The Odyssey is an epic poem because the protagonist, Ulysses or Odysseus, is an epic hero or portrays that of an epic hero.
Odysseus an epic hero because he was very cunning and brave.
He showed bravery when he entered the cyclopes' cave when others were too afraid to.
He showed how cunning he was when he told the cyclopes his name was "nobody" and the cyclopes believed it none the less.
