Why Odysseus Does not Deserve to Be Called a Hero

Many debate over the definition of a hero. While the ancient Greeks defined a hero as a male, usually of royal or godly descent, my definition is quite different. A hero is someone who completes some significant heroic act with some difficulty or hardship, not just by chance, that couldn’t have been done by any other. This usually involves some large form of sacrifice for the good of someone or something other than one’s self, done out of kindness and not of pride or recognition. According to this definition, Odysseus, the main character in Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, does not deserve the title ‘hero’.

One of Odysseus’ character traits shown throughout his adventures is his stubborn and reckless nature. He tends to lack the self control needed to keep himself and his men safe. When Odysseus and his crew discover the cyclops’ lair, his men suggest leaving and stealing some cheese. Odysseus lets his stubborn curiosity get the better of him and demands to stay and see what creature could live inside the giant cave. Instead of being a leader and having the self control to leave, Odysseus becomes the cause of the deaths or endangerment of all of his men with him. Another time Odysseus shows stubbornness is in his encounter with Circe. When he finds out that the enchantress had captured his men and turned them into pigs, he immediately jumps into action. After receiving some tremendous help from reluctant gods, he risks his life and the rest of his group’s lives to try to rescue the others. While this may show some kindness, it shows a great deal of recklessness on his part. He might’ve caused more harm on the captured men. Yet another time he shows this behavior is when passing the sirens. Not only was the action of listening selfish, but it was very dangerous. He might have drawn the sirens to the boat and yet again put himself and his crew in jeopardy.

When things turn out right and Odysseus gets his way, usually with a lot of help, he gets very prideful and quite cocky. After the Trojan war, Odysseus shows this behavior in his victory. Instead of thanking Poseidon for his helping hand, he taunts and angers the god by bragging. This was the reason that Odysseus and his men ended up in the mess of the journey, and eventually killing everyone but Odysseus. Another example of this was after defeating Polyphemus. Odysseus couldn’t stand not getting recognition for his master plan, so he shouted at the cyclops as they were leaving, much to his men’s terror. This caused Polyphemus to lug boulders at them, almost drowning his fleet, and also caused the curse on Odysseus’ men to take place. He is very obviously self-absorbed, which is not good hero material. Yet another example showing this was when Odysseus had defeated Circe. Not only did he sleep with her for a whole year, having a wife and a child waiting for him at home, but he also tries to kill one of his closest friends when he questions Odysseus’ decision to stay with her. His lashing out in anger could’ve made him a murderer.

When he is not trying to get himself killed, he still isn’t doing much to keep his crew safe. Many circumstances have proved just how self-preserving Odysseus really is. The first example starts before The Odyssey even begins. To get out of going to war in Troy, Odysseus attempts to feign insanity. If he had succeeded, Ithaca would’ve most definitely lost the war, as it was Odysseus’ idea to build the Trojan horse. He didn’t care about helping his home, he just cared about staying alive. Another instance similar to this is before encountering the Lotus Eaters. Odysseus decides not to get off and explore the island, and instead sends others to do it for him, not caring that he might have been sending them to their death. The scouts eventually don’t come back, putting Odysseus and his crew in a vulnerable position. The time it took to rescue them was a major setback in their journey of getting home. Finally, before taking his group past the monster, Scylla, which he knew full well about, he didn’t even consider warning them of the danger, thinking they’d be better off not knowing that six of them would most definitely die, possibly more if they were still in shock. This shows that he was willing to sacrifice six of his men and then pretend to know nothing about their sudden sacrifice.

True heroes don’t put their lives before the lives of others. Heroes don’t make reckless and wild decisions, or become prideful in their heroic acts. Heroes save, not kill (it was, after all, his fault that twelve ships full of men died before he could return home). Odysseus showed multiple times throughout the story that he is uncaring, out of control, and stuck up, therefore, he should not deserve to be called a hero.  

Works Cited

1. Homer. (1998). The Odyssey (R. Fagles, Trans.). Penguin Classics.
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