Physiognomy of the epic hero and the scope of arête within homer’s odyssey

Abstract

This paper is an inquiry and an analysis, departing from Homer’s Odyssey, on the set of relations configuring the scope of nobility in ancient Greece, as well as a description of the model elements that comprise Homeric heroism and its social, ethical and esthetical articulation within the axiological framework of Greek Society. The concept of arête is analyzed within a physiognomic and supra-personal field, and so is the direct link between heroic character and divinity.