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... red various monsters and beasts from his quest of the twelve labors. Jason came across the dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece in his quest to regain the throne at Iolcos. And, Theseus met with creatures and beasts, such as the Minotaur, from his own labors in his quest to regain the throne at Athens. Along the way, the hero is also certain to encounter a femme fatale or an enchantress, who tries to add difficulty to the task at hand, but also sometimes ends up helping out. Helen can be considered a femme fatale of the heroes of the Trojan War, as she essentially set the War in motion that caused the deaths of many men.
Theseus had Ariadne, though she was not very much of a detriment to him. She helped him out of the labyrinth, but then caused a delay in his quest when Dionysos kidnapped her. And of course, Odysseus had the witches Circe and Calypso who interfered with his quest and greatly delayed his return home. Circe kept Odysseus on her island for a year by making him lose track of time, and Calypso kept him hostage for seven years. The last major part of the quest, before actually returning home, is the heros journey to the underworld or close encounter with death. During Heracles labors, he went to the underworld to steal Hades watchdog, Cerberus.
He also wrestled with death himself in order to bring the princess, Alcestis, back to life. Theseus went with his friend Peirithoos to the underworld to help him try to get Persephone from Hades. They failed, and Peirithoos was doomed to stay in the underworld. Theseus would have been doomed to the same fate, but Heracles came down to save him and brought him back to Athens. Then of course, Odysseus descended to Tartarus, home of Hades, in order to seek the help of Teiresias the prophet. He was told by Circe to go there to find Teiresias in order to find out how to get back home to Ithaca.
After descending to the underworld, the heros return is symbolic of a rebirth. His life has new vision and a new sense of aspiration to complete the quest. Most significantly throughout the quest, the hero displays great bravery and valiance, in addition to selfishness. He relies greatly on his strength and status to defeat his enemies. Odysseus once went to confront enemies wearing [only] leather caps and no armour, but taking their swords. (Green, p. 240) This demonstrates great confidence in himself.
The last common characteristic the heroes share, is their death. The death of a hero is customarily tragic. It can be ascertained that the hero is betrayed by someone close to him, and killed in order to take what he has. Agamemnon, upon returning from the War, was dishonored by his wife Clytemnestra. She preferred the arms of Aigisthus, and together, they killed Agamemnon.
Paris killed Achilles in the Trojan War, by shooting an arrow that hit Achilles in the heel, his only weak spot, when the War was almost over. Theseus was killed by being pushed off a cliff at Schyra, after successfully exiting the underworld and coming home to refine Athens. This at last brings us to Odysseus. After a journey of twenty years, fighting to get home, he finally succeeded.
He was at home, living peacefully with his faithful wife Penelope, when his son by Circe, Telegonas, came to Ithaca by accident of a storm, and unknowingly killed his father, Odysseus. With that, end the similarities that Odysseus shares with the other heroes. Though Odysseus was similar to other heroes in many ways, he was quite distinct in others. The main distinction between Odysseus and the other heroes, as noted by Homer, is his metis, which other heroes did not have; at least not in great measure. Metis is defined as cunning intelligence, which is the epitome of Odysseus character. He displays this throughout his quest: at the Trojan War and on his journey home.
During the long War, Odysseus did not rely on his strength and size as much as other heroes did. First of all, he was not that large of a man in stature, he was below medium height, (Green, p. 227) and second, he had a much more powerful mind to his advantage. Odysseus was considered the great strategist and councilor to those around him. The self-control of Odysseus makes him a hero no longer dependent on menos or mana. He is without passion, and so belongs to a new civilization. (Levy, p. 145) Menos or mana is defined as the heroic energy which is a sign of their divine ancestry and upon which their leadership depends; now brought into conflict with the accepted loyalties of organized warfare. (Levy, p. 15) Odysseus was the mind behind the idea of the Trojan horse, and rallied the men to join him inside. This idea would prove to be the turning point of the War that swayed the favor to the Greeks.
Troy, after ten years of siege has been taken chiefly by his ingenuity. (Levy, p. 146) Like other heroes, he was fearless, but his fearlessness greatly surpassed that of the others. At one point in the War, Agamemnon was prepared to admit defeat and run away. Odysseus would hear nothing of it and said to him, We will fight, every one of us, and perish to a man rather than run away. Be silent, if you have no other advice to give, for it would be shameful if the common soldiers heard the King of Men utter such cowardly words. (Green, p. 245) This quote also exemplified the strong and fierce attitude of Odysseus. He would never be commanded to do things as other heroes would. Instead, he was the one to command and lead.
Even, Heracles, who was son of Zeus, followed orders from others. He was servant to Eurystheus during his twelve labors, and listened to him for each task he had to complete. Jason and Theseus also followed orders from other mortals in order to proceed in their quests. Odysseus on the other hand, had a powerful mind of his own.
He followed the advice of the Immortal gods and Circe, the witch, but only when they were being helpful to him. Beyond that, if he sensed any wrongful intentions, he ignored them. Odysseus cunning intelligence is exemplified on his journey home as well, as recounted by Homer. Many times he outwitted opponents through trickery and ingenious schemes. The first was how he escaped the Cyclops, Polyphemus cave.
When the Cyclops was away, Odysseus and his men made a spear and heated it in the fire of the cave. Once the Cyclops fell asleep, Odysseus plunged the spear into his one eye, and blinded him. Anticipating that other Cyclops would come to help, Odysseus said his name was Nobody so that when asked who was hurting him, Polyphemus would reply Nobody is slaying me by guile! Nobody is slaying me by force! (Green, p. 313) This prompted the others to simply leave and they were none the wiser to Odysseus scheme. Polyphemus blindness then allowed Odysseus to fasten his men and himself to the bellies of the Cyclops sheep, so as to be undetected when the Cyclops let them out to graze.
Another example of his trickery is with Circe. With the help of Hermes, he was able to eat moly and be immune to her potions. Consequently, he was able to instill fear into Circe and save his men, forcing her to turn them back into men from swine. Odysseus was also the only man to ever outwit the Sirens. The Sirens song was so beautiful that it inspired those who heard it to jump off their boat to swim to them, and in due course led them to their death. To conquer them, Odysseus stopped the ears of his men with wax so their song would not tempt them, and they would still be able to steer the ship.
He then had them tie him to the mast, which enabled Odysseus to hear their song, but kept him from jumping off the boat to his death. This gave him the knowledge that no other person had ever had the intelligence to gain. Odysseus was the most famous Greek character and is still very well known today. He is a very important part of Greek history and the Greeks continue to admire him. His story, as told by Homer in The Odyssey, is still esteemed, highly regarded and jovially recounted. Essentially, Odysseus was the last of the great heroes.
His death marked the end of the Heroic Age, and there was no one of great prestige after him.
New York: Routledge, 1999. Dowden, Ken. The Uses of Greek Mythology. London: Routledge, 1992.
Fee, Christopher R. , and David A. Leeming. Gods, Heroes, & Kings. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Green, Roger Lancelyn. Heroes of Greece and Troy. New York: Henry Z. Walk, Inc. , 1961. Levy, G. R.
The Sword from the Rock. London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1953. Rouse, W. H. D. Gods, Heroes and Men of Ancient Greece.
New York: NAL Penguin Inc. , 1957. The Volume Library (2). Nashville: The Southwestern Company, 1995. Vermont, Jean-Pierre. Myth and Society in Ancient Greece. Brighton: The Harvester Press Limited, 1980.
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