The Odyssey is a book of adventure, an epic poem with enemies and troubles all along the way. The title means a journey, and Odysseus is the epic hero who is going to take this long hard journey, and only a true epic hero could conquer 20 long years away from his family in Ithaca.
There are several traits that characterize an epic hero, and Odysseus clearly defines these traits.
One trait that all epic heroes must meet is that the hero undergoes a journey. In this journey, the epic hero must also achieve the goal that he/she is set out to do. In the Iliad, Odysseus is taken from his family and is set out to fight against Troy to defeat them. This is a journey that he goes on and also achieves his goal when he conceives the plan to build a Trojan horse.
In the Odyssey, Odysseus goes through one major quest, which is to get home to his family in Ithaca. Yet within in this quest, there are several other short journeys that he must take part in
The long journey that Odysseus takes on is the quest to get back to Ithaca. From fighting monsters and gods, to sea creatures and plants and witches, Odysseus arrives on the shores of Ithaca. His journey has not ended though; he must see that Penelope has been true to him. Once he finds out that she has been true to him, his journey and quest has been achieved:
Now from his breast into his eyes the ache
Of longing mounted, and he wept at last,
His dear wife, clear and faithful, in his arms,
As the sun warmed earth is longed for by a swimmer
Spent in rough water where his ship went down
Under Poseidon's blows, gale winds and tones of sea.
Few men ca keep alive through a big surf
To crawl, clotted with brine, on kindly beaches
In joy, in joy, knowing the abyss behind:
And so she too rejoiced, her gaze upon her husband,
Her white arms round him pressed as though forever. (439-449)
In these lines, are last of the epic poem, the troubles and worries of ...