One of the most important abilities for a person to have is to be able to show respect towards others. Respect towards strangers, and even more importantly respect towards your enemies could be the difference between a mere rivalry, and complete disaster. This idea is demonstrated in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Homer’s The Odyssey. The protagonists of each of these novels share a similar archetypal role, yet because they handle their conflicts differently, their outcomes are opposite of each other. While both Odysseus and Victor have powerful arch enemies, only Odysseus is respectful towards his, enabling him to reunite with his family and regain his throne while Victor and his loved ones die tragically. Throughout the course of his journey, Odysseus is haunted by the thought of his enemy, Poseidon, who has far more power than Odysseus and strives to keep him from returning to Ithaca. Poseidon still holds a grudge against Odysseus for blinding Polyphemus at his cave. Soon before Odysseus reaches Phaeacia’s shores with hope of rescue, Poseidon notices that “he’s [Odysseus] fated to escape his noose of pain” if he makes it to Phaeacia, and threatens to “give that man [Odysseus] his swamping full of trouble” to prevent him from reaching his destination (Homer 5:318-320). While Odysseus is among the most powerful mortals, he is not comparable to Poseidon. This is why, in a situation like this, it is an important skill to know your strengths, and act intelligently. As like Odysseus fears Poseidon, Victor is fearful of his creation because he possesses the power to destroy Victor’s life completely unless Victor supplies him with a companion. The moment that the creation came to life, Victor feared him solely for its appearance. ... ... middle of paper ... ...g himself as the superior being, and not even stopping to acknowledge the power the creation possesses. On top of the insults so commonly received from Victor, the creation wants to prove his authority to Victor. Compared with the murder of William, which was an act of frustration, the murders of the rest of Victor’s loved ones was an act of hatred from the highly unappreciated creation, and was the direct result of Victor’s mistreatment. Both Odysseus and Victor had substantial forces against them, but the more fortunate of the two was not necessarily the stronger individual. The Odyssey ended happily while Frankenstein ended tragically because Odysseus handled his situation more diligently than Victor handled his. By recognizing his enemy’s potential for danger, Odysseus had the opportunity to surrender, while Victor went all in and came out with nothing at all.
Whether atop the baffling Mount Olympus or below in the blank slate of a city being Ingolstadt, a mythological god and a man seek power on their trek to greatness. Both Zeus of the Greek gods in “The Story of Prometheus” and the simple man Victor Frankenstein of the literature work Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, can be viewed as leaders who lost their purpose in their quest for power. Victor possesses more morality in his actions, while Zeus rules with an iron fist and does not care what happens to the ones around him. To understand the beneficial traits and flaws of these characters, one must delve into the stories of their lives. These characters throughout literature show signs of great potential, but also of substantial corruption. Disregarding the feelings of others, along with a
Odysseus is a hero because he acts courageously while facing the many challenges he encounters. Odysseus’s shows great bravery when he engages in physical challenges. Odysseus daringly fights against the suitors, while significantly outnumbered: “For I must tell you this is no affair / of ten or even twice ten men, but scores, throngs of them” (XVI, 291 – 293). Even though Odysseus is facing hundreds of men, his bravery keeps him confident that he can win the battle. Odysseus must use his physical strength when Poseidon punishes him with turbulent waves: “Odysseus’s knees grew slack, his heart / sickened, and he said within himself / Rag of man that I am, is this the end of me?” (V, 307 – 309). Odysseus is exhausted from the torrential sea, yet refuses to give up because of enormous courage and his unwillingness to surrender. Odysseus must also cope with emotional challenges throughout his journey. His emotions are tested when he ventures to the underworld, Hades, and must confront his greatest fear, death: “From every side they came and sought the pit / with rustling cries; and I grew sick with fear. / But presently I gave command to my officers” (XI, 45 -47). Although Odysseus is deeply fearful when he comes face to face with the dead, his mental f...
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.
To start, within the course of The Odyssey, Odysseus displays hubris through many of his actions. The most prominent instance in which Odysseus shows hubris is while he and his men are trying to escape from the Cyclops Polyphemus. They drug the monster until it passes out, and then stab him with a timber in his single eye. Polyphemus, now blinded, removes the gigantic boulder blocking Odysseus’ escape, and waits for the men to move, so he can kill them. The men escape from the cave to their boat by tying themselves under flocks of rams, so they can easily slip by. Odysseus, now proud after beating the giant, starts to yell at Polyphemus, instead of making a silent escape. Odysseus’ men ask him to stop before Polyphemus would “get the range and lob a boulder” (436). But Odysseus shows hubris by saying that if they were to meet again, Odysseus would “take your life” and “hurl you down to hell!” (462; 463). Polyphemus, now extremely angry with Odysseus, prays to his father, Poseidon, to make Odysseus “never see his home” again, and after which, throws a mountain towards the sound of Odysseus’ voice. (470). Because of Odysseus’ hubris after blinding Polyphemus, Poseidon grants the prayer, and it takes Odysseus 20 years to return home, at the cost of the lives of all his men.
Furthermore, Victor had a vision to create life out of death but didn’t fully comprehend his outcome then when the results came in then it was too late to destroy the atrocity he has made, he ran away from his creation and hid under his blanket as a victim instead of the criminal. In fact, Victor should’ve made it his main duty to take the responsibility as the creator of a benevolent being, but he ostracized his own creation and ran away like he had done to many of his problems throughout the story. Instead, Victor claimed himself a victim and personified the creature as a manipulative, murderous monster that was in evil entity and had a soul black as the vast night. For example, Victor mentioned to Captain Walton near the end of the story that the monster needed to be stopped and his actions will cause chaos in the world of man if Walton were to step down from Victor’s request to eliminate the monster before he were to murder again. Yet, the monster was in a constant circle of injustice from his own creator, Victor Frankenstein, from being abandoned to being characterized as a villain without being given the voice and care he needed to in order to change his path of violence into the generosity of a cordial
Imagine having the lives of your crew in your hands, deciding whether to let them live or die. Try having to choose between having your whole ship destroyed by a giant whirlpool and killing everyone or having a giant six-headed sea monster devour six of your men while they scream for your help. That’s only one of the many dilemmas Odysseus faced in Homer’s The Odyssey. In The Odyssey, Odysseus must try to travel home after The Trojan War has ended in Troy. His subjects back home in Ithaca believe that he is dead and now his house is overwhelmed with suitors trying to court Odysseus’s wife, Penelope to try and rule Ithaka. It’s up to Odysseus to make it back home and claim his kingdom back. During these trials to get home, Odysseus must face
Throughout my Fall 2013 semester I have experienced and learned numerous ideas and information. All of my classes each taught me vital information to succeed and pursue my careers and goals in life. One of those classes was English 314 Honors. This class has truly broadened my horizon towards the numerous collections of literature in our world. I have learned the literary works of Egyptian’s, Mesopotamian’s, Indian’s (South India), Chinese’s, and African’s and how they each impacted their culture. In addition, I learned many philosophical beliefs from wisdom literature and the genre, geographic background, and time period of which each works were made (some dates were roughly estimated). However, the main takeaway from English 314 Honors is the style of how all the different literary works incorporate nature and its meaning it gives to each society. Throughout all the literary works I have learned nature is portrayed as a primitive, creative, beautiful, and tragic conception, which has a major influence on each culture.
...he window and see his own creation killing his wife. As a result of all the deaths in Victor’s family, his father kills himself because he cannot stand all the grief that he has been struck with. His death is a result of the hideous monster that his own flesh and blood created, but he will never know that because Victor will not tell anyone.
Knowledge is dangerous in Victor’s eyes. He knows now that what he was doing while trying to create his giant being that he is stepping over the lines and trying to be like God. Victor states to Walton, “Learn from me, if not by my precept, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow” (31). Victor understands that what he has done was wrong and he had let the obsession own him. He tried to be more superior than the one creator who started this world and has created what he believes is a monster. His obsession for creating this being has controlled his life, Victor almost slipped away into nothing while trying to be the ultimate creator, leaving behind his family and few friends. Luckily one man close enough to Victor was able to nurse him back to normal health and restore his tranquility, this man’s name was Henry Clerval. Victor states “We passed a fortnight in these perambulations: my health and spirits had long been restored, and they gained additional strength from the salubrious air I breathed, the natural incidents of our progress, and the conversation of my friend”
The 1960s was a period well remembered for all the civil rights movements that occurred during that time frame and the impact these movements had on the social and political dynamics of the United States. The three largest movements that were striving in the 1960s were the African American civil rights movement, the New Left movement and the feminist movement. These three movements were in a lot of ways influenced by each other and were very similar in terms of their goals and strategies. However, within each of these movements there were divisions in the way they tried to approach the issues they were fighting against. Looking at each of these movements individually will reveal the relationship they all share as well as the changes that were brought forth as a result of each groups actions.
Victor has a lack of respect for the natural world that leads him on the path to becoming a monster. In creating the monster Victor is trying to change the natural world. He is trying to play the role of god by creating life.
Victor is obsessed with the creation of life. “I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless disgust and horror filled my heart” (Shelley 43). Victor has spent almost two years of his life doing nothing but working on his creation of the creature. He even says that it was an obsession when he says that he desired it with a passion more than normal. This obsession led to Victor’s disappointment with what he had created. He was certain that he would love his creature and that it would be beautiful but once his dream came to life, he was severely disappointed. He says his heart was filled with hate and disgust. Victor wasn’t even able to stay and look at it so he rushed from the room and then obsessed over hating the creature. If Victor didn’t obsess over the creature as much as he did he wouldn’t have been so disappoin...
The challenges that Homer give the protagonist is all a test of character. Odysseus continues to pass the obstacles with flying colors, but his arrogance is the one flaw that is in dire need of correction. Some of the many challenges Odysseus overcomes on his voyage home is defeating the Cicones, surviving the Island of the Lotus Eaters, outsmarting the Giant Cyclops, saving his men from Circe, Traveling to Hades, passing between Scylla and Charybdis, escaping Calypsos’ Island and many more. Odysseus survives these obstacles and uses his smarts to escape near disaster. Often times he was the only one to survive these things and his crew often lost their lives due to their own stupidity. “‘We left the island and resumed our journey in a state of gloom; and the heart was taken out of my men by the wearisome rowing. But was our own stupidity that had deprived us of the wind.’”(P127 L75-79) Odysseus shows how he is an extraordinary man by being much smarter than his crew and the men that follow him. As a part of this stripping of Odysseus, Homer shows that Odysseus is a collective symbol of Everyman. On the one hand Odysseus is a great warrior, who is extremely intelligent, noble, and a great man. Although he has many god- like qualities he is still human. He shows that he is human and like every man, because of the fact that he still has major flaws. The
In conclusion, Victor’s reason for revenge on the creature is for destroying all of his happiness, killing his family, and all things good in his life. Although Victor blames the creature for his life falling apart, it is Victor’s fault ultimately because he created the problem. Without the creation of this being, there would be no death in Victor’s life other than his own happiness that he created for himself in solitude. Both Victor and the creature create an isolated world for each other. The story begins with Victor in his isolated room, progressing to the abandonment and alienation of the creature, and finally ending with the creature now creating a world of isolation for Victor in return.