Moses In The Odyssey

The Book of Job and The Odyssey are stories in which two men experience extremely trying times and attempt to navigate their ways’ through it. They face obstacles daunting to anyone such as a cyclops that imprisons Odysseus and his men in a cave and tries to eat them. Odysseus does whatever he can to overcome the obstacles in his journey. Job is faced with watching his entire family and livestock die from natural disasters and marauders, seemingly out of nowhere. Job does what he knows best to overcome his journey. Both Odysseus and Job eventually make it through their journeys, and receive happy endings. They do it in very different ways however. This is because they have differing beliefs on destiny. Here in lies the most significant difference between Odysseus and Job. Odysseus believes his destiny is in his hands and in suit does whatever it takes to control his destiny. In contrary, Job believes his destiny is in the hands of God, so he places his faith and goodwill with God. This essay will examine the differing beliefs in destiny between Odysseus and Job as well as their drastically different behaviors that support this claim.

The stories of heroes have been at the axis of nearly all cultures throughout history. Each different type of religion or culture has their own heroes or legends, each one of them having their differences to go along with the beliefs at hand. On the other hand, each and every hero also has their similarities, which therefore makes them the hero. The setting, events, and characters in each and every story may change, but the characteristics of the hero remain basically the same. Each person is usually made into a hero in a somewhat similar fashion. For example, many heroes begin as imperfect characters, and then begin some sort of quest which leads to them becoming a leader of what they are doing, and then the character goes through a

There must be a strange feeling Moses experiences and I’m sure he probably did feel inadequate to this great task. Many of us would have questioned God in his choice. Look at “Moses as he says that, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee. Does this sound like something you may of been through, I have and I’m sure you may of you felt the same way also? Moses is like many of us, caught in our feelings and emotions and leaning on them in a critical time in our life.

Throughout the story of Moses, God provides for Moses and guides him on his journey to the Promised Land through divine providence. When Moses was born, he was placed in a basket in the Nile which led him to a palace. He grew up as a prince of Egypt but as he grows older, he starts to doubt who he really is as a person. Moses is chosen by God and tries to free his people but struggles to convince the Pharaoh. God guides his people on their journey to the Promised Land and always provides for them when he is asked by Moses.

Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield. When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did Hashem let us get defeat ? Let us bring the ark of Hasham covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us  of our enemies.”

Why Hermes? Hermes is the messenger to the gods, his Roman name is Mercury. Hermes is the god of commerce, cunning, the inventor of the alphabet, numbers, astronomy, music, the art of fighting, gymnastics, measures, weights, and more. He sends nice sleep, creates dreams, is the traveler of the dead, the protector of travelers, the giver of fame and luck, the protector of animals, and many more things. As god he is immortal.

Through modern culture, most people are familiar with the whole storyline of The Odyssey. Odysseus leaves Troy and embarks on an epic journey filled with adventure and fantasy. However, most readers are unaware that there are actually two journeys that are unfolding simultaneously throughout Homer’s epic. Telemachus’ journey greatly differs from that of his father, Odysseus. While it might not be filled with as much adrenaline and adventure as his father‘s journey, Telemachus’ quest is certainly one that should be noted. It is the story of his coming-of-age. Telemachus greatly matures into a more capable young man. However it is debatable if he will every become the man that his father is.

God wanted to Hebrews to be let free from Egypt. To accomplish this God sent ten plagues to Egypt. At this time Moses was the leader of the Hebrews. Moses led his people out of Egypt and into the desert. They wondered the desert for 40 years until they found the land that God had promised them. Joshua led the Hebrews to take over the land from the people who lived there before the Hebrews were

In the epic Genesis, Joseph is a character who endures countless hardships only to discover that his suffering was all part of God’s plan. This realization, along with many other crucial plot developments, is made possible by the actions of Judah. Judah begins the story in a place of envy and selfishness, but later he shows great moral development by committing the ultimate sacrifice in the name of his father.

The relationship between man and the gods/God differ from one culture to the next, and span over many centuries. We will look at ways in which gods/God were revered in the stories of Joseph in the Hebrew Bible, and of Odysseus in epic The Odyssey. Both the story of Joseph and the story of Odysseus served as a moral and spiritual guide to their respective cultures. Joseph’s story of his journey through slavery and imprisonment up to royalty exemplifies a journey of humiliation guided by his faith in God. God seems to demand absolute unquestioning faith as Joseph’s life is patterned in such a way that his humiliation turns out to be instrumental in his eventual exaltation.

Hermes is the son of Zeus, the god over all the gods, and Maia, one of the Pleiades and the daughter of Atlas who is one of Titans that fought against Zeus in the Titanomachy then was punished by being given the task of holding up the sky for eternity. Maia, therefore, may be seen as a clandestine gift bestowed upon Zeus because of Atlas’ treachery or something that Zeus believed he could take for himself without argument because her father betrayed him. Hermes in Greek stands for the “messenger of the gods” which is exactly what his main quality is among others such as: god of travelers, trade and commerce, athletes, liars and thieves, boundaries and the bringer of luck along with dreams. The origin of the name mainly comes from the word herma

In the Hebrew Bible and The Odyssey there are heroic figures that play an important role through out each of the books. These heroic figures from the Bible and The Odyssey have many similarities and differences that reflect the different cultures they are from. These heroes are called upon by greater beings, such as gods, to complete difficult journeys and or tasks that the god has made them destined to complete. Each of these legendary heroes demonstrates a particular culture’s needs. Through these journeys and or tasks they are forced to overcome challenging obstacles and make sacrifices.

Throughout the Odyssey Odysseus’ plays the “godlike” hero which set the standards for values and traits of the Homeric Greek man. Using his cunning intellect and valiant heroism to finds his way home after many trials and tribulations. During his travel home Odysseus gains knowledge about other peoples culture and about different lands throughout Greece. He learns from his own suffering and the mistakes he had made. Odysseus started his journey as the King of Ithaca and the warrior of all warriors known by the gods as a great hero. Odysseus was the commander of the Greek army and a cunning leader with the plan to win the Trojan war, which he accomplished with the Trojan horse. Odysseus had a seriously downfall however, because of his godlike status and other physical characteristics he tended to be challenged by allurement of series of different women. This temptation was one of the major roles played by women in the Odyssey. Another very important role played by women in the Odyssey was the role of support for their husbands and sons during times of war. Despite the importance of women in the Odyssey women continued to be inferior to men, and the double standards are extreme. Along with the double standard is the significant roles women were required to in Homeric Greece. Even the goddess had certain roles required of them. The Odyssey gives us a piece of Greek Culture during this time period and shows us the role of women.

Hermes was the son of Zeus and Maia, one of the pleiades. He was the messenger of the gods. He was the god of shepherds, and travel, and literature. He was known as a patron of poetry. When Hermes was born, he jumped out of his crib, stole Apollo's cattle, and then went back into his crib playing innocent. Hermes talked the nymph Calypso into releasing Odysseus. Hermes played a part in the infamous love story of Orpheus and Eurydice. After Eurydice is granted one day on earth with her husband, it is Hermes who escorts her back to the underworld.

Moses was a leader of the Hebrews and probably the most important figure in Judaism. He led the Hebrew people out of Egypt and into the Promise Land. His story is told in the book of Exodus, and begins when he was first born during the time that the pharaoh of Egypt declared that all male Hebrew babies were to be drowned at birth. Moses’ mother Yocheved, hid Moses and placed him in a basket in the reeds of the Nile River, where he was then found by the pharaoh’s daughter, who kept Moses and raised him as her own. In the story of Moses, he grows up and stumbles upon an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave. Out of anger Moses murders the Egyptian, and flees to Midian to escape his crime (Hays, 2000). In Midian, Moses rests besides a well,