Odysseus is the archetype of an epic hero. He has immortal ancestors, he has completed a quest, and he has superhuman intellect. However, Odysseus is still human. Be that as it may, it seems Odysseus never lets his human worries get the best of him. His courage and valor are his legacies, as told in the Iliad and the Odyssey.
Odysseus goes to war, a tale told in the epic poem the Iliad. While he is not a central character of this narrative, he leaves his wife and son behind to honor his homeland in battle. It's even been said that he is the brains behind the famous Trojan Horse trick. While these moments implicitly speak of bravery, a trait all soldiers must embody to survive, Odysseus shines in the sequel epic, the Odyssey.
Here are some key moments from his journey that highlight Odysseus's moments of courage and strength.
After losing many of his men to the Cicones on the island of Ismarus, Zeus foils their course, setting them off track for nine days. Odysseus never panics, keeps his men calm, and sails on.
On the island of the Lotus Eaters, Odysseus's men eat the lotus and refuse to leave. Odysseus drags them to the ship, ties them down, and remains on his course toward Ithaca.
In one of the most famous stories by far, Odysseus is trapped in the cyclops Polyphemus's cave and watches many of his men get eaten alive. He keeps his nerve and devises a plan to escape. It works, and he defeats the cyclops by blinding him.
The men arrive on Circe's island. Circe, a sorceress who is known for causing trouble, turns Odysseus's men into pigs. With the help of Hermes, Odysseus faces Circe and gets his men back.
Next, Odysseus travels to the Underworld to receive his prophecy from Tiresias. He must face a horde of the dead, which includes his long-lost friends who died in battle and his recently deceased mother.
Odysseus is warned about the singing Sirens who cause men to crash their ships. Odysseus covers his men's ears with wax and himself listens to their sweet songs while tied to the mast. He survives the trap and carries on toward home.
With few men left, Odysseus must face Scylla, a hideous six-headed monster, and Charybdis, a man-eating whirlpool. It seems that this is the moment Odysseus lets fear into his heart as he watches his men get snatched up by Scylla, but once again, his bravery shines through as he moves his ship forward into the unknown.
Odysseus faces many other treacherous moments on his ten-year voyage home, such as his men eating Helios's cattle and dying in a storm, getting trapped on Calypso's island for almost eight years, and of course, returning to Ithaca to face over one hundred suitors who have overtaken his home. Through it all, Odysseus keeps his cool, uses his keen wit, and returns to his wife and son at the epic's end.
At the end of the day, Odysseus never gives up. He never lets fear get the best of him and pushes on through trials and tribulations to return to his family. He faces everything from monsters to gods and does so with death lurking around every corner. On top of it all, he fights for ten years and travels home for another ten. If that isn't bravery, I don't know what is!
Odysseus shows many acts of bravery in Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. First, he shows bravery when he tricks Polyphemus, the Cyclops, and gouges out his eye. This is an act of bravery. It will also cost him because Polyphemus was the son of Poseidon, the god of the sea. He also showed bravery in sailing into Hades, which is also known as the land of the dead. He encounters his mother there, who was alive when he left Ithaca.
Odysseus does not plug his ears when passing the island of the Sirens but has his men tie him to the ship's mast. The men had ear protection in order to not hear the song of the Sirens, but Odysseus bravely faced the temptation. He also cunningly made a provision for himself so that he would not succumb to it (being tied to the mast).
Odysseus shows bravery in bypassing Scylla. This was a multiheaded monster he faced on his journey back to Ithaca.
He also showed bravery when he faced the suitors who were in his home when he returned to Ithaca. Once more he has to fight, this time for what was rightfully his, and he shows bravery in facing great odds.
Odysseus is the cunning hero of Homer's Iliad as well as the main character and hero in his Odyssey.
Although he has a central part in both epic poems and fights bravely in the war with Troy (narrated in the Iliad), I assume you are referring to his actions in the Odyssey.
Odysseus is continuously proving his bravery, resourcefulness, and cleverness throughout the Odyssey. He encounters Polyphemus, the one-eyed Cyclops who keeps him and his men as prisoners and eats them one by one. With nerves of steel and a great deal of bravery, Odysseus manages to trick him and blind him. allowing him and his men to escape.
Further on, he encounters Circe, a sorceress who turns his men into pigs. Well aware of the danger she poses because of her magical abilities, he confronts anyway her to save his men.
He also faces the sirens head on: rather than being scared, he asks his men to tie him to the mast in order to be able to listen to the sirens' song without desperately chasing it.
However, I think his most significant act of bravery is his communion with the dead in order to learn his fate, an extraordinary feat which is presented as extremely dangerous for living humans.
Odysseus demonstrates bravery continuously; this, coupled with intelligence and resourcefulness finally allows him to finally return home to Penelope after twenty years.
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