He had help by means of his followers and the princess. Nothing like William Wallace, Gilgamesh fought the monster by himself. Gilgamesh fought to save his friend and became famous for that. Their challenges were successful because they meet their goals. William Wallace was wrath at the British for killing his wife.
Finally, Odysseus displayed bravery when he took on the suitors. Even though Odysseus, Telemachus and the herdsmen are greatly outnumbered they had defeated all of the suitors. Homer wrote "Every shot brought down a man in his house; there, one by one, they fell". Homer was saying that the each time they shot there arrows a suitor was killed until there were none left. The revenge he sought on the suitors must have had invoked great fear in him because there were so many suitors.
Achilles also has a stubbornness to him which makes him defy all the gods. He does not care that he is disrespecting them. For example Achilles disobeys Apollo by chopping the golden statue of Apollo and screams at him asking him what now? Unlike Achilles Odysseus uses his brainstorming skills and strategic planning in his efforts in the Trojan War and on his trip from the book the Odyssey. Odysseus has an intelligent mind and an exceptional amount of bravery.
He was very brutal: "Would to god my rage, my fury would drive me now / to hack your flesh away and eat you raw"(22.408-409). He was the mightiest of the Greeks and he had such a great deal of confidence in him that he decided to act on his own when his slave princess was taken away. Because of his self confidence; he failed to act like a common man. Achilles’ refusal to eat with other warriors suggests that he put his ego before everyone else. He fits the description of Aristotle's quote “the man who is incapable of working in common”.
Many people recognize Beowulf as the hero of Anglo-Saxon time due to amazing strength and courage. Thou he had hero like qualities, Beowulf could also be considered a selfish hero because his speech, thoughts, and actions showed that he would do anything to succeed. Throughout a few defeated battles Beowulf justified his loses to make him look more successful. Beowulf relied on his own destinies so much that is let him to Denmark to fulfill his "Destiny" and kill a known unbeatable monster named "Grendel". Thou he doesnt know the true outcome of his beliefs he wasnt conscious of his own or other peoples lives but instead focused on his natural wanted defeat.
This caused the cicones to retaliate and start a fight with Odysseus and his men. I think this can be a good judgement of Odysseus’s character as if he was an effective leader he would not have got into this situation, but he did and then he also loses the battle causing Odysseus to lose thirty-two of his men. I think this is a clear example of poor leadership as it was not the only possible outcome and certainly not the best, therefore showing in this case Odysseus was an unsuccessful leader. Although Odysseus did show that he can be an effective leader with the encounter of the lotus-eaters, this is where I felt Odysseus was most pro-active and effective as he didn’t lose any of his men even though three of them were drugged. His tactics were much improved as he had the presence of mind to only send three men to investigate the island and then to force those three men back of the island after they had eaten the lotus flowers that put them in a forgetful mood.
When Odysseus and his men are clearly safe away from the island Odysseus brags about his successful feat. Polythemus hears this and launches giant boulders in the direction of the ship. Some came very close to sinking the ship, yet that was not enough for Odysseus. Blinded by his pride he unwisely revealed his identity to Polythemus. With that Polythemus called upon his father, Poseidon, to seek revenge on the man who had harmed him.
Why, maybe due to the way he deceived the Trojans or the way he swindled the giant Cyclops. In those instances Odysseus can be seen as a hero but when he evidently betrayed his beloved Penelope by laying with Circe and Kalypso, consider the options for the cunning warrior to choose. Become captive to sex or die. Besides, his men were turned into swine by Circe and although it would seem like an easy choice either way, Odysseus chose to save his men and his own life. This would be cowardly to people, but is truly an act to prevail and a sign of a real hero in
He even sees beauty in the rotten corpses that he studies. When Victor creates the monster however, his power reaches its peak and he loses control over himself. Where he once was able to see beauty and goodness, in his family, nature and the corpses, Victor now sees only ugliness. What was once his life’s passion, the creation of the monster, is now evil to Victor. Victor’s immense powers become too much for him to handle, costing him his self-control.
The mind of Alexander the Great is an enigma. For a man that shows such compassion for his troops and the men and women of Macedon, he shows a relentless hatred for his enemies. He seems at times, so blinded by his victory that he has no thoughts of the destruction that he causes. It is difficult to comprehend that his love for one of his family or friends can so quickly turn to hate that he would have them executed without even thinking. Another puzzling aspect of his personality was that he was absolutely obsessed with conquering other nations that he would be able to leave his home for over eleven years to attempt to achieve his goal of total world rule.