What is a hero? The definition of a hero can be different for each person. For some people, a hero can be brave, fight for his country and show his moral values. Heroes are often associated with people who are selfless and who try to work for the common good. In Homer's epic The Odyssey, Odysseus must return home to Ithaca after fighting in the Trojan War and being away for twenty years. Although he reached nostos (homecoming), his selfish and violent actions during his journey reveal how he cannot be considered a modern-day hero because he used his men as " chess pieces” to help him get home to Ithaca. The Greek values ​​of being a hero are very different from the values ​​many have today. In ancient Greece, most Greek heroes used brute force to accomplish their tasks. Heroes like Heracles used their strength to accomplish tasks such as killing an evil monster, like the Nemean lion. Only when their strength alone is not enough to accomplish a task do they use their metis, which is another Greek value meaning wisdom, to outwit their enemies. An example of this is when Odysseus and his men were trapped inside Polyphemus' cave and the only way out of the cave was to trick Polyphemus into removing the rock that hid the entrance. The rock was so large that “two stout carts – twenty stout carts / Impossible to lift it from the ground – it was the size of the stone he had placed in the doorway” (Book 9 235-237) . Another example of how Odysseus displays a half-breed act is when he tells Telemachus to deceive the suitors by making them remove all their weapons and hide them outside the dining room. Odysseus tells Telemachus: "Take all the weapons that are in the hall/In the raised cellar and put them away...... middle of paper ......aca, he displays his violent personality, killing all the suitors. in his house, which is unacceptable in modern society. Another quality of Odysseus is that he is dishonest, he did not tell his men that they were all going to die, which is very unethical by today's standards. Odysseus was violent and selfish on his return journey; he never considered his men as part of his mission back to Ithaca. Heroes have changed since ancient Greece, where all they had to do was complete an incredible task to become a hero. The heroes of modern society are ordinary people. They are willing to make sacrifices, something Odysseus could never understand. A modern hero can be either famous or someone ordinary. Modern society has shown that anyone can be a hero, even if they haven't made a big difference in the world. Anyone, anywhere can become a modern hero.