The Odyssey

The characters of Hinds’s retelling of The Odyssey, especially Odysseus, reflect many of the challenges of heroism and leadership. Odysseus himself is defined by qualities of martial skill and sly intelligence. He is depicted as a “man of many troubles […] skilled in all ways of contending” (1), and the narrative also claims that he has “no equal for cunning, and few for strength or skill in battle” (8). Projecting the most valuable qualities of leadership, Odysseus is respected by those who fought with him on the battlefield (such as Nestor and Menelaus) and is remembered by the older Ithacans for his “kindness and wisdom” (18). However, the heights of his heroism are matched by the abysmal lows of his extensive suffering on his journey home, and even his homecoming is fraught with the violence of war. The narrative therefore indicates that heroism itself often entails suffering, and this dynamic manifests throughout Odysseus’s story, as well as the stories of other heroes encountered in the graphic novel, such as Achilles, Menelaus, and Agamemnon.

To successfully endure his suffering, Odysseus must show a great deal of self-control and restraint, and this pattern remains steady across many different adventures.