Most epic heroes have qualities that determine whether the epic hero is worthy of being admired. Odysseus displays many characteristics that make him admirable. All epic heroes have bad traits but Odysseus's positive traits overrule his bad traits. Those positive traits were revealed throughout his long journey. As his journey progresses he shows his bravery, strength, and intelligence.
Odysseus was obviously very brave, he never looked at his opponent as a deadly threat. For instance when Odysseus and his men were trapped in Polyphemus' cave, he had the bravery to attempt to defeat Polyphemus. Polyphemus was much, much larger and stronger than Odysseus. Polyphemus could have easily grabbed Odysseus and instantly crushed to smithereens. Also on his way home after leaving Circe's island he had to pass between Scylla and Charybdis, knowing that either the entire ship would go down or six of his men would be eaten.
English: Head of Odysseus from a sculptural group ...
Odysseus and his men blinding the cyclops Polyphem...
Odysseus in the Cave of PolyphemusHe had no clue who would be eaten and if you knew that your ship was going down you wouldn't want to continue on. Finally when he got back to Ithaca he went to kill all of his wife's suitors. There were a lot of suitors and only one of him; He was greatly outnumbered. He stared at danger in the face and defeated anyone who dared to challenge him.
Odysseus was definitely without a doubt very clever. He outwitted the Cyclops, Polyphemus. Polyphemus had Odysseus and his men holed up inside of his cave as future snacks. When Odysseus told Polyphemus that his name was Nhbdy so that when he blinded the monster and aroused the other Cyclops there would be no suspicion since Nhbdy sounds like nobody. That fooled the other Cyclops into thinking the Gods had inflicted agony upon Polyphemus. Another time was when Odysseus was on Calypso's island but he wanted to leave to go home to Ithaca. Athena had pity for him and asked Zeus to make Calypso free him. Calypso didn't really want Odysseus to go so she made it look like she was giving him the choice to leave. Odysseus still expressed his desire to go home and made it seem like he wanted to go to his land and not his wife so that Calypso wouldn't be angry and jealous. He also showed cleverness when he made sure that the suitors had no weapons when he went to destroy them. Odysseus took all their weapons so that the suitors couldn't fight back. He also had all the doors closed so there were no escape routes. These are just some examples of how Odysseus was clever and strategic when it came to his victory.
Odysseus had tremendous amounts of strength. When he was trapped in the Cyclops cave, he lifted a carved tree so he could stab Polyphemus in the eye, blinding him. although a few of his men helped him it was still a great feat. Imagine a few of us trying to lift an entire tree, even with help the tree would still be pretty heavy. Also when his wife set up a challenge for the suitors to win her hand in marriage; Odysseus, dressed as a beggar, strung the mighty bow and shot an arrow through all twelve ax helve sockets. None of the suitors could string the bow, let alone shoot an arrow with it. All epic heroes have bad traits but Odysseus's positive traits are dominant. When Odysseus and his men were trapped in Polyphemus's cave, he had the bravery to attempt to defeat Polyphemus. he was clever when he told Polyphemus that his name was Nhbdy so that when the blinded monster aroused the other Cyclops there would be no suspicion since Nhbdy sounds like nobody. Another example was when Odysseus made it seem like he wanted to go to his land and not his wife so that Calypso wouldn't be angry and jealous. Finally, when his wife set up the challenge for the suitors to win her hand in marriage; Odysseus, showed strength by stringing the bow and shooting it through twelve ax helve sockets. So all in all Odysseus had many good traits that dominated his negative traits.