Is Odysseus a Hero??

Is a hero the guy flying around big cities, impossibly strong and wearing a cape with underwear over a spandex bodysuit? The guy who always arrives just in time to save the girl? Or can a hero simply be someone who always places the safety of others before their own? By definition, a hero is someone admired for their courage and nobleness. Odysseus may have had courage, yet he constantly placed his men in danger and cheated on his wife more than once; Therefore, Odysseus is not a hero.
“My men came pressing round me, pleading: `Why not take these cheeses, get them stowed, come back, throw open all the pens, and make a run for it? We'll drive the kids and lambs abroad. We say put out again on good salt water!' Ah, how sound that was! Yet, I refused. I wished to see the caveman, what he had to offer-no pretty sight, it turned out, for my friends.” Odysseus was a man of pride and sometimes, too much of it. His men proposed a perfectly safe plan, one in which everyone would get away unharmed, and Odysseus threw it down. He had to meet the Cyclops and by doing that he was putting his best men in danger-so much that by the end of their Cyclops encounter, he had lost half the men he had taken to the cave. His pride comes out once more as they leave the island and Odysseus mocks Cyclops and mockery is not the way of a true hero.
Besides his excess of pride, Odysseus is easily sidetracked from his main goal of getting home to his wife, Penelope, and his son. It was acceptable when he slept with Circe, the witch, for the freedom of his men. What is unacceptable, however, was for him to stay more than one night because she requested no more than that. There was no need for him to stay five nights which, in reality, turned out to be five years! Just as well, when Odysseus reached Calypso's island-alone-he was not obligated to sleep with her or even stay on her island; he stayed there by choice. On top of that, while he enjoyed the company of another woman , Penelope was weaving and unweaving her shrine every night in hopes of his return. A true hero would not give into temptations such as Circe and Calypso.

Without Choice

At night, they sleep on a wooden bed, no pillow, just a hole so that their hair can hang and not be ruined by sleep. In the mornings, they dress in elaborate kimono, with matching obi; a white powder covers their face and lips are often a bright shade of crimson. Growing up, they learn to play the shamisen, a small, guitar-like instrument, they are taught nagauta(singing), tea ceremony and dance. They are geisha. For centuries the geisha have entertained Japanese men at teahouses by dancing, singing or simply flirting with them. In these ways, a geisha is respected and held much higher than any prostitute.
Perhaps the biggest difference between a geisha and a prostitute is that geisha are well cultured in performing arts. In fact, the word “geisha” is Japanese for “artist”. When a girl begins training as a geisha, they practice the shamisen, singing and above all else, dance. Only the most attractive and promising young geisha are chosen to continue dance. Therefore, as Mameha tells Chiyo in Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, “ 'Dance has everything to do with it; if you look around at the most successful geisha in Gion, every one of them is a dancer.' ”(174) Sure, others may sing beautifully or play their shamisen well, but it is their dance that seems to capture the attention of a man.
On the other hand, there is no difference between a prostitute found in Japan and a prostitute in Paris. In the Japanese culture, however, a prostitute can be identified by certain aspects in their apparel. Chiyo's sister was sold into prostitution and when Chiyo visits her, she makes an observation, “They wore kimono and hair ornaments similar to a geisha, but their obi were tied in the front rather than in the back. I'd never seen this before and didn't understand it, but its the mark of a prostitute. A woman who must take her sash on and off all night can't be bothered with tying it behind her again and again.”(94) Also, the role of seduction differs extremely from the life of a prostitute to the life of a gieisha. The only thing a prostitute has to offer is their intimacy...from there, men can do what they choose with the girl.
Lastly, geisha were accepted and respected in the Japanese society because their traditional views of seduction were surprisingly quite relaxed. In fact, it was perfectly fine for married man to be in love with a geisha and for this reason, many geisha had a danna. Back in the 1940s and 50s, the word danna was used for the word “husband”, but because a geisha does not marry, their danna is someone who pays a very large amount to-in a way-take the geisha as his own. She is free to flirt and entertain other men, however, a geisha and her danna are usually quite attracted to one another and may meet a few nights each week on a very intimate level, and in return the geisha will have a steady income and often receives many extravagant gifts, like kimono. A geisha's reputation would be ruined if she acted as a prostitute, giving in to any man who wanted her company in bed. Chiyo learns, throughout her years in Gion, “A true geisha will never soil her reputation by making herself available to men on a nightly basis.”(171)
The bed of a prostitute is always occupied by two, although the partner may differ from one hour to the next. They live under poor conditions-selling all they have left. They wear their obi tied in front, clearly marking themselves for society. There is no escaping this terrifying position. A girl does not become a prostitute because they want to be, but because they have to be; and this may very well be the only similarity between a geisha and a prostitute, neither was ever given a choice.