Essay Example on Heroism in Ancient Societies: Odysseus & Aeneas

What does it take to be a worshipped hero in society? There are various heroes and heroines that every community believed existed in the past. Greek and Roman mythology both have several heroes that display their ideals. These mythical stories tell us more about the cultures and beliefs of the societies involved. The most famously known are Odysseus from the Greeks and Aeneas from the Romans. Their stories documented in Odyssey by Holmer and The Aenid by Virgil display the lives of these heroes.

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Odysseus' heroic characteristics are displayed in several ways in the story. He is brave, courageous, and intelligent of all. In Cyclop's cave, he showed his intelligence by saying he was nobody. Odysseus stabs Polyphemus in the eye, and he does not know who stabbed him (Homer, and Sokolov, p. 32). He shows courage by wounding Cyclop, who is a giant while his men panicked and shook in fear. Aeneas, on the other hand, displays characteristics of a Roman hero. He prioritizes his people's duty over his own as a hero. He leaves Dido because he has to find his people a place to build Rome (Virgil., and Hardie, p. 220). He does this despite his intense love for her and her threats to commit suicide. He is steadfast, unlike Dido, who commits suicide after he breaks the relationship (Virgil., and Hardie, p. 220). He carries his father in his shoulders and son showing his devotion to family. He even goes back to look for his lost wife despite the bad situation.

Aeneas' journey is from Troy to a place where he would build a new home, Rome. He gathered his family, some carvings of his gods, and his followers and left Troy as it was burning. His journey went through Thrace, Crete, and finally Sicily and at one time on the coast of Africa near Carthage. He then sailed to the mouth of Tiber, where he got married to Lavina, and they founded Lavinium. His life was guided by obedience to a divine command. Odysseus' journey is back to his kingdom in Ithaca after almost ten years away. He was imprisoned by Nymph Calypso, who is possessed by him. Zeus helps him, but Poseidon, the god of the sea, sends a storm that wrecks his ship. He lands as Scheria, who promises him safe passage home after hearing of his adventures.

Aeneas commemorates the death of his father Anchises, by organizing a series of funeral games in Sicily, an island close to Italy (Virgil., and Hardie, p. 227). The games include boat race, foot race, a boxing match, and an arrow shooting contest. Prizes are awarded to the winners of the competition. These games were later added as part of the Roman culture. Through Odysseus, we come to learn of the Greeks' suitors' game. Penelope suggested the archery contest to determine who she would marry after evading the suitors for ten years. She said she would marry whoever would string a bow and fire it through twelve axes. They all tried, but none of them would achieve this except Odysseus (Homer, and Sokolov, p. 53). These games were later popularized in the Greek culture.

Odysseus' journey to the underworld helped him with his voyage home in the future. To get access to the underworld, he was to dig a trench, pour sweet milk, honey, sweet wine, clear water, and sprinkle barley to the trench. He was to slaughter a ram and drink the blood to enable him to talk to the dead spirits temporarily. Aeneas heads to the temple of Apollo to meet Sibyl, and she asks him to look for a golden branch to gain access to the underworld. She takes him to River Acheron, where he sees the spirits of the dead without a burial are at the banks. After the river, the field of mourning where the life-force of those who died of love wanders are found. The ground of heroes comes next where those who died in battle are roaming. Then there is the field of blessed gloves where the decent people wonder in peace.

The last battle of Aeneas emphasizes on an unspoken warrior code of honor. Turnus fate is to die because of flaunting the soldiers' decency. The final battle was between Turnus and Aeneas. Aeneas was not as fast as he used to be because he had been hurt in a fight, but he managed to defeat Turnus, who begged for mercy. Aeneas revenged the death of his friend Pallas by killing Turnus. Odysseus' final combat is against the suitors who are trying to marry Penelope. This fight is after she and her son Telemachus are almost losing their authority because of Odysseus' absence of years. He manages to pass Penelope's test, and with the help of two slaves who recognized him, he kills all of Penelope's suitors. Penelope gives him another test because she does not believe it is her lost husband, the king.

We have seen that for one to be a celebrated hero, you must have done great things for society. Both Odysseus and Aeneas liberated their people from the troubles of war. Aeneas took his people to a new land where they would rebuild. They all deserve to be the sung heroes that they are. We have no idea how exact these stories are, but they do inspire us to be more of the heroes we are supposed to be.

Works cited

Homer, and Elliot Sokolov. "Homer's The Odyssey". Google Books, 2020, https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=p2J1g8HBxSYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Elliot+Sokolov%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjirez87qHoAhVDy6QKHZD6AXQQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q&f=true.

Homer., and Irene J. F De Jong. Homer. Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Virgil., and Philip R Hardie. Aeneid. Cambridge University Press, 1994.