The Iliad And The Book Of Genesis

In ancient Greek culture the gods were seen as taking a very active role in the development and course of human history.  The entire Olympian pantheon, as well as many other less important divinities, meddles in human affairs to no end.  The people of the many city-states that composed Greece firmly believed that every aberration from normalcy was due to an act of the gods.  Homer, the author of The Iliad, coined the prevalent religious beliefs of the time in his epic poems, showing the gods as temperamental and willful, meddlesome and dynamic.  Homer’s entire poem is replete with instances of divine intervention in mortal lives, and no single major occurrence comes to pass unless it is the will of one of the many Olympian gods.  Few major decisions are made without consulting the gods first, and the handful of instances in which one leader or another takes initiative almost always fails miserably.  Life, according to the Greeks, is almost entirely rooted in their religion, as there is a god or goddess governing every aspect of the universe, and also because the gods so actively involve themselves in the everyday lives of mortals.

The Iliad, Odyssey, and Epic of Gilgamesh all demonstrate the transformational process of their respective epic heroes through their strengths and weaknesses. Epic heroes such as Achilles, Odysseus, and Gilgamesh all possessed superior qualities that separated them from other individuals. Although their incredible abilities may support the societal perception of strong leadership, their weaknesses caused these characters to hold vices that went against the cultural expectations of what a strong leader should be. Furthermore, they all shared similar experiences in terms of undergoing a difficult situation and changing their approach in an effort for redemption. This paper will be examining the virtues of these epic heroes and the

In the books The David Story, and The Iliad the overall stories show us that history has evolved. In which case, we read the differences between the human relationships toward their god(s). In The David Story, David turns to Yahweh for advice, reassurance, and in some instances, a second opinion, whereas in The Iliad, Achilles is overseen by the god of wisdom and military victory, Athena. The relationships between the humans and their god have similarities but are also significantly different.

The fighting and destructive powers of humans have been on display since prehistoric times with many tribes constantly finding ways to fight and kill one another for their own benefit. This long-term fighting shows that human beings have a natural instinct towards violence and conflict between one another. Even after thousands of years, it is safe to say that war never changes. Both The Iliad and The Things They Carried showed how human beings have a natural tendency towards superiority and conflict but do not have a proper way to cope with the emotional trauma that comes with it.

The Iliad centers around the use of moira to control the lives of the characters while Genesis relies on God to set things in motion for his plans. Andromache, from the Iliad, and Rebekah, from Genesis, are each used by the larger force at work to express the major themes of each work. Andromache and Rebekah are each used by either God or moira to produce offspring that are predestined for important events that have been predetermined by either God or moira. Each woman also attempts to bend their husband to their will, in different ways, to get their husband to act in the way that they see as most desirable. However, Rebekah is much more successful in her attempt on Isaac than Andromache is in making Hector do what she wants him to do. Both Andromache and Rebekah attempt to control their husbands, but Andromache has no real power to influence her husband’s decisions due to moira. Andromache is given very little power to change the direction of her narrative due to the fated fall of Troy. Andromache and Rebekah are given very different abilities to control their narratives due to what is predestined by moira, in Andromache’s case, and what God commands, in Rebekah’s case.

Rebekah’s actions were foreshadowed in the very beginning when God revealed what is going to happen during her pregnancy (Genesis 27. 23). Indeed, Rebekah played a pivotal role in aiding Jacob to deceive Isaac, in order to receive the blessings. This evidence is illustrated in the following excerpt of the story, “Go out to the flock and bring me two young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it, then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessings before he dies”. Upon Jacob, inquiring about his consequences, Rebekah guaranteed him, not to worry about the as she is willing to take the curse for him (Genesis27:13). Rebekah actions can be justified because of Esau’s marriage to a Hettite woman, which caused grief to both Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 26:34-35)). Even though the author does not state it explicitly, it can be inferred that Rebekah preferred Jacob to receive the blessing because she is thinking in the long run that if Esau receives the blessings, there will not be enough food for survival, as Esau skills does not allow him to make use of the blessings as he is a hunter and not a farmer. Hence, one can argue that her deception was done with only good intentions for survival reasons and

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.

In her essay, The Iliad or The Poem of Force, Simone Weil argues, “The true hero,

The Odyssey by Homer and the Old Testaments: King James Version are two of the most read and most sophisticated pieces of literature that have transcended through generations. While they share similar qualities; both greatly differ as well, especially when it comes to the women characters. Classical historian and professor of classical studies at Wellesley College, Mary Lefkowitz, makes a significant contrast between these two famous writings. She believes that a major difference between the women of each story differ dramatically when it comes to their personality and actions. “[Although] the notion... that a man should be active and aggressive, a women passive and subjected to the control of the men in her family, are expressed in virtually every Greek myth, even the ones in which the women seek to gain control over their own live.…[so] that it is possible to show that the Greeks at least attributed to women a capacity for understanding that we do not alway find in the other great mythological tradition that has influenced Western thought, namely, the Old and New Testaments." (Women in Greek Myth, Mary Lefkowitz). I completely agree with Lefkowitz statement on these characters, it’s very clear that most of the women in the Old Testament are very flat while the Odyssey is full of well rounded characters especially when it comes to Jacob’s wife Rachel and Odysseus 's wife Penelope.

housands of years that the epic story the Iliad has survived, which is credited to the famous Greek poet, Homer. In the 2004 film Troy, directed by Wolfgang Peterson, the plot resembles and is based from the epic poem, the Iliad. When the movie Troy was released, there was criticism on how even though the movie was based off of the Iliad, there were numerous differences from the Iliad itself. Even with its differences, the movie, Troy, does have many similarities to the Iliad. Even though there are numerous similarities and differences between the epic poem and the movie, this essay will focus on the major differences and similarities to compare the two.

Virgil was Rome’s unwilling epic poet, he gave the Roman people a cohesive narrative that tied them to the past and propelled them towards the future. This narrative, The Aeneid, had its basis in local lore as well as ties to the older Greek epics of Homer. The Aeneid almost functions as an extension of The Iliad and Odyssey, with its protagonist, Aeneas, being a minor figure in the earlier poems, and the work itself academically divided into “Odyssean” and “Iliadic” parts. In this relationship Virgil owes a creative debt to Homer, and there is a resemblance that can be seen with striking clarity when the experiences of Homers’ Odysseus and Virgil’s Aeneas are examined side by side. Odysseus and Aeneas are both honour bound to reach the destinations of their respective journeys, Odysseus to rule Ithaca and Aeneas to found Rome, and while ones journey often mirrors the others, there are significant differences between the two. The major differences that can be observed lie in their characters and forms of heroism and these variations shape the course of their narratives, yet the similarities of their internal journeys and ultimate fates remain intact.

In the epics The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Iliad, heroes Achilles and Gilgamesh have important relationships with characters that directly and indirectly give readers a look at the character we might not normally see. For the mighty demi-god Achilles, this is the warrior Patroclus, whom he has a great respect for. For the tyrannical King Gilgamesh, this was Enkidu, the hairy man sent by the gods. The relationships that these characters have with their companions open these characters up for readers, and can show the characters in a whole new light. We see tenderness and emotional vulnerability that is uncharacteristic to these characters. Despite there being many things that can be compared in the relationships between these hero’s, there is also a lot that separates them. Unlike Gilgamesh with Enkidu, Achilles does not need Patroclus to understand himself as a person, and does not change his characteristics a great deal before his death. Whereas the tyrannical, brutal King Gilgamesh ends up being someone looked at as a very wise, kind, heroic king, after Enkidu comes into his life and Gilgamesh’s true self is revealed.

This short essay will identify five traditional epic characteristics that are evident in both the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Andromache’s marriage to Hector meant that her identity largely resided with her husband, the great Trojan warrior (Rothleder discussion). Hector was all Andromache had as described in her speech to him when she stated “Hector, you are my father, you are my mother, You are my brother and my blossoming husband” (Il. 6.451-452). Andromache had already experienced the loss of her mother and father at the hands of Achilles, and she made it very clear that she did not want to experience the pain of losing her husband in the same way (Il. 6.35-37). Additionally, she knew that she would be nothing without Hector, and so she begged him not to return to the fighting because she did not want him to die. She

In The Iliad moira, or fate, is a limiting condition for human beings. Moira is primarily facilitated by the gods -- who use divine intervention to drive Troy to its fall. The gods use people and the Trojan War to destroy Troy according to its moira, but implement plans that specifically involve women for its destruction. In Genesis, God guides people’s plans. God’s will is to create a great nation of Abraham. God uses women to accomplish its goal of populating the earth with the descendents of Abraham, to work, and to trick so that the younger son favored by God will triumph and the people of Abraham will be numerous everywhere. Two women within these works who implement change in their communities are Andromache and Rebekah. Through the characterization of Andromache and Rebekah, they reveal the contrasting ways in which the divine manifests itself and affects the characters and their surroundings.