Odysseus and Telemachus, the view of the Homeric hero

Introduction

There have been few heroes whose might match up to that of Odysseus. Odysseus is the hero in The Odyssey that was lost at sea after the Trojan War. He and his men attempt to make it back to their homeland safely. Throughout the story Odysseus shows that he possess many qualities that only a true hero would have; strength, cleverness, and charisma. Odysseus is helped by his men a number of times throughout the story. An example of this is the general loyalty of his men. They seem to carry out any task that is given to them without any question. Odysseus would not have been able to sneak back into the palace and slay the suitors if it were not for his men that stayed on the island. Having people always there to help you is a good characteristic of a hero because it shows that they are respected.

Odysseus and Telemachus, the view of the Homeric hero

Odysseus, the legendary Greek king of Ithaca and protagonist of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey was recognized as a great hero of his time. He was known for his defining qualities of superior strength and athleticism, sharp intellect, sensual ness, and a thirst for glory. These character traits are still being used to attribute modern day fictional heroes such as Neo, Captain Jack Sparrow, James Bond, and Spiderman. Accordingly, the heroic qualities of Odysseus can be still be seen in today's modern day fictional heroes.

Odysseus's superior strength and athleticism resembles to modern day character of Neo in The Matrix. In the Odyssey, Penelope told the suitors that she would marry who ever was able to string Odysseus's old bow and shoot it through twelve axe heads. Many suitors attempted this task but not a single one was even strong enough to string the bow. However, “Without any strain, Odysseus strung the great bow… Taking the string and the head grooves he drew to the middle grip, and from the very chair where he sat, bending the bow before him, let the arrow fly, nor missed any axes from the first handle on, but the bronze-weighted arrow passed through all, and out the other end” (Homer, 319 - 320). Odysseus's ability to string the incredibly stiff bow and to shoot it through twelve axe heads when not a single other suitor could do it depicts his sheer strength and athleticism. This ability is also apparent with Neo from the movie The Matrix. In the movie, Neo has the ability to freely manipulate the simulated reality of the Matrix. This skill, allows him to have superhuman strength and agility, and the ability to brush off attacks that would kill or disable a normal human being with relative ease. There is a particular scene that exemplifies this where Neo fights off about thirty agents with his bare hands. As depicted in the script written by the Wachowski Brothers, “Their attack is a devastating onslaught of speed and power ...