Jane Lai The Odyssey 12/1/11 Period 4/5 To the ancient Greeks, the hero of an epic was a special

and exceptional person with many unique character traits that set apart him apart from other men. In this story The Odyssey By Homer, Odysseus is the epic hero. He depicts an epic hero by showing self-control in The Land of the Dead and The Cattle of the Sun God. Odysseus shows intelligence in The Cyclops, and compassion in The Land of the Dead, and Argus. In The Land of the Dead, Odysseus possesses the trait of self-control. All of Odysseus and his men were offered the lotus, a special plant that was extremely tempting, one that would forget about home, which was the main goal of the entire adventure. Odysseus however does not take the lotus, even if it was tempting. The adventure so far, was going rough, the weather in the seas was harsh, worn out and sick at heart, tasting our grief. Another example of self-control would be in The Cattle of the Sun God. Odysseus men decided to eat Helios livestock, even knowing the consequences the Gods would put upon them. All they say is but famine is the most pitiful, the worst end that a man can have. Odysseus shows self-control by not eating Helios beloved livestock as starving as his men beside him were. In another way Odysseus shows a heroic trait is his intelligence in various ways during his epic adventure. In The Cyclops, Odysseus had to find a unique way to attempt to kill him, since he was so big. First, he offers him a drink, one that makes the Cyclops drunk, and then tells him that his name was Nobody. The Cyclops is drunk so he is unaware of Odysseus trying to play with him. Odysseus hurts the Cyclops by

throwing a spear at his eye. In The Sirens, Odysseus also shows intelligence by putting the wax in the sailors ears, and asked them to tie him to the ship, so he is not tempted to jump out the harmonic songs of the Siren like creatures. The last trait that Odysseus shows is a human characteristic and that is of compassion. Odysseus shows compassion in Argus when he sees his long, beloved dog again in twenty years. It is a compassionate moment for both the dog and Odysseus. When Argus sees his master, he does his best to wag his tail, nose down, with flattened ears, though he was a very old dog with very little strength even left to hold him up. Odysseus looks away, wiping a salt tear from his cheek. Another example of Odysseus showing compassion was in The Land of the Dead. Odysseus visits his mothers grave, and tears up, which is a humanistic characteristic. In conclusion, Odysseus is a very successful Greek epic hero, depicting both human and heroic traits. Self-control, intelligence, and compassion in The Land of the Dead, The Cattle of the Sun God, The Sirens, Argus, and The Cyclops, truly brings out the characteristics of a true Greek epic.