Comparing Katniss In The Odyssey And The Hunger Games

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The Odyssey and The Hunger Games are two very different stories, yet they both have many traits that apply to an epic. For example, in each story the main character is a hero who possesses supernatural qualities. In The Odyssey, the main character is Odysseus. He is a strong and intelligent man, unlike many other Greek heroes. His intelligence is shown when he defeated many monsters, who are much stronger than him, yet Odysseus outsmarts them. The main character in The Hunger Games is Katniss, and she also shows characteristics of a hero. Katniss is not only intelligent and brave, but she is very good with a bow and arrow, and has good survival skills. Katniss shows her bravery when she volunteers to replace her sister as a tribute for the …show more content…

Odysseus is tested through each island and monster that he encounters throughout his journey. His intelligence is first tested when he defeats Polyphemus. Although Odysseus is not nearly as strong as Polyphemus, he manages to stab him in the eye and escape without getting caught. In The Hunger Games Katniss is tested through her training examination right before she enters the games. Katniss must show her best skills to the trainers, in order to try and earn the highest rating. In the examination, Katniss shows her skill with a bow by shooting at an apple up near the trainers room. Katniss got a much higher rating than she expected, which proved her worthiness to compete in The Hunger Games. Another trait that is present in epic stories is the presence of mythical beings. The majority of the characters in The Odyssey are mythical. There are some gods and goddesses that are helpful to Odysseus such as Athena. There are some mythical beings that are not helpful, such as Circe, Calypso, Poseidon, and Polyphemus. There are also many harmful mythical beings in The Hunger Games. The capital creates different mutations that are made to attack the tributes in the arena. The first mutation that Katniss encounters are the tracker jackers, which are bees with poisonous venom. Katniss also encounters dog mutations at the very end of the games, which kill Cato. In addition to mythical

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