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Comparison of odyssey and iliad
Comparison of odyssey and iliad
Comparison of odyssey and iliad
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The Iliad and The Odyssey are two epic poems with both similar and different styles to the structure of the poems, as well as each poem having the same gods incorporated into the stories intervening with the day to day lives of the mortals. Greek poetry before Homer was all composed orally; therefore it is assumed that Homer’s works are the first written works of art (Joachim Latacz, page 15). Scholars who have spent extensive time researching the origin of Homer’s work cannot verify a specific time the Iliad and the Odyssey were written (Latacz, 24). Many who have tried, usually run into a dead end, but it seems most have came to the conclusion that the poems were produced in the late eighteenth century (Latacz , 59). There are several similarities in the two stories of the Iliad and the Odyssey. The two stories are classic, epic poems written by the legendary poet Homer. Achilles and Odysseus, the main antagonists of the Iliad and the Odyssey, are both Greek warriors and are both represented in each of the poems in some fashion. Odysseus is shown in the Iliad all throughout as one of the Greek forces most cunning warriors (Coleman-Norton, JStor). Although he is shown throughout the Iliad, his first appearance is the most similar to the Odysseus shown in the Odyssey when he is the one picked to captain the ship that is returning Chryseis to her father ( The Iliad, lines 440-447). Achilles character is shown in book eleven of the Odyssey when Odysseus speaks with his spirit for a brief moment (The Odyssey, 585-629). The two stories also include a form of kidnapping within. In the Iliad it is shown right away with the taking of Chryseis and Briseis by Agamemnon and Achilles as war prizes (The Iliad, 182-185). The Odyssey shows th... ... middle of paper ... ...ations of different women, the song of the Sirens, and the fruit of the Lotus Eaters. Another contrasting point between the two poems is cunning versus strength. The Iliad is all about war and brute force in battle to determine the winner. The Odyssey is all about the brain of Odysseus. He must use his wit to survive many of his misadventures. Homer’s epic poems, The Iliad and The Odyssey, are similar in many ways as well as different. The gods of Mount Olympus play a big role in each of the stories; but that does not necessarily mean the same role. The attitudes betrayed from the gods seem as if they are nearly polar opposites from the Iliad to the Odyssey. Yes, there are some similarities shown from the gods rather than just their name but there are very few. The structure as well as the theme of the two poems shows a few similarities and many differences, also.
One archetype the two stories have in common is the hero. The heroes, Odysseus and Everett, try to reach their family, no matter the risks. Both have the same goal and will do anything to keep their loved ones again. Also, both of the heroes are extremely loyal to their companions. Like whenever Odysseus tried to save his crew, or when Everett went to rescue Pete from jail. However, they can also differ in ways like character. In the face of an obstacle, Odysseus faces the problem head on and uses strategy at the same time, while Everett uses excuses to try to avoid the problem. On the other hand, Everett has his friends throughout his quest, while Odysseus’ companions all die except him. These examples show how the heroes of the Odyssey and O Brother! are different.
In Virgil’s The Aeneid, there are many parallels found in Homer’s The Odyssey. In each epic, the heroes, Aeneas and Odysseus, are on a journey “home.” Aeneas is on the search of a new home for he and his companions to settle since Troy has been destroyed, Odysseus on the other hand is attempting to return to his home he left years earlier to fight the Trojan War. They both have Gods against them and helping them, both Aeneas and Odysseus are both held back by women, both voluntary and involuntarily, and they both have experiences visiting the Underworld. Despite these similarities, there are differences between the two characters and it reflects their values and the society they live in. Aeneas relies on his strength as a warrior, where as Odysseus uses his deception to survive which reflects how Aeneas is truly Roman is versus Greek.
The Iliad is a book based on the true event such as the Trojan War and has focused on true past religions which are Greek or Greek Mythology and is written by Robert Homer. Othello is a play written by Shakespeare and is at the time of his own era. One major difference would have to be skin color. They have very different skin color from our knowledge we are led to believe and or see that the greeks are light or fair skinned people with blonde or brown hair. Achilles would be like that as well and another contributing factor is that there are portraits of him and paintings to back up our understandings of him. From reading the play about Othello we can conclude that he is very dark or black skin and he also is of African descent.
Homer's two central heroes, Odysseus and Achilles, are in many ways differing manifestations of the same themes. While Achilles' character is almost utterly consistent in his rage, pride, and near divinity, Odysseus' character is difficult to pin down to a single moral; though perhaps more human than Achilles, he remains more difficult to understand. Nevertheless, both heroes are defined not by their appearances, nor by the impressions they leave upon the minds of those around them, nor even so much by the words they speak, but almost entirely by their actions. Action is what drives the plot of both the Iliad and the Odyssey, and action is what holds the characters together. In this respect, the theme of humanity is revealed in both Odysseus and Achilles: man is a combination of his will, his actions, and his relationship to the divine. This blend allows Homer to divulge all that is human in his characters, and all that is a vehicle for the idyllic aspects of ancient Greek society. Accordingly, the apparent inconsistencies in the characterization of Odysseus can be accounted for by his spiritual distance from the god-like Achilles; Achilles is more coherent because he is the son of a god. This is not to say that Achilles is not at times petty or unimaginative, but that his standards of action are merely more continuous through time. Nevertheless, both of Homer's heroes embody important and admirable facets of ancient Greek culture, though they fracture in the ways they are represented.
In the beginning of the Iliad and The Epic of Gilgamesh there are similarities in the behavior of the leading characters. Gilgamesh and Achilles both have problems managing their emotions. For Gilgamesh the issue is in the form of sexual conquest and abuse of power. For Achilles it is pride and fury that causes problems for the hero. It could be said that these behaviors show how the heroes deal with and internalize feelings as well as emotions. Another similarity is how the loss of their comrades causes a transformation in the protagonists. In the Iliad the hero Achilles suffers the loss of his close comrade, Patroclus, and likewise in The Epic of Gilgamesh he experiences the death of Enkidu. The deaths of these comrades serve as a catalyst
Both the Odyssey and the Aeneid represent their cultures very well, but they express different ideas on what one should strive for in life. There are also different forces that pushed both epics to be written. The Aeneid expresses the Roman idea of pietas which means to show extreme respect for one’s ancestors. We see this in Aeneas when he is pictured caring his father away from burning Troy. He has pietas because he cared so much for his father that in fleeing from Troy he took up his father over his shoulder to save his from certain death. This is not the only major idea in the Aeneid. There is also a very political focus. The Roman were very interested in politics which comes through in the Aeneid. The Odyssey has the Greek idea of arete trapped somewhere among the many themes. Arete is a strive for perfection in both mind and body. It is a much more personal and individual idea than the Roman pietas. In the most basic seance the Aeneid and the Romans have a much more political focus and duty to the state ( republic ) than the Greeks who honor tradition , family , and arete.
Although both epics justify a status quo, codify a national mythology, preserve cultural memories, and establish literary tropes, they are united by sensibility and are traditionally poetic. They both almost have the same exact core values such as in the end, but project influence into a number to areas of cultural identity. Once more, after analyzing both texts, it is possible to conclude that Aeneas is the better leader, and The Odyssey is the greater epic. Knowing that this is the proper proposition made, this affects the readers of both well-known stories.
In Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey, the recurring theme of intelligence is important because through intelligence, Odysseus is able to utilize wit and cunning to suit his needs and wants, as well as defeat bigger and stronger opponents than he. Through the stories of Odysseus' sufferings throughout the Trojan War and his struggles of homecoming, Homer portrays intelligence as being an effective application of strength used to gain an advantage over his opponents. Odysseus is depicted as an intellectual hero, who focuses on brain and sophrosune, rather than the typical martial hero, such as Achilles in the Iliad, who focuses on brawn and action provoked by emotion.
Both epics are written in an elaborate style, using language that was too impersonal and formal for ordinary discourse. The metrical form is dactylic hexameter (see Versification). Stylistically no real distinction can be made between the two works. Since antiquity, however, many readers have believed that they were written by different people. The Iliad deals with passions, with insoluble dilemmas. It has no real villains; Achilles, Agamemnon, Priam, and the rest are caught up, as actors and victims, in a cruel and ultimately tragic universe. In the Odyssey, on the other hand, the wicked are destroyed, right prevails, and the family is reunited. Here rational intellect-that of Odysseus in particular-acts as the guiding force throughout the story.
Lattimore, Richard. Introduction. The Iliad of Homer. New York: University of Chicago Press. 1961. 7–55.
The Odyssey is an epic poem that was written by a man called Homer who is believed to have lived hundreds of years ago. In his 12,000 line story, he captures the adventure of a man named Odyssey who is trying to return home from war to his wife and son. He faces several forms of trouble and deterrents that encompass everything from monsters to gods to people. The reader can look at these events, the symbols, the motifs, and the relationships in the story between different characters in the story to determine the theme of the story. Each part plays a role in forming the themes, though it can sometimes be hard for the reader to analyze each part of the story effectively.
Homer is credited for writing epics that generate source materials for the modern world. The Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer are captivating stories with fascinating heroic characters. The Homer stories share with classical mythology typical recurrent motifs. The two Homer epic poems focus on the Trojan War, and its result. The epic poems contain the Greek mythology featuring the Greek gods, goddesses, mythological creatures, and the Greek heroes, and heroines. In addition, the principal motifs typical of classical mythological hero stories are; the dominance of fate, evil fighting against the gods, and death. In both the classic mythology, and he modern fiction hero stories, the heroes always have a helper in their expedition, but ultimately, they have to stand alone, face the darkness, and conquer it in order to become victorious.
Homer and Virgil were two poets that came from differing societies. Homer, a Greek poet, is most famous for his epic poem The Odyssey. It tells the story of the hero Odysseus’ journey back to back to his homeland of Ithaca after 10 years abroad. He is in a race against time to oust the suitors of his wife Penelope from his court. The Aeneid tells the tale of Aeneas, who is a hero of the Trojan war that is traveling to Italy after the conflict has ended in order to establish a new empire. Aeneas and Odysseus were actually on opposite sides of each other during the Trojan war. Both Aeneas and Odysseus would have been considered heroes to their respective kingdoms, but that is not where their similarities end. There are many facets of the two protagonists that could be considered synonymous. However, there are differences between the two that can be seen as well.
The Iliad and the Odyssey are two classic stories told by Homer. Within these two stories the roles of the gods are very important to the story line and how they affect the characters throughout. In the Iliad, more gods are involved with the characters whereas in the Odyssey there are only two major gods that affect two major characters. The roles of the gods in the Iliad are through two different stances of immortal versus immortal and mortal versus immortal. The roles of the gods in the Odyssey are through two major gods and they affect the plot as Poseidon versus Odysseus and Athena versus Telemachus.
...was conflicted by the philosophers. In Iliad, palaces built and created works of art that sill dazzle the eye Doric palaces was built and the Doric style, symbolizes many aspects of the Archaic period exposition of balance, ordered, and proportioned. Homer epics poetry maintain something of the material side of the Mycenaean period. Yet in filling in the details of political, economic, and social life; the religious beliefs and practices; and the ideals that gave meaning to life; the poet could only describe what was familiar to him in his own age. The values that gave meaning to life in the Homeric Age were predominantly heroic values - the strength, skill, and valor of the preeminent warrior. The two Greek epics the Iliad and the Odyssey expressed his characters’ sorrow and happiness, hopes and fears, and most especially their love of life and certainty of death.