Examples Of Ancient Greek Values In The Odyssey

Throughout The Odyssey, written by Homer and translated by Robert Fagles, the reader is shown many examples of ancient Greek values. As Odysseus travels home from Troy, he is faced with many challenges. Some test his physical and mental strength, while others test his moral values and how he holds up against more psychological adversaries. The Ancient Greeks have very entrenched beliefs and their actions show it. Some of the most important Greek values include Hospitality, Loyalty, and intelligence.

The fact that anyone may be a god in disguise is pretty good motivation to treat your guests as courteously as you possible. This idea influenced the Ancient Greeks to be very hospitable to anyone that set foot in their home. This is especially evident when

Telemachus notices a stranger in their courts. He offers her a place to sit and rest, as well as food and drink. It can be inferred that Odysseus, as a father, taught Telemachus about the necessity to treat your guests as graciously as yourself. Another value honored by ancient Greeks is loyalty. This could include loyalty to your friends, your family, and/or your country. In the case of Odysseus, it’s all three. The main goal of his journey shown throughout The Odyssey is to get back home to his friends and family, as well as his homeland. This could be inferred as both loyalty to his friends and family, as well as devotion to his homeland as he wants to go home the throughout the entire book. Finally, we have intelligence, a trait as valuable as gold in Odysseus’s world. To survive many challenges he faces, Odysseus has to utilise his intelligence to the fullest. This is perhaps, the most important trait of Greek culture as this is a recurring theme in The Odyssey, with many examples of it prevalent. Some examples would be; Odysseus escaping the Cyclops, Penelope tricking the suitors, and Athena getting Zeus to let Odysseus leave Calypso’s island. The trait of cunning and intelligence goes along hand in hand with characters of heroism.
While The Odyssey is quite ancient by modern standards, and while there are many similarities, ancient Greek and modern American values differ in many ways as well.

Of course, one of the most noticeable differences is the ancient Greek tendency to fear the gods, because they could kill men with ease. In modern American culture we tend to not bow to anyone and a percentage of us don't fear a god. Believers usually view their god as a kind, charitable, and benevolent entity. Some may pray to and believe in him, but we still go about our own lives, preferring to have control of ourselves. Another point of contest between Ancient Greek and American values; is their very different ideas of justice and consequence. In the Greek value system they encourage strict and swift revenge on anyone that wrongs them, while the American system is more compassionate, placing greater emphasis on forgiveness and even rehabilitation. Greek revenge can be found in the Odyssey, when Polyphemus wishes death on Odysseus after being blinded. Poseidon hears the call and attempts to kill Odysseus. In an American system, Polyphemus may show more forgiveness, and Poseidon would attempt to give Odysseus a fair sentence of trying to murder

him.
To have an very high degree of similarity between Odysseus and our American version of him, we analysed the traits he displays in The Odyssey. For the sake of accuracy, we copied his traits to the American Odysseus. We did, however, change his values from the values of ancient Greeks to the values of modern America. We kept some values from the ancient Greeks because they are values held in common with americans today. Timeless values like loyalty and intelligence were kept, while other values such as Individualism, Equality, and Materialism were added. Due to the relatively short length of the video. The main way we decided to show the trait; was through dialogue. For example, to show the value of Materialism; we decided for Alex and Frank to steal the money that Alistair, even though Alistair told them the only rule was to not go into the room that housed the money.
The ancient Greeks had many important values of their culture such as Hospitality, Loyalty, and intelligence, while the modern Americans mostly value the traits such as Individualism, Equality, and Materialism. Some of these values - such as Hospitality, Loyalty, and intelligence - overlap, and we see the overlap in the Odyssey. However, in-addition to both cultures sharing the same or similar value; these cultures also have values that contrast each other.