Homer's Opinion on Greek Heroes:
Homer believes that Greek heroes are essentially not good and it is not good to BE a Greek hero. Some of the points that Homer makes involve Greek heroes always wanting to enhance their reputations by making bad decisions and doing unjust things. For example, when Odysseus goes into the cyclops' cave with his crew members and, despite the fact that the cave opening was completely accessible, waited until the cyclops was awake before he and his crew members tried to escape. However, by doing so, the cyclops ended up eating two of the crew members, which would not have happened if Odysseus had made the smart choice to leave while they had the opportunity, rather than to wait until the cyclops woke up. Odysseus decided to wait because he wanted the death of the cyclops to seem gruesome and intense rather than to kill him in his sleep, the price one pays as a Greek hero. Additionally, Greek heroes are very arrogant, especially Odysseus (this is his tragic flaw.) Whenever Odysseus presents himself in a room, he gives himself the introduction of not just his name, but his background information as well. When Odysseus kills the cyclops he announces his name for all to be heard, which only ends up allowing everyone to know who he is and make Poseidon hate him even more.
Odysseus is at a constant battle with himself between his mortal side and his Greek hero side. He debates whether he should kill all the suitors in his kingdom that want to marry Penelope, or if he should listen to his mortal side and spare their lives. When Tiresias tells Odysseus his prophecy regarding Odysseus' wish to die peacefully, Tiresias tells Odysseus he must bury an oar inland somewhere where no one has ever seen an oar before. This, however, is not very "Greek-hero-like" because Greek heroes are supposed to want to die a very dramatic death that people will sing about and know about for years to come, while Odysseus just wants to die in his sleep. This is just another example Homer uses to show that it is not good to be a Greek hero.
