Taking A Closer Look At Theseus In Homer's Odyssey

The Two Sides Eurylochus The epic poem, The Odyssey, written by Homer (Fagles translation) has many different archetypes within the story that causes both the story and the journey to move on to the nest destination. In the same time causes the hero, Odysseus, to continue his journey either by some better or worse situations. In the aforementioned poem there is a character called Eurylochus. He is one of Odysseus’ crew, and he represents more than one archetype within the story.

Theseus followed Daedalus' instructions given to Ariadne; go forwards, always down and never left or right. Theseus came to the heart of the Labyrinth and upon the sleeping Minotaur. The beast awoke, and a tremendous fight then occurred. Theseus overpowered the Minotaur with his strength and stabbed the beast in the throat with his sword and then strangled it. After decapitating the foul creature, Theseus used the string to escape the Labyrinth and managed to escape with all of the young Athenians and Ariadne as well as her younger sister

“A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others,” said Douglas MacArthur. In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, Odysseus the epic hero, portrays these same traits in his leadership of his shipmates. He leads them though victories and consoles them through losses. He is sought out for his wisdom and intelligence, and he is well respected for his consistent bravery. Although from an outside perspective Odysseus may seem calm, fearless, and stable, during the many obstacles he faces on his trip home, different sides to is character are revealed.

Odysseus believes he is blame for the deaths of his crew, so he wants to honor his men in multiple ways. For example, telling the story to the king and to an audience. “In answer to the king… For the list of woes which the gods in heaven have sent me is a long one. I am Odysseus, Laertes’ son. ”(Homer l. 1-19).

They men are then dragged back to the ship by Odysseus, who shows a great about of loyalty. He then ties them underneath the row benches so that they remain true to each of their promise, loyal to their families, and their homeland, Ithaca. That was only the first example of how Odysseus shows loyalty to his men, family, and homeland.

Theseus was known to take the phrase “an eye for an eye” to heart and was seen as a judge of the people. Before Theseus became a great hero, he traveled from land to land coming face-to-face with many evil-doers, “His idea of dealing justice was simple, but effective: what each had done to others, Theseus did to them” (Hamilton 210). For this reason, it proves that Theseus is the better epic hero. Whereas Perseus’s morals are somewhat foggy, Theseus’s are crystal clear. Be that as it may, even Theseus can’t escape the tragic fated ending for every great epic hero.

The demigod son of Zeus himself, Herakles would have to endure and complete eight labors to atone for killing his wife and children. Much did Heracles suffer during this time, killing his own wife and children after being driven mad by Zeus’s wife Hera out of spite. Herakles story is relatable to the struggles of man, more so the other Gods in the sense that Pathos is personified throughout his story. Even at the bitter end, Herakles is betrayed through trickery that ends with his demise. It was unlike any of the ancient civilizations to portray a God as having human or mortal essence.

Hercules the noble teen ? Or a murderer ? Hercules was known for being a hero in the movie, but a murderer in the Myth. Hercules shows that he is a hero through the task he completes in the movie and the Myth. The different archetypes show that Hercules is two different characters in the movie and the myth.

A hero is someone who is revered for his or her exceptional achievements and bravery. Anyone who puts themselves before others not for recognition or an award, but because it is the right thing to do, is a true hero. In "The Odyssey," written by Homer is an epic poem about a man named Odysseus and his crewmates competing against the power of the gods to return to their homeland, Ithaca. Throughout his journey, he loses almost all of his men, but Odysseus finally arrives home, concluding his prolonged twenty-year voyage. Odysseus must battle the suitors that have taken his wife Penelope, and may soon kill his son Telemachus.

He was the king a small Greek island called Ithaca, a father of a boy named Telemachus and the husband of Penelope. During the prequel of the story (“The Iliad”), Odysseus was a Greek warrior and a hero. He was known to be

Heracles' first labor was to kill a lion( Was thought to be a child of Zeus ) in the hills of Nemea, he

He was the first human to kill the Minotaur and make it out of the labyrinth alive. Hercules was from Greece; however, Theseus was from Athens. Theseus always wanted to be the hero like Hercules. His mental state was in the correct place, but his physical state was not as strong as Hercules. It is constantly mentioned how unintelligent Hercules is.

Daedalus was one of the cleverest men in all of Crete. He had created a maze that was called a Labyrinth. Inside the Labyrinth lived a Minotaur, a half –man half-bull creature. King Minos used the Labyrinth and the Minotaur to sacrifice people to the gods.

In the world today a lot of people are afraid to try things that have never been done before, or things that are not done often but admire people that do. Theseus was one of the people that took those risks. For example; Theseus went to battle the minotaur by himself, which had never been tried, he gave Athens democracy, which had also never been

On his way to King Aegeus’ palace he would have to travel through very hazardous roads. Theseus came across three bandits who were known for terrorizing the Greeks who traveled through there, “He killed them all, however, he left not one alive to trouble future travelers”(124). Greece was very happy after Theseus courageously cleared the land of these bandits. Soon after King Aegeus proclaimed Theseus as the heir to the throne; he already has an opportunity to endear himself with the Athenian's. Every nine years the Athenians had been forced to sacrifice fourteen youths to the Minotaur.