Odyssey

Homer's The Odyssey is both a tale of a man's journey home after long years at war and a tale of a man's spiritual voyage through his own soul. Odysseus' role as an epic hero changed throughout this epic poem a bloodthirsty warrior when leaving Troy to a wiser man when arriving in Ithaka. Odysseus left Troy with a pride that led to his downfall and grew with knowledge and humility that brought his eventual …

…and to learn to be a better person. Through a symbolic death and rebirth, he became a man worthy to be called an epic hero because he won the battles with his fellow man and triumphed the struggles with monsters. He grappled with temptation and overcome human desires and, most importantly, he prevailed in combating the evils of his own soul. Odysseus proved himself a true epic hero through these victories that had transformed him.