Odysseus is a hero, but is he a good role model?.
Vittorio Alfieri once said, "Often the test of courage is not to die but to live." What Alfieri is trying to express is that in order to live your life to the fullest, you must take chances. You cannot always do things the safe way. In The Odyssey, the main character, Odysseus, is sought out to be a hero. Odysseus often takes the risky route, but in doing this he is very selfish.
In this epic Odysseus takes the risky ways of challenges that he is faced with throughout his journey. This is demonstrated when Odysseus says: "Ah, how sound that was! Yet I refused, I wished to see the cave man what he had to offer." (Homer 988). This shows that Odysseus does not care much for the fate of his men. This is also now a good role model quality and displays poor leadership skills. Another instance where Odysseus puts his curiosity before his men is when he decides to take the route through the home of monsters Scylla and Charybdis. He should not have taken his men through there because he knows he is risking their lives. Odysseus is not thinking of the results for his crew but only for himself. This does not make him a good role model for today's modern reader.
Odysseus is away from home for twenty years, yet it seems as if he is taking his time getting home. Odysseus stays on Circe's island for a whole year. When Odysseus .
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chooses to stay this long, it shows unfaithfulness and disrespect towards his wife. It also shows that he is not in too big of a rush to get home to his wife and child in which whom he left when he went off to war. "Ah, how sound tat was yet I refused, I wished to see the cave man what he had to offer, not a pretty sight it turned out for my friends."(988). The extension of this quote shows another example of how Odysseus" selfishness results in tragedy for others. It also shows how he is only thinking of himself in his actions.
