Comparing Homer's Ego In Troy And The Odyssey

Homer and Peterson Essay

Common advice is often communicated in an expression - “don’t jinx it.” This is used when overconfidence is expressed and there is fear that ego may trump level headed decisions. In the movie Troy directed by Wolfgang Petersen and in The Odyssey by Homer, both director and author use the characters of Achilles and Odysseus to display their characters struggle to overcome their ego in order to achieve their goals. Petersen uses Achillie’s larger-than-life ego following his selfish motives to get the girl that he desires which clouds focus in his battle for glory. Homer uses Odysseus’ pride after his talk with Circe and his encounter with the cyclops which thwarts his goal of getting his men home. The author uses detail

Homer and Petersen use imagery to convey that Odysseus and Achilles go on their journeys to satisfy their ego. Achilles is on his journey to be remembered, to be famous. Early in the film Troy while Agamemnon is attempting to complete taking control of all of Greece, he has one last challenge that stands in his way of completing this goal; he needs Achilles’ help. Although he has a long lasting hatred for Agamemnon, Achilles sees this as a chance to satisfy his ego as the most powerful warrior in all of Greece. He fights this massive, crazed warrior for the land of Sicily and defeats him. Screaming fearlessly into the Sicily Army, Achilles taunts, “Is there anyone else?!” The ruler of Sicily comes to him, hands out his sceptor saying, “The ruler of Sicily carries this scepter. Now give it to your king.” Achilles replies, “He is not my king” (Troy). Achilles walks away. Achilles does not

In Petersen’s movie Troy, Achilles realizes that his ego isn’t everything when meeting Briseis, a priestess from Troy, that he falls in love with and who opens his eyes that he would rather be with her than prove himself to the world as the greatest warrior to live. Once Briseis is taken back into the city of Troy, the Greeks plan an attack to infiltrate the city with the Trojan horse. Once inside, the war breaks out between the two forces, but Achilles does not involve himself in this glorious fight. Instead, he chooses to run to look for Briseis and keep her safe. When he finds her, Paris shoots him in the heel, in his achilles, the only point of his body that was vulnerable. With his dying breaths he manages to tell Briseis that, “You gave me peace in a lifetime of war” (Troy). He is saying that all this time he thought that war and fame would fulfill him, but by the end of his life, he realizes that it was true love he wanted all this time. In Homer’s tale The Odyssey, Odysseus has been known to be boastful when it comes to his power versus the gods. For example, after winning the Battle of Troy, Odysseus boasts that he won the war without the help of the gods. This did not sit well with them. On another occasion, he boasts to one of Poseidon's son (A Cyclops) “O Cyclops! Would you feast on my companions? … How do you like the beating we gave you?”