In Homer's "The Odyssey", Odysseus is portrayed as an epic hero like Everett McGill in the movie O Brother Where Art Thou; however, Odysseus' role as a hero is a more aggressive and authentic one, whereas Everett McGill's role is more of a common character who is portrayed as a hero by the virtue of the luck he possesses. An epic hero, defined according to Webster's dictionary, is a "mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability extending beyond the usual or ordinary." Odysseus is truly an epic hero; due to his experience as a fighter in the Trojan War, he possesses true heroic qualities, such as battling immortal characters and rescuing himself from the midst of the ocean. On the other hand, Everett McGill journeys with a group of three fugitives who have escaped from prison and are in the midst of a struggle to find their way home as soon as possible. Everett McGill just happens to be the wisest, only when compared to his other two partners; he is therefore known as a hero amongst the three convicts, whereas Odysseus has the potential to be a hero in any given situation.
             Due to his role in "The Odyssey", Odysseus can definitely be classified as an epic hero. In his journey home, Odysseus faces many intolerable obstacles that he manages to overcome with the use of heroic and powerful actions. For example, as Odysseus boards his ship and sails to the midst of the ocean towards his home, Poseidon drastically shipwrecks him, and leaves him drowning in the middle of the ocean without any help or source of communication. As a result of Poseidon's treachery, "hurricane winds struck from the South and East shifting northwest...Odysseus' knees grew slack and his heart sickened" (89). Since Odysseus was previously involved in a similar situation in the Trojan War (a war in which Odysseus and his men tricked the ...