A Comparison of Two Loyal Dogs

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Hachiko and Argos are two dogs who are known for their unwavering loyalty. Argos is a fictional dog in Homer’s epic “The Odyssey”, while Hachico is a real Japanese dog. Their stories have many parallels as well as differences. Their lessons are the same but the end of their tales are different. They both die in their stories but how they die in the end is different as well.
The way Argos and Hachiko’s stories are the same is that their stories are used to represent loyalty. They both wait many years for their masters to return from leaving. Hachiko waits for nine years for his master to return from his job as a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo. In the American movie depicting Hachiko’s life and death titled Hachi: A Dog’s Tale, the professor is an American named Parker Wilson. The only thing that was not changed during the retelling of Hachi’s life in the movie was the breed of dog which is called an Akita. Argos waits for twenty years for his master Odysseus to return from his voyage to Troy. Some artistic depictions of Argos and Odysseus differ between what is said in “The Odyssey.” I have seen one image on http://www.mlahanas.de/, which is a depiction of Argos sitting at Odysseus’ feet. Here is an excerpt from Homer’s “The Odyssey”: “When [Argos] knew he heard Odysseus’ voice nearby, he did his best to wag his tail [ . . .] having no strength to move nearer to his master” (320). This passages makes the image of Argos sitting at Odysseus’ feet not a valid reference to the story of Odysseus and Argos.
There are some differences between Hachiko’s and Argos’ stories. One difference is that Hachiko is a real dog and the story about him is true. Argos, however, is a fictional dog in Homer’s epic “The...

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Homer. "The beggar at the manor." The Odyssey. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1998. 309-331. Print.
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The Associated Press. "Worms, not skewer, did in Hachiko | The Japan Times." Japan Times RSS. N.p., 4 Mar. 2011. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. <http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2011/03/04/news/worms-not-skewer-did-in-hachiko/#.Up2BlcRDuSo>.
Yamamoto, J.K.. "Producer Brings ‘Hachi’ to America." Nikkeiwest [Elk Grove] 10 Feb. 2010: n. pag. Norther

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