Comparing Odysseus 'Hero In If And The Odyssey'

The poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling and from The Odyssey by Homer, both authors reveal definitions of what it means to be a man and a hero. In both works, main ideas are the need to trust oneself while considering others’ points of view, Odysseus trusting himself that Circe is right and telling the men to go hunt for food on the island, and the need to show true bravery by not complaining about losses, Odysseus’ staying quiet when six of his men are eaten. Both Odysseus and the speaker of “If”, stress the importance of believing in oneself but listening to others. When Odysseus and his men are at the sun god’s cattle island, Odysseus knows from Circe that if they eat the cattle, they will be doomed. Odysseus makes the men promise not to touch the cattle before going to visit the island; the men promise.

When Odysseus goes past the six headed monster, Scylla, six men get snatched up and eaten by the monster. Odysseus recollects his experience and orders his panicked crew, “Of all the pitiful things I’ve had to witness, / suffering, searching out the pathways of the sea, / this wrenched my heart the most. / ... Row straight past these shores—race our black ship on!” (Homer 279). Here Odysseus is telling them to ignore what happened, even though his own heart was “wrenched the most”. Odysseus maintains focus on getting home by keeping quiet about his six lost men. If Odysseus did not keep quiet of his losses and stopped being the crew’s leader, he may have never gotten home. The father, speaker in “If”, advises his son to “start again at your beginnings / And never breathe a word about your loss;” (Kipling 20-21). The losses in The Odyssey are Odysseus’ men, who are eaten by Scylla, and the “losses” in the poem represents personal goals in life. The poem and The Odyssey both reveal the same message on keeping quiet about your losses or else you will not succeed in