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Odyssey's two journeys compare and contrast
Compare and contrast of odysseus journey
Compare and contrast of odysseus journey
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Rainsford is fighting to survive a thrilling hunt in The Most Dangerous Game. Odysseus is caught in a long journey fighting for his life and home in The Odyssey. The two men are extremely similar in their dangerous adventure. Parallels are seen in their skills, journey, and enemies. But even with these parallels, The Odyssey is deeper and has a more emotional ending than The Most Dangerous Game. After falling off his ship and forced to swim to a mysterious island, Rainsford is faced with a challenge. General Zaroff traps him in a “game” that requires Rainsford to use his skills to survive. He is hunted for three days; where he was chased, tracked down, and shot at. General Zaroff led the hunt to try to kill Rainsford. General was equipped with more firepower and help from his henchman and dogs. But even with his much greater opponent, he was able to survive. Rainsford used his many skills to defeat and kill his enemy. He used quick wit to make traps that would slow Zaroff and kill his dogs and henchman. Then he used his intelligence to escape Zaroff by swimming away, but sneaking back into his own mansion. …show more content…
But the emotional impact of those journey was the biggest and most important difference to the reader. The Odyssey followed along with Odysseus, and drew the reader in to feel his struggles and emotionally connect with him. We especially feel the emotions of joy and sadness when Odysseus and his wife Penelope reconnect for the first time in two decades. It lets the reader feel like they have grown with Odysseus. But The Most Dangerous Game is faster paced, limiting it to be more of an exciting story for entertainment. You don’t feel deep emotions with Rainsford, only the feelings of suspense and fear. The Odyssey took many steps deeper with Odysseus’s journey than The Most Dangerous Game did with Rainsford; readers could really dive in deep with Odysseus’s struggles in the
If one were to put another character in Rainsford’s position such as Whitney, it is likely that the story would not have ended the way it did. A main reason as to why Rainsford is the dynamic character he is, and can survive such a harsh game, is because he is very self-assured. While passing Ship-Trap Island, all the sailors, aside from Rainsford, are a little anxious because of rumors heard about the island. Rainsford believes that, “one superstitious sailor can taint the whole ships company with his fear,” (page 56). During a firm discussion with Whitney about hunting, Rainsford boldly argues how jaguars are just here to be hunted. Ironically, by the end of the story he thinks just the opposite. The first time he encounters General Zaroff, Rainsford earns the General’s trust instantly because he shows his independence and confidence to him. As he hears about the game, Rainsford does not express obvious fear toward General Zaroff. Being self-assured helps Rainsford to be the strong hunter he is.
Seeing the comparable differences and similarities throughout both storylines, facing adversity is a common theme that is shown through the limelight to touch readers and pull in an audience using symbolism. The difficult times during Odysseus journey he fought monsters to reach his destination. Ulysses, on the other hand, breaks free from imprisonment and flees to get to his family after facing adversity many times, he made his way home. The Odyssey and O Brother Where Art thou are important to study today and readers can learn valuable lessons, one being overcoming
Over their travels in the epic The Odyssey, both Odysseus’ and his son Telemachus’ adventures were parallel but at the same time different. These travels led them both to grow and change drastically, and both learned some very important life lessons over the course of this epic.
Rainsford headed off and had spent two hours making his way across a bush all the while repeating the phrase, “I must keep my nerve” (Connell 11). Rainsford tried to keep calm in a terrifying situation because he wanted to live. He was being motivated by the idea of living so he kept persevering. Rainsford had jumped into the sea to get away from the General and it had worked because later that night Rainsford snuck into the General's room and challenged him. Rainsford ultimately won the game and won the privilege of sleeping Zaroff's excellent bed, because we can infer that Rainsford killed him (Connell 15). Rainsford took a chance and jumped into the sea because he knew he wasn’t going to give up without a fight. When Rainsford showed up in his room he knew the general would not let him leave so he challenged him in order for him to stay alive, again taking a chance in order to live. Throughout the story Rainsford had changed, leading up to this moment when he won the game, stayed alive, and killed the general. In the beginning Rainsford was motivated by the great sport of hunting, but then near the end Rainford's only motivation was to stay
When telling a story, it is necessary for there to be a main character which is usually a hero. They try to find themselves or fulfill a task in order to be true to who they are. While they are trying to find who they are or fulfill a task to stay true they conquer obstacles that are standing in the way for them to succeed. Some heroes succeed some fail. Odysseus from the Odyssey is a good example of a hero who fulfills his tasks in order to be true to who he is by having a quest or a mission to get back home after the Trojan war to his dear wife and family. He has obstacles trying to return and reclaim his home, Ithaca. The obstacles are, being held hostage by a Cyclops, Poseidon making the ocean difficult for Odysseus and his men, being held hostage by two goddesses, and when he arrives home he is faced with the suitors who try to take Penelope as their wife and taking everything from their home.
“Our life’s journey of self-discovery is not a straight-line rise from one level of consciousness to another. Instead, it is a series of steep climbs, and flat plateaus, then further climbs. Even though we all approach the journey from different directions, certain of the journey’s characteristics are common for all of us.” Author Stuart Wilde’s impression of journeys and their shared commonalities supports the claim that all journeys have a motive and an outcome. In the epic poem, The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus sets off to defeat Troy, leaving his wife and child behind. After accomplishing his goal, Odysseus faces many problems while trying to return him and his crew back home to Ithaca. Similar to Odysseus’s physical journey, the goal in
Homer’s The Odyssey, a magnificent story of lust, deceit, greed, and heroism, still fascinates scholars and casual readers alike today in the same way it fascinated its audience at the time it was written. The Odyssey, a journey of determination, patience, and virtue, tells the tail of Odysseus, the main character, on his voyage home to Ithaka after the end of the Trojan War. Odysseus goes through many unforeseen trials and tribulations, which exemplify his character. During these different happenings, Odysseus makes decisions that do not correspond to his character.
"Odyssey" is an epic story that has been a significant piece of literature since it was first composed and will remain so for ages to come. One of the reasons it has been so is because of the hero, Odysseus.
Both Odysseus’s are calculating and sneaky and both commit acts of self-interest but the similarities end there and eventually head down two completely different paths. In The Odyssey, Homer shows that, despite all of his drawbacks (i.e. getting his shipmates killed by a sea monster without their knowledge), he is ultimately a heroic character due to his courage, bravery, sharp intellect and the rescue of his men from Circes home. In Euripides Hecuba, Odysseus is portrayed as a corrupt human being, without sentiment or empathy. He is a self-interested, cruel, and insensitive individual. There are no redeeming qualities about Odysseus and he never redeems himself throughout the play, replacing the thought of the great hero with a dark stain of misery and
The Odyssey is a tale that has changed literature and storytelling. In this tale Odysseus is a Soldier from the battle of Troy trying to get home to his island of Ithaca, where he is king. His wife and son must wait ten years while he is trying to make his way home. In Odysseus’s absence wooer’s, or better known as suitors, learn of his absence and travel to Ithaca to win his wife’s hand in marriage. These men come every day feasting on Odysseus’s food and wine, and give his servant’s orders. His son Telemachus, does his best to keep the suitors from ruining his fathers house but he is only a boy, and doesn’t receive the respect of an adult. Telemachus then has a visit from the god Athena, whom Odysseus is friends with, who advises him to travel to find out about his father. In his travels he hears that Odysseus may still be alive. Meanwhile Odysseus goes through a series of adventures and hardships that prove his wisdom. It is interesting in contrast of the Iliad, even though Achilles was much stronger and a better warrior, Odysseus was portrayed as a greater hero due to his wisdom. He uses this wisdom to escape from the Cyclops.
Both authors show, in instances, the two protagonists of each story dependent upon and governed by others who they encounter. This creates an inadvertent or unwanted loss of identity due to the absence of home. Odysseus finds himself lost at sea while he tries to return to Ithaca. Even as he tries to return to civilian life, he is still influenced by his experiences as a soldier in the Trojan War. In this state, he causes undue harm to others he encounters through unnecessary violence that further deters him from making his homecoming.
Rainsford overcomes many obstacles, and in return he receives that special feeling of satisfaction in his body. To start, he overcomes the thought of him being weak. Furthermore, he conquers learning the value of even an animal’s life. Not to mention, he defeats becoming the hunted, when he is the hunter. In the short story Sanger Rainsford outwits General Zaroff in the battle of “The Most Dangerous
Returning to the quotation “… the great leveler, Death: not even the gods/ can defend a man, not even one they love, that day/ when fate takes hold and lays him out at last’” (Homer 3.269-271). Death is a power that surpasses the gods. In The Odyssey we are introduced to gods who control the water, the wind, and the decisions of men. They can bring peace and war, but the one thing they cannot do is prevent a mortal’s fated death. This alone shows how central death is to The Odyssey. The power that death holds rivals no others in this story, there is “… no escape from death” (Homer 12.483). Death is a constant threat for Odysseus throughout this story, and the future foretold for Odysseus by Tiresias is not one of his life being a good one but of “…your own death will steal upon you…/ a gentle, painless death, far from the sea it comes to take you down…” (Homer 11.153-154). His fortune ends not with his happy life, but with his eventual death. This scene is crucial because it draws the reader back not to the life that Odysseus will have once he has successfully returned home and killed the suitors but the death that he will experience. It draws it back to when and where Odysseus will die and take his place among the
The Odyssey takes place after the Trojan war has ended and a hero named Odysseus is making his way back home. He is on a voyage when he goes through many obstacles. He faces two sea monsters, Scylla who is part human, part animal, and Charybdis, who takes in water and spits it out 3 times a day. Then, the monster Scylla took the men, killing them. The monsters are believed to have come from the Mediterranean sea, were on one side there was dangerous, whirling, whirlpools and a jagged cliff that rose on the other.
“The Odyssey” is an epic poem that tells the story of Odysseus and the story of his many travels and adventures. The Odyssey tells the main character’s tale of his journey home to the island of Ithaca after spending ten years fighting in the Trojan War, and his adventures when he returns home and he is reunited with his family and close friends. This literary analysis will examine the story and its characters, relationships, major events, symbols and motifs, and literary devices.