The Iliad And The Odyssey

Religion is a major cultural factor in both epics as gods and goddesses are a daily presence in people's lives and have great influences on them. In the Iliad, the gods were called more to intervene the mortals' affairs than they were in the Odyssey. In the Iliad, the gods are portrayed as deceptive, volatile, and conniving as there were a lot of sneaking behind one another's backs to aid one side over the other. For example, Hera wanted the Achaeans to win, but Zeus tries to remain neutral. In result, some of the god's plot to put him to sleep so they could help the Achaeans win. It appeared as though the battlefield was a theatrical play and the mortals were their puppets. The extent of their generosity was even exposed. The priest of Apollo, Chryses, stated, "Hear me, lord of the silver

All odysseys tell the story of a great adventure; in-fact the word odyssey literally defines as a heroic adventure filled with notable events and hardships. Likewise in the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is not permitted to arrive home until he overcomes his biggest challenge, fixing his prideful attitude. The purpose of the passage found in Book V lines 65-102, is to reinforce Odysseus’ image as an epic hero and his loyalty to his family and homeland, in spite of challenges that arise that attempt to deter him from returning home. The structure and language utilised by Homer builds up the meaning of the passage; creating a contrast from the lush and enchanting feel of the goddess Calypso’s estate, to the grief of Odysseus being away from his homeland Ithaca and his family, including his loyal wife Penelope.

Homer’s “The Odyssey” takes place ten years after the events in “The Iliad”, to which the Odyssey is an indirect sequel, and the fall of Troy; even though the story is believed to have been composed some time during the eight century B.C.E. it is estimated to be set sometime between 1300 and 1000 B.C.E. in Mycenaean Greece during the Bronze age. In this novel all Greek heroes have returned home after the fall of Troy, except for Odysseus who after a three year journey has been held captive by the goddess Calypso, who has fallen in love with him, on her island, Ogygia. After the ten years have passed Odysseus is presumed dead, his wife Penelope is courted, and his estate is auctioned off by the Suitors, the young men of Ithaca who attempt to win Penelope’s favor and hand in marriage.

During The Iliad we see the warrior ethos as being the main ethos, but as we transfer to The Odyssey we see the transformation from warrior ethos to domestic ethos. Furthermore, the novel is based on domestic ethos and how home affects the warrior. Throughout The Odyssey we see Odysseus trying to make his way home after the Trojan War. On his adventure home he goes through trials and challenges before he actually makes it home. He has to outsmart people to be able to get where he wants to with out dying. This task is not easy but eventually he makes it. Moreover, we realize that warrior ethos is not the major ethos represented in the novel. It is domestic ethos. Odysseus learns how to use the domestic ethos to his

Homer’s, The Odyssey spins an exciting tale of war, fantasy, and magic spanning twenty years. However, the thrust of the story focuses on human relationships and Odysseus’s strong desire to reunite with his wife and soul mate, Penelope and their son Telemachus. However, to truly understand his desire return home, one must examine many facets of the epic. What is the significance of the turmoil experienced in the household during his absence? Is Penelope a cunning equal and meet spouse for Odysseus? What does the eventual reunion of Odysseus and Penelope reveal about love and marriage? To truly understand the answers to these questions, it is necessary to consider the following arguments.

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 The Odyssey, the majority of the will of the gods was contrary to the will of Odysseus and his men. The will Of Odysseus was to get home, but the will of the gods was to make sure he did not get home, Poseidon changed his course so it took years for him to get home, along with putting him in the way of massive whirlpools and vicious beasts. Then another god, Helios, willed for Odysseus ship to sink, so with the help of Zeus, the ship sank and that also hindered Odysseus journey home. But the will of the gods was not always contrary to Odysseus, the gods did help him a few times. In the beginning of the epic, Poseidon willed that the war would be over, so he helped the Greeks with their Trojan horse by having a serpent kill Laocoon and his family for speaking out negatively about the horse. Then Athena gave Odysseus disguise so he could surprise the suitors and then eventually kill them. This epic demonstrated that, whatever the gods want or desire, they will get

Virgil 's Aeneid takes a character form Homer’s Odyssey and constructs a life for him beyond Homer’s ideas. It is quite obvious that Virgil was heavily influenced by both Homer’s writings, The Iliad and the Odyssey. Both stories tell of parallel journeys home from Troy at the end of the Trojan War. Homer’s Odysseus is returning to Greece and the family he left behind ten years ago. Virgil’s Aeneas, in contrast has been given a direct command by the God, Mercury to create a new Empire. Both men set out on their ships, into the Mediterranean Sea, and both encounter mythical creatures along the way. Sirens and harpies respectively curse and unsuccessfully attempt to lure the men off course. Bad weather however is noted to blow both ships off course. Aeneas lands on an island and lives with the beautiful Dido for a period of time, putting his journey to found a new city on hold. Similarly, Odysseus remained on the Island of Cyclops with the beautiful Calypso for several years, only leaving when the Gods command him to. The love in not everlasting and both tales tell of the men subsequently abandon their loving women waiting for them at home.

The Odyssey was one of the greatest books of all time. The Odyssey is the second part of an epic poem, the first part of the poem being The Iliad, written by Homer near the end of the 8th Century BCE. The Odyssey took place after the Trojan War, as the protagonist Odysseus returns home from the war with his men, he and his men landed on the island of the Lotus Eaters, where his men ate the fruit and did not want to leave. They left and sailed to the land of the Cyclops, where they discovered the cave of Polyphemus, a Cyclops. The Cyclops came home to Odysseus and his men eating his food, so he ate a few men, drank some liquor and fell asleep, as he was asleep, Odysseus and his men to pierced the Cyclops’ eye with a wooden rod and escaped. As they were leaving, the Cyclops put a curse on Odysseus and his men making it difficult to return home.

Both poems followed the events that ensued during the Trojan War which shows how this battle had influenced Homer to contribute to Ancient Greek mythology. The Iliad and the Odyssey are very important sources to this war because they are the only elements still intact from the time period due to its age; however, there are many bits from the battle that are not included since the Iliad and the Odyssey only covered portions of the Trojan War. The Iliad and the Odyssey were originally performed orally and were written down much later than when they were introduced and written by Homer which were written roughly 500 years following the war (Cline 9). There are debates following the accuracy of Homers works have come to question; however, Homer’s poems were written based on accounts of data taken from the Bronze age which makes his epics ultimately believable (Cline 41).

In the Iliad, there is a definite presence of the intervention of the gods. Four Gods: Zeus, Hera, Athena, and Apollo, have a major influence on the course of events throughout the epic. In Book One, Apollo is called upon by

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.

Are there similarities between Homer's The Odyssey and Virgil's The Aeneid? There are many similarities that could be examined indepth. The lovers encountered in both plays can lead to the idea of ancient plagarism. The games held by the greeks and trojans are similar to the Olympic Games. The downfall of characters, cities or monsters can be seen often in many stories. Maybe rewriting history is the effort of a plagarist to cheat true historical events.

Finally, there is intervention of “gods” or machinery in both epics. For Odysseus ', Poseidon’s divine intervention kept him from returning home for several years. Similarly, one of many examples of divine intervention exists fairly in the beginning of the Iliad, when Apollo responds to Chryses’ appeal to strike the Greek armies with plague.

Homer’s poems, play a key role in Ancient Greek culture and many important moments or scenes from Homer’s The Iliad and The Odysseys are depicted on the vases. Each vase has a story and the painters depict the moments or events in the poem in the exact way Homer describes. However, some depictions on the vases could be dramatized by the painters because the painter brought their imagination from the story of Homer. Through the Ancient Greek vases, we can get new information or background information about the Homer’s poem and we can understand the scenes better in the Iliad and the odysseys even though some vases are depicted a little differently from the lines of the pomes.