Odysseus, the crafty ruler of Ithaca is not a hero because of his lack of many important heroic qualities. One of which is his lack of mercy and because of that he can be considered more of an anti-hero instead of a hero. At the middle of the chapter Odysseus’ Revenge, Homer tells of how Odysseus showed no mercy to the Suitors, even though they begged for it and the citation that shows how merciless he is reads, “Spare/ your own people. As for ourselves, we’ll make/ restitutions of wine and meat consumed,/ and add, each one, a tithe of twenty oxen with gifts of bronze and gold to warm your heart./ Meanwhile we cannot blame you for your anger/… Not for the whole treasure of your fathers, / all you enjoy, lands, flocks, or any gold / put up by others, would I hold my hand. / The will be killing until the score is paid. / You forced yourselves upon this house. Fight for your way out, / or run it, if you think you’ll escape death. / I doubt one man of you skins by.”
