstructions prove to be of almost no challenge to

the hero. When Odysseus and his chosen group of men are trapped in the Cyclops cave, they

make a sharp pole out of an olive tree, and gouges out his only eye to make him open the door

and allow the warriors to escape. “The pike of olive, green though it had been, reddened and

glowed as if about to catch. I drew it from the coals and my four fellows gave me a hand... they

sprinted, lifted it, and rammed it deep in his crater eye”(327-30,332-33). The captain shows that

he has the strength and intelligence to rally up his troops and make a seemingly harmless object

into a weapon that can cause great agony. The king of Ithaca travels to a part of the Land of the

Dead known as Erebus, a pit and gathering place for the lost and confused souls of the

underworld, forcing him to fend them off until the oracle known as Tiresias appears before him.
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“From every side they came and sought the pit with rustling cries...I crouched with my drawn

sword to keep the surging phantoms from the bloody pit till I should know the presence of

Tiresias”(569-70,575-77). The epic hero proves once again that he has the ability to resist his

enemies using merely a single weapon, in this case his sword, to stay alive and return to Ithaca

and his loved ones. Finally, the commander reaches Ithaca after almost two decades at sea,

finally seeing his son, Telemachus, and devises a plan to gather weapons to clear out his wife’s

suitors who occupied his own palace. Odysseus conveys his plan to Telemachus: “But put aside

two broadswords and two spears for our own use, two oxhide shields nearby when we go into

action”(1150-53). The king of Ithaca shows he is able to use any weapon to dispose of threats,

this time going into action using a sword, spear, and a shield to fend off a large group of nobles

and save his wife from peril. However, some might disagree that heroes possess any

responsibilities, if at all.

One might say that heroes do not have any responsibilities, and are ultimately only after

one goal, to save someone or something important. For example, when Odysseus and his men

land on the island of the Cyclops, they find a cave filled with provisions such as whey, but soon

become trapped by the owner of the cave, Polyphemus, and half of them are devoured by the

beast. “My men came pressing around me, pleading: ‘Why not take these cheeses, get them

stowed, come back, throw open all the pens, and make a run for it? We’ll drive the kids and

lambs aboard. We say put out again on good salt water!’ Ah, how sound it was! Yet I refused. I

wished to see the cave man, what he had to offer- no pretty sight, it turned out, for my friends.”

The king’s men plead with him to allow them to take the provisions and livestock and bring them

back to the ship, but he refused this wise proposition. The son of Laertes displays ignorance and

selfishness at this time, instead looking at the bigger picture rather than think about the safety of
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himself and his crew, leaving half of them dead in the process. However, even though some

people might feel this way, the hero still saves his crew on multiple occasions and protects his

family from foreign nobles that wished to seize his throne, displaying that heroes like Odysseus

bear numerous responsibilities.

Odysseus is an example of a hero that possesses many responsibilities such as coming up

with plans, being a leader, and saving his family. The hero makes multiple, successful plans,

thinking three steps ahead of his enemies. The king of Ithaca is a natural leader, guiding and

warning his crew members. He also secretly gets rid of his wife’s suitors in order to protect his

loved ones. As people get older, their responsibilities increase, eventually becoming the

foundations of their lives.