Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, is a prime example of the values that were expected from a hero. He was courageous, intelligent, cunning, and ruthless. He was also known for being a very persuasive speaker. Odysseus was known for his intelligence,1 resourcefulness,2 courage,3 and ruthlessness.4 Odysseus tried to escape going to the Trojan war. He was a suitor of Helen, who Menelaus, the king of Sparta, eventually married. When Paris kidnapped Helen, Menelaus called on Odysseus to travel to Troy with him. Odysseus was reluctant to do so, since he had just lost Helen's hand in marriage. He pretended to go mad, endlessly plowing his fields. Palamedes, the son of Nauplius, placed his infant son in front of the plow, causing him to stop, proving Odysseus's sanity. Odysseus fought heroically in the Trojan War, refusing to flee even when the Greeks were being utterly defeated by the Trojans. When Hector managed to breach the gates of the Greek's camp,5 and the Trojans had entered, Odysseus insisted on continuing fighting.6 Odysseus's bravery and cleverness was recognized by all. Diomedes selected Odysseus to accompany him on a night-mission to spy on the Trojan camps because of Odysseus's cleverness and bravery. Diomedes says, "...how then could I forget Odysseus the godlike, he whose heart and whose proud spirit are beyond all others forward in hard endeavors...Were he to go with me, both of us could come back...since his mind is best at devices." Odysseus was very clever. He devised the idea of the Trojan horse and its setup, the clever trick with which the Greeks were able to take Troy with.7 Odysseus's persuasiveness as a speaker enabled him to get the Achilles's armor after he died, and as a result, Ajax went mad and killed himself.8		a
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