Odysseus made love to a goddess! In Homer's epic poem The Odyssey, Odysseus is the protagonist and epic hero of the story because he exhibits the two essential qualities of a hero in his bravery and intelligence.

In The Odyssey, the hero Odysseus shows he is brave over and over again. Bravery is when a person shows no fear of a dangerous situation. For example when Odysseus walked into the cyclops cave out of curiosity knowing that a giant monster lived there (IX, 68-484).

Furthermore, by running into the cyclops cave Odysseus displayed his bravery to not only his men but for us as the readers. Another example of Odysseus' relentless bravery is when Odysseus stormed into Circe's lair and confronted the goddess even though he faced undergoing the same fate as his men (X, 1-213). Moreover, Odysseus put his well being aside just for the slightest chance to save his men from there fate of turning into animals showing his bravery and unwavering loyalty to his men. Odysseus' Bravery was especially on display when he went to the land of the dead and faced his gut-wrenching fear of the underworld (XI, 526-671). This example proves his bravery because he went to the underworld and faced his fear and many terrifying things without looking back once. Odysseus' bravery also crossed the sea with him when he faced over 100 suitors with just his son (XXII, 1402-1541). Thus being one of Odysseus' last acts of bravery showing that he feared no man and could face any task without looking back proving he was a brave spirited person.

In addition to Odysseus' bravery in The Odyssey, another polarizing trait he flaunts in the epic is unmatchable intelligence. Intelligence is the ability to apply a person's knowledge of a situation to a real-life scenario. Namely, his intelligence shined when Odysseus fooled the cyclops by proclaiming his name was Nobody of Troy (IX, 68-484). In doing this Odysseus outfoxed the cyclops so that when he blinded the cyclops he could not call for help and Odysseus could safely escape with his men, demonstrating he could use his knowledge and apply it to his situation. Another time Odysseus' intelligence shines is when he strategically came to Ithaca and told only his son about his true identity (XVI, 997-1099). Odysseus did not tell anyone besides his son about his true identity because Athena told him about the traitorous suitors have taken over his home and ransacked his house so he had to find out who he could trust. Similarly, Odysseus did not tell his men that some would die when Scylla attacked Odysseus' boat (XII, 134-205). Odysseus chose not to tell his men so there would not be widespread panic amongst the men because of fear of death causing the boats to take longer to cross allowing Scylla to strike again. Odysseus' final act of intelligence in The Odyssey is when Odysseus passed Penelope's test remembering something mundane from 20 years ago like that his bed was made from the olive tree (XXIII, 1540-1624). In Odysseus' final act of intelligence, he demonstrated that he could apply knowledge of 20 years ago to his situation in doing this he passed Penelope's test and became the king of Ithaca again.