We Have Too Much Power In The Odyssey

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All throughout society, power has always been a sign of wealth and good fortune. If this generalization is removed, a different story is revealed. The Odyssey chronicles the hero, Odysseus’ journey home as he faces many obstacles. In the end, Odysseus returns home and kills all of his wife’s suitors. In the epic poem The Odyssey, Homer supports the idea that it is possible to have too much power. This concept is shown through the power struggles between mortals and gods alike in the Ancient Greece setting. To begin with, Poseidon abuses his power by constantly tantalizing Odysseus as he tries to reach home. While the gods discuss Odysseus’ fate, Zeus vocalizes, “Poseidon must relent for being so quarrelsome will get him nowhere, one god, flouting the will of …show more content…

This argument is shown through how Zeus keeps mortals and gods in order. When Eumaios is offering animals to the gods, he exclaims, “Zeus grants us this or that, or else refrains from granting, as he wills; all things are in his power” (261). To balance society, Zeus punishes those who must be punished and helps those who are deserving of good fortune. Eumaios views this as a reasonable contract between each party. Although this is a valid argument, Odysseus himself refutes this statement when Odysseus tells Amphínomos of the extreme superiority the gods exhibit towards mortals, describing human’s minds as being “blown over by the father of gods and men” (340). This soliloquy embodies the problem of how the gods wrongfully use humans, disrupting the balance many characters claim exists. In a sense, the gods do not view them as people with thoughts and feelings but as “pawns” in their game of fate. Although a balance between mortal and god is existent on some occasions, the gods still consistently misuse their power towards mortals for their own

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