Sindbad faces the giant: Image
The Third Voyage
Having read the Odyssey I find the similar, yet different nature of Sindbad very interesting. Unlike Odysseus, who's illustrated multiple times as a cunning, strong, macho-man, Sindbad is simply an ambitious merchant with a penchant for making it out of sticky situations. This is highlighted in Sindbad's especially perilous third voyage, where he faces off against a horde of murderous dwarves, a clan of equally murderous giants, and a flesh-eating giant snake all on the same trip. But, instead of being the trademark "valiant hero" that slays the monsters, saves his crew and returns home as a famous legend, he survives solely on the fact that he just got lucky. He's not a dashing pirate or hardened warrior, he's just the dude who happened to make it back alive.
I could definitely see myself writing a story highlighting this subversion of the tropes and ideas of the hero archetype. I could tell the story from the viewpoint of the poor man that Sindbad is telling his stories to, who has heard outlandish stories about Sindbad the Sailor and his exploits from others, and is a bit confused to hear how much other people have wildly embellished these stories. This could serve as a more realistic, cynical take on the idea of what makes a mythical hero as Sindbad helps bring the man's imagination back down to earth.
Or perhaps I could create a situation where storied heroes of all different cultures (Odysseus/Achilles, Beowulf, Sindbad, etc.) are regaling one another about their exploits, and some of the other heroes begin to call Sindbad out on his apparent lack of heroic acts and more of an overabundance of crazy situations that he got lucky in. This option could work as a way to present what each different culture values, and, by extension, what they see as heroic.
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