Comparing Odysseus Harry Potter And Homer's Odyssey

Unexpectedly, both Odysseus and Harry are surprised with a “call” to leave their homes and pass their comfort zones. Odysseus is called to take part in the Trojan War and Harry Potter is invited to start school at Hogwarts: The School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When Harry Potter receives an invitation for Hogwarts, his aunt and uncle (Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia) aren’t too happy to see the letter. “Harry dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the mail…a letter for Harry. Harry picked it up and stared at it, his heart twanging like a giant elastic band. No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him.” This excerpt from the text explains how Harry Potter felt when he received this letter. It also shows how this call affected him and how it took him out of his comfort zone. Furthermore, In The Odyssey, Odysseus is notified that he must travel to Troy to fight the Trojan war. He sets out to this land when his son is only a few years of age and leaves his family. As Homer describes, “What of my sailing, then, from Troy?” This quote is a direct statement from Odysseus, in which he is reminded of his departure from his beloved island. In summary, the call to action phase of the Hero’s Journey trope is revealed to both Harry and Odysseus.

Odysseus, through the tremendous physical journey that he has embarked on, goes on many mental journeys that greatly develop him as a character: he starts out hotheaded and single-minded, yet grows to be a lot more rational by the end of the book, which ultimately saves his own life and the lives of many others. For example, because of the inadvertent trip he and his crew take to the island of the Cyclops, and their subsequent escape from the Cyclops Polyphemus (which causes the ire of Poseidon, Polyphemus’ father, to be incited), Odysseus learns to not invite the wrath of the gods. He also learns, after taunting Polyphemus multiple times and consequently, almost getting everyone killed because of it, to not act in such a rash manner and to

Every day on his long journey back home, he would think about his wife and son. He had a drive to return home even while being cursed by the god Poseidon. Trying so hard to return home for twenty years showed Odysseus loyalty because many people from that time would have given up trying to return home while being cursed by the gods. Odysseus was also trapped on the Island of the goddess Calypso. Odysseus was trapped there for many years, and the goddess even fell in love with him.

There are many legendary epic stories have been passed on from generation to generation in the Greek culture. Even though each story has different outcomes, every epic character has certain features in common. Odysseus in The Odyssesy and Oedipus in Oedipus the King are great examples of epic heroes with a variety of similarities. Odysseus and Oedipus are similar in which they both god-like men who are considered heroes because of their cautious ways and relentless tenacity. On the other hand, Odysseus and Oedipus also demonstrate their crude habits with their hubris behavior throughout their own prophecy. In addition to the similarities, the powerful gods play a significant role which drastically affects

Odysseus in the Underworld and Aeneas' descent to the Underworld Odysseus’ trip to the Underworld was a story explained in The Odyssey Book XI by Homer, while Aeneas’ journey to the Underworld was told in Aeneid Book VI by Virgil, a famous Roman poet. Homer was a famous Greek poet who wrote two great epic poems, Iliad and Odyssey. The Greek literature focused greatly on these two poems (Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece 366). After the release of these two poems Virgil wrote the epic Aeneid, which became the central work of Latin and Western Literature till this day (Matthew 584). Odysseus was a great king of Ithaca while Aeneas was a great Trojan hero.

In the Odyssey, Odysseus and Telemachus each have a journey of their own, which in turn makes up a double plot in the epic. Odysseus’s plot has many more struggles and is the central role that creates the actual story in the whole novel. To many, the act of Odysseus moving across the sea in search of his own solutions to his issues is just a quest that is constantly being blocked by various obstacles. In all reality, with the help of the sea being a very important symbol, the journey turns Odysseus into a dynamic character as he proceeds through his travels. It is easily seen that in the beginning of his journey, starting when he and his crew landed on Polyhemus’ island, he is portrayed as a rash, egotistical young

he epic hero that ventured forth from the regular world into a region of supernatural fascination where he comes across fantastic forces and fights mysterious enemies. This describes Odysseus, the epic hero that faced malicious creatures and life-threatening events, yet exhibited heroic and convenient traits to reach triumph successfully. In the epic of The Odyssey, Homer depicts that Odysseus is an epic hero by confronting his enemies and accomplishing his goal in returning home to his family using the traits of intelligence, and perseverance. In addition, his leadership trait is significantly dignifying him in the case of proving that Odysseus is an epic hero.

Another trait that Odysseus demonstrates repeatedly throughout the story is his loyalty. In various situations he never gives up on his crew, even when he has reason to. During an episode in the epic, Odysseus travels to the underworld to receive a prophecy. He meets his great friend Elpenor, who has died earlier in Circe’s hall. Because he is unburied and unmourned he asks Odysseus to build a cairn in his honor. Odysseus replies, “Unhappy spirit, / I promise you the barrow and the burial.” (Homer, lines 609-610). Although Odysseus is preoccupied with finding Tiresias, he shows loyalty to his crew mate by spending time with his spirit, and carrying out the spirit’s request. It could have been easy for Odysseus to ignore the spirit of Elpenor, but Odysseus shows a real emotional reply to this meeting. Not only does he show loyalty to his crew but his homeland as well. Although he could have given up during the ten year span Odysseus wandered from home, he persisted even though giving up would have been easier. At one point Odysseus is detained by the enchantress, Circe, but remains determined to reach home:

The epic hero is a figure of great stature and may be a character from history or legend. Epic heroes’ most remarkable traits are usually the ones most valued by the society from which the epic came. The main character in this epic is Odysseus. Odysseus is on a quest to find his home after a war. Odysseus is an epic hero.

Hercules, Perseus, Theseus, and Achilles are all known as epic or homeristic heroes. They have all had their legendary battles and journeys that have classified them as an epic hero. Epic heroes all have good and bad qualities, for example Hercules is known as the strongest man in the world, but he is not that smart. Odysseus is a great example of an epic hero. He is smart, strong, and protected by gods and goddesses, but he does have faults in his actions considering he is only just a mortal. In Homer’s book, The Odyssey, Homer shows how Odysseus is truly an epic hero, by showing his journey back home to Ithaca.

While a multitude of factors creates of the human condition, there is none as certain as our mortality. In fact, the aspect of mortality is so essential to the human condition that without it, we could not be deemed truly human – man is not perfect, and his imperfections are conceived in the form of our vulnerabilities to suffering and death. Both Homer’s The Odyssey and Sophocles’s Oedipus the King place emphasis on the prevalence of mortality and human vulnerabilities throughout each narrative, creating a profound discussion concerning the inevitability of death and the manner in which we must make meaning of our own oblivion.

Often through great literature, there is an epic hero. In the Odyssey, Homer tells the journey of one man’s journey home from the Trojan War. The protagonist of the epic poem Odysseus is often regarded as a great hero. However, Odysseus is not quite the glorious soldier that people often see him as. Odysseus disproves his title of a hero through his pride, his disloyalty, and his bloodthirstiness.

Written about two thousand and seven hundred years earlier, the Odyssey is still influencing modern storytelling today. Odysseus, the legendary Greek king of Ithaca and protagonist of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey was recognized as a great hero of his time. He was known for his defining qualities of superior strength and athleticism, sharp intellect, sensual ness, and a thirst for glory. These character traits are still being used to attribute modern day fictional heroes such as Neo, Captain Jack Sparrow, James Bond, and Spiderman. Accordingly, the heroic qualities of Odysseus can be still be seen in today's modern day fictional heroes.

Both the ‘Odyssey’ and ‘1001 Nights’ feature male protagonists who traverse the seas, and the concepts and themes of men seafaring is common throughout most canonical texts. For example, the allusion of Odysseus’ difficult journey is made when a minor male character in Apuleius’ ‘The Golden Ass’ describes his seafaring adventures as being ‘positively Ulyssian’ (‘Ulyssian’ thus being a reference the Roman naming of Odysseus) (pg 29). Furthermore, both texts share themes, such as: seafaring, the supernatural, trials and tribulations, tradition, belief systems, and the geographical setting and pride in the protagonist’s home city play a key role to the overarching plots of the texts in the sense of the protagonist’s endurance and motivation to both leave and return home. Likewise, the supernatural is used to further the plot of both texts.

Both men show willpower in realizing their goals.  Odysseus's target is returning to Ithaca to his beloved wife and son. He overcomes many