Answer:
Odysseus is known as a hero, but that statement is often contested. Take a deeper look into the definition of a hero and explore a character analysis of epic hero characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses.
Odysseus, the crafty ruler of Ithaca is not a hero because of his lack of many important heroic qualities. ... Odysseus is not a hero based on the standards of merciful, selfless, and gentle. His actions against Polyphemus, the Suitors, and his men truly show that he is in fact the opposite of a hero.
If The Iliad is about strength, The Odyssey is about cunning, a difference that becomes apparent in the very first lines of the epics. Whereas The Iliad tells the story of the rage of Achilles, the strongest hero in the Greek army, The Odyssey focuses on a “man of twists and turns
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.
The Power of Cunning over Strength
If The Iliad is about strength, The Odyssey is about cunning, a difference that becomes apparent in the very first lines of the epics. Odysseus does have extraordinary strength, as he demonstrates in Book 21 by being the only man who can string the bow. But he relies much more on mind than muscle, a tendency that his encounters showcase. He knows that he cannot overpower Polyphemus, for example, and that, even if he were able to do so, he wouldn’t be able to budge the boulder from the door. He thus schemes around his disadvantage in strength by exploiting Po1yphemus’s stupiity. Though he does use violence to put out Polyphemus’s single eye, this display of strength is part of a larger plan to deceive the brute.
