The Real Hero
Dear Readers,
The content of this analysis will show you how emotions and behaviors have a big influence at the time of making decisions. This essay describes the way how our hero Odysseus react toward different situations. Anger, arrogance and egocentrism are keywords to understand the behavior of this hero, therefore it is really important to know the meaning of these words.
At the end of this essay you will be able to understand what means for Odysseus’ world to be a hero and what drives this hero to make his decisions.
Daniel Ortiz
Professor Jeff Peer
English 2800
13 October 2017
The other side of a hero
The heart of a hero is not always led by pure emotions or behaviors. Sometimes, anger, arrogance and egocentrism play a huge role at the time of leading or even making decisions. We judge heroes because of how heroic the action was, but not because of what emotions led them to act.
Homer introduces in the Odyssey a character called Odysseus who has definitely earned the heart of many readers. Based on his courage, intelligence and leadership, Odysseus seems to be as a pure hero, but did those personal skills always lead him to be the hero we know? As we can see in scene with the cyclops, Odysseus’s speech revels a different behavior and reaction toward certain situation. Odysseus makes clear when he said,
“They tried, but didn’t persuade my hero’s heart –
I was really angry -and I called back to him… (436)”
Emotions are definitely involved at the time of making decisions. Even thought, it was clear that Odysseus’s men were not supporting his idea of calling the Cyclops back because they were afraid of what could have happened. Odysseus did not listen to them because as he said, “I was really angry” and his anger did not let him react reasonably. Therefore, as we notice, his hero’s heart was influence by his anger, creating an illusion that made him thought he was doing the right thing. In other words, Emotions can influence decisions-making- and not always for the better. Anger makes people more likely to take risks and to minimize how dangerous those risks will be. Odysseus’s anger had a huge influence at the time of calling Polyphemus, the cyclops. It did not matter how dangerous it was or what consequences could have carried. In conclusion, his hero’s heart has a psychological response to anger causing a heighted sense of power, but lack of reason clarity and judgment.
Being confident is not the same of being arrogant. A confident person is dependable and admirable. On the other hand, Overconfidence is a weakness and most would agree that arrogance is undesirable. It is very clear that Odysseus revels more of his arrogance at the time of yelling at the cyclops when he says;
“Cyclops, if anyone, any mortal,
Asks you how you got your eye put out,
Tell him that Odysseus the marauder did it,
Son of Laertes, whose home is on Ithaca.”
His action caused the death of some of his crewmen when Poseidon heard of his announcement of identity and took revenge on Odysseus. Without a grand announcement of self-importance, he would have been able to leave earlier, safer, and without sacrificing his crewmen, but his name and where he was from were more important than the consequences. He did not wanted to be forgotten, and wanted to show it in a particular way, we know that self -confidence is knowledge of ability while arrogance insists on sharing successes with others. However, a confident person has little difficulty seeing others gifts and strengths while the arrogant cannot. Additionally a confident person does not insist on the adoration of others for their skills or abilities. People who are self-confident show it with their actions, not by their words. In conclusion, we can see that Odysseus always wanted to be remembered and it did not matter how arrogance he was being.
A hero, puts others in front of him, Odysseus put his ego over his men on the ship, almost causing the death of his men to occur. For this reason, we can say that his cockiness and selfishness is proven throughout this event to be dangerous to others around him. He says;
‘So, cyclops, it turns out it wasn’t a coward
Whose man you murdered and ate in your cave,
You savage! But you got yours in the end,
Didn’t you? You had the gall to eat the guests
In your own house, and Zeus made you pay for it. (436)
His ego put him and his men in situations that were not needed, in this case, it forbids him and his men to return home to his native land. Acting unconscious and saying those words, he made Polyphemus flare-up with anger. The Cyclops was so angry that as a consequence, he took a humongous slab of mountain, and hurled at Odysseus’ ship; sending him and his crew backwards toward their death, but every man on the ship, except Odysseus who was giving orders, rowed as hard as they could against the shattering waves, back towards safety. Was necessary to get the Cyclops angry? Was he looking for Recognition? Gratitude? Or Acceptance? Who knows, but his attitude and decision showed definitely a different prospective of an unheroic behavior.
In conclusion, a hero’s heart is not always leaded by good personal skills or pure emotions. Every hero is different, not because they fight different battlers, enemies or even personal issues, they are unique because they have a different heart.
Works cited
Homer, and Robert Fitzgerald. The Odyssey. New York: Vintage Books, 1990. Print.