Horrendous pain and suffering worthy of masochists is something that any sane person would shy away from. Yet, authors from all eras of time find those experiences pleasing to put down on paper. The Odyssey of Homer, as translated by Allen Mandelbaum, alongside William Golding’s Lord of the Flies are two such works of literature where the author writes about the agonies of their main characters, Odysseus and Ralph, respectively. Odysseus of The Odyssey of Homer and Ralph of Lord of the Flies are two characters who endured the backlash of divine powers and the pain of betrayal, yet they persevered onwards in their journeys towards success, teaching readers it is possible to push on past all of life’s challenges. The divines of both pieces of literature did not smile down upon Odysseus and Ralph. Poseidon in The Odyssey and the Lord of the Flies in Lord of the Flies both sought to hinder the protagonists’ goals. …show more content…
In The Odyssey, Odysseus is subject to the treachery of his shipmates significantly at two times: when he told them to keep Aeolus’s wind bag and they disobeyed, and when they slayed Helios’s cows. The latter was the more traumatizing event for Odysseus because it ended in the death of the rest of his surviving crew. After learning of their treason at Helios’s island, he calls out to Zeus, stating, “I am ruined; now my men, awaiting me, contrived this horrid plan” (Mandelbaum 249). The faithlessness of his crew was one of Odysseus’s more testing trials, as it resulted in him losing his men and ship and then being stranded on Ogygia for years. Similarly, Ralph endured bitter betrayal as well. Throughout Lord of the Flies, the other children begin to lose faith in having a civilized life. Thus, they abandon Ralph and join Jack for savagery. This disloyal actl leads to Ralph eventually breaking down in front of Piggy,
In The Odyssey, Homer conveys a mixed message about Odysseus’s crew. At times, they seem loyal, whereas other scenes reveal them as disloyal. Homer does this to help center the attention on how Odysseus can fall victim to temptation and stand up to take control of his crew. The critical moments where Odysseus and his crew are in disagreement are significant because they demonstrate how Odysseus is epic, yet still human and flawed.
Tens of thousands of stories fit into the hero’s journey archetype created by Christopher Volger. Out of these, a large number of them are stories with remakes that share notable resemblances in their heroes’ journeys. However, none of these quite match those very strong similarities found between Homer’s The Odyssey and Joel Coens’s O Brother, Where Art Thou? These stories share crucial components of the hero’s journey whether it be “crossing the first threshold,” where the main characters of both stories begin their long adventure that transforms them into heroes; “the supreme ordeal,” where the main characters are both deprived of the opportunity to get home sooner; or “return with elixir,” where Odysseus and Ulysses both return to their homes alive the comfort of their wives. In their major plot points, the novel The Odyssey and the motion picture O Brother convey obvious similarities in key elements of their heroes’ journeys such as “crossing the first threshold,” “the supreme ordeal,” and “return with elixir.”
In both Homer’s The Odyssey and the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? the audience is given an opportunity to experience a spectacular adventure, filled with not only the sense of journey, but also the senses of peril and excitement. A tale about a Greek hero being compared to a film set in Middle America starring three jail-escapees seems rather far-fetched. However, upon closer inspection, both actually share a lot in common. The Odyssey stars Odysseus, a man famous for his heroics in the Trojan War. O Brother, Where Art Thou? shows a bit of a contrast by starring Ulysses, a former convict who escaped and began looking for “A Treasure”. So by default, one would assume that that these two stories would be completely different. However, it ends up being quite the opposite. The two stories are so remarkably alike that it is almost staggering. However, it may not just be simple similarities that make the two so alike. The main reasons why the two characters are so alike are not so much the actions that they take, as oppose to the overall human emotional aspect of the two pieces of work. For example, we see that both Odysseus and Ulysses are invested in their lives with their families, and as such, they never have a moment where they stop thinking about the lives they used to live. Both characters are extremely alike in terms of thoughts, skills, and experiences. They are both profound tacticians, as well as being rather strong and good looking men. So in the end, both of these men have plenty in common on the emotional and psychological levels.
Odysseus dealt with his disobedient crew. After an already difficult journey, Odysseus and his crew arrive at Aeolis, where the king Aeolus offers him wind in a bag, which had enough wind to send Odysseus’s ship back home to Ithaca. While Odysseus sleeps, the crew conspires, believing that the bag contained treasure, “Aeolus has lavished these gifts upon him. Let 's have a quick look, and see what’s here, How much gold and silver is stuffed in this bag” (Homer p.142). The crewmen opened the bag and the winds rushed out, taking them back to Aeolis’ island. Due to their curiosity and disobedience, the crew adds years to the journey. But the crew does not learn from the mistake, and the next time they disobey, the consequences were fatal. When they arrive one Helios’ island, Odysseus forbids the crew to consume the cattle of the Sun God. “But swear me a great oath, every last man: If we find any cattle or sheep on this island, no man will kill a single cow or sheep. In his recklessness, but will be content to eat the food immortal Circe gave us” (Homer p.186-87). But while Odysseus is gone, the crew disregards his instructions and feasts one Helios’ cattle. Their consequence was Zeus destroying the ship and the crew, leaving only Odysseus alive. Odysseus wishes to go home, but he cannot control his men’s ignorance. The crew’s disobedience prevents Odysseus from achieving his
Homer’s The Odyssey, a magnificent story of lust, deceit, greed, and heroism, still fascinates scholars and casual readers alike today in the same way it fascinated its audience at the time it was written. The Odyssey, a journey of determination, patience, and virtue, tells the tail of Odysseus, the main character, on his voyage home to Ithaka after the end of the Trojan War. Odysseus goes through many unforeseen trials and tribulations, which exemplify his character. During these different happenings, Odysseus makes decisions that do not correspond to his character.
When placed on a deserted island, a group of strangers banded together to try to survive. They decided on a leader, problem-solved, fought off a beast, and formed their own society, even if it was somewhat flawed. This was the situation in the famous TV show, Lost. The Lord of the Flies and Lost are similar in these many different ways, with the exception that the show featured a tribe of adults instead of children. That just proves how difficult it is to maintain order in a society; even the adults struggled with keeping it peaceful and civilized. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding presents a broken society of savage boys fighting one another to suggest that man’s capacity for evil is brought out by the need for power and control.
won) fighting a war against the city of Troy and has been held captive by
The Odyssey is filled with emotion and adventure. Homer’s ability to show and give the reader a visual of each and every scene gives the story its unbelievable significance. To all the people who read his work there is something to be captured within every sentence, each one different in its own, unique way. Through tales of courage and defeat, friendship and love this book tells of all the values within the life of a single, solitary man, and his journey to attain what is true and dear to him. And this journey is known to all of us as The Odyssey. The Odyssey is a test of human devotion and trust through the gods, the mortals, and the obstacles through which they venture. No matter where they go or what they do, humans are tested for certain characteristics everyday of their lives, whether they realize it or not; and The Odyssey is just one of those many miraculous tests.
O Brother Where Art Thou is a movie based off of Greek mythology of Odysseus and his adventures. Odysseus can be translated in Roman mythology to Ulysses, like this there are many comparisons in both texts. In O Brother Where Art Thou most of the challenges that Ulysses, Delmar and Pete face can be associated with the obstacles in the Odyssey. Even though the stories were written seven hundred and thirty years apart they are still very similar. Throughout both, the Odyssey and O Brother Where Art Thou, adversity is faced in a persistent manner, although one is a book and another is a movie, similarities and differences coincides with each other.
After the incident with the bag of winds it is reasonable for Odysseus to have trust issues, but when it is a matter of life and death, Odysseus is witless. After being punished by Zeus because some of his crew ate Helios’ cattle Odysseus drifts in the ocean until he lands on Calypso’s island. 7 years pass and Odysseus can finally leave after he crafts a ship, after he leaves and sails for a bit, Poseidon sees it as a time to get revenge for his son Polyphemus. Poseidon completely wrecks Odysseus’ ship when he is close to the land of the Phaeacians. A goddess named Ino sees this and offers Odysseus help.
Homer’s Odyssey is the iconic story of a man’s episodic journey home. The film, O Brother Where Art Thou, is a justifiable homage to the Odyssey because of the many parallels between some of the major characters depicted in the movie and the epic poem. The movie is set in the 1930s in the state of Mississippi, changing the characters in social demeanor, but retaining their motivation and major plot points.
“The Odyssey” is an epic poem that tells the story of Odysseus and the story of his many travels and adventures. The Odyssey tells the main character’s tale of his journey home to the island of Ithaca after spending ten years fighting in the Trojan War, and his adventures when he returns home and he is reunited with his family and close friends. This literary analysis will examine the story and its characters, relationships, major events, symbols and motifs, and literary devices.
Brains over brawn, who will win this battle?Homer's tale of Odysseus' adventures in “The Odyssey” show that being intelligent and cunning can be far better than having physical strength. Being physically strong certainly has its advantages, but not in all circumstances. Strength in intelligence shows new meaning of strength. Odysseus is amused with himself when he defeats Polyphemus. His great skills with a bow outweigh the others abilities. Knowledge of the placement of his bed win his beloveds heart.
In the book the Iliad, The Odyssey, and Works and days, there are many things that can be similar when talking about Greek heroes and the world of Greek poetry. The stories and topics are describing similar events during this time of the eighth and seventh century B.C. In the end, however, they do have some differences in some parts when describing or explaining certain situations and ideas. The world of Greek heroes is written like a story; or Epic Poetry. That is what The Iliad and The Odyssey are; Epic Poetries. They are telling a story of a great hero and their adventures. On the other hand, the more realistic Greek World that is being described in Works and days is a Didactic poem, which tells more of a moral or message to the reader.
treachery among the Gods that is so prevalent in the Iliad, is nowhere to be