The Iliad And The Odyssey: A Comparison Essay, Research Paper

The Iliad and The Odyssey: A Comparison

Although both plants are credited to Homer, The Iliad and The Odyssey provide two unusually different positions on the nature of the Olympic Gods, their relationship to humanity, and the general batch of persons throughout their all excessively brief lives. As a consequence of these differences, both narratives end up directing contrasting messages about life in general.

In the Iliad, the supernatural inhabitants of Olympus are depicted as unreliable, power-hungry, and above all temperamental existences that are ever at each other & # 8217 ; s pharynxs. Factionalism abounds, and neither the bonds of matrimony, nor the ties of affinity can incorporate maintain it under control. A perfect illustration is when Ares betrays his female parent, Hera, and his sister, Athene, by helping the Trojans alternatively of the Greeks. When he is discovered, Athena strikes him down in conflict through Diomedes. In the Odyssey, nevertheless, the Gods of Olympus show far more unity and civility toward each other. They argue and disagree, but their dissensions are ne’er carried out to the extremes found in the Iliad. When Poseidon punishes Odysseys for blinding the Cyclopes, Athena does non take retaliation. Even though Odyssey & # 8217 ; s is her favourite person, she respects Poseidon & # 8217 ; s right to penalize him.

Besides, the perfidy among the Supreme beings that is so prevailing in the Iliad, is nowhere to be found in the Odyssey. In Iliad, Hera, enters into a confederacy with Poseidon, Aphrodite, and Morpheus to help the Greeks by seting Zeus to kip? therefore rendering him unable to assist his darling Trojans. Nothing like this incident can be found in the Odyssey. Mentions to past dissensions and statements between the Gods ( such as in the Poet & # 8217 ; s narrative of Ares and Aphrodite ) are scattered throughout the book, nevertheless, so the positions between the Iliad and the Odyssey are non precisely diametrically opposed.

The function of the Gods in the personal businesss of humanity is much greater in the Iliad so in the Odyssey. In the Iliad, the Olympians are invariably tampering in the struggle between the Greeks and the Trojans. At best, they view persons as diverting pets? to be cared for, played with, and loved. At worst, worlds are merely pawns to be shuffled about, sacrificed, and put against each other in order to decide inter-Olympian ego-clashes. When Zeus wants the Trojans to win, he & # 8217 ; ll turn nature against the Greeks, slay one of their heroes, or send one of their loyal immortals down to turn the tide of conflict. If Hera wants to acquire back at him, she will make the same thing against Zeus & # 8217 ; s people, the Trojans. In the Odyssey, things are really different. The Gods of Olympus by and large will non step in unless they are asked to? such as when the Cyclopes invokes the wrath of Poseidon after he is blinded by Odysseys. The Supreme beings do non needfully see all worlds every bit mere as suppliant pup, either. Athena & # 8217 ; s conversations with Odysseys are unusually free of the superciliousness and autocratic posturing that so pervades the discourse between the Gods of the Iliad. They do non hold a great

Er regard for human life in general ( witness the insouciant murder of Odysseys comrades, and the Athena backed bloodletting which occurs when Odysseys returns place ) ? but they have a greater regard for the worlds they do like. Athena ne’er kills one of Odyssey’s loved 1s in order to spur him on, unlike Zeus’s murder of Patroclus to motivate Achilles.

As a consequence of these differing portraitures of the Olympians in both plants, the Iliad and the Odyssesy come off as holding really different worldviews. In the Iliad battles of adult male are the consequence of changeless tampering from the Gods, who frequently use miserable persons to obtain retaliation on each other for dexterities, abuses, and treacheries committed in Olympus. Achilles, Agamemnon, Hector, Patroclus, Priam? and surely none the hapless shleppers who fought under them had no thought the war was being perpetuated by the will of the Gods entirely. They ne’er had any say in the affair. They are but puppets in a great cosmic & # 8220 ; Punch and Judy & # 8221 ; show, and Zeus and company were drawing the strings. In the Odyssey, nevertheless, Homer takes a different position. Odysseus, unlike the characters in the Iliad, is finally the maestro of his ain destiny. Athena does non help him when he is forced to cover with the Cyclopes, or when he has to go through through the ordeal of Skylla and Kharybdis. Odysseus is forced to trust wholly on his ain devices, mental and physical, for much of the narrative. He is non the sacrificial lamb of Zeus, like Patroclus was, or the toy of Aphrodite, like Paris was. When Odysseus went into conflict, he did non hold an Olympic by his side like Hector or Agamemnon did in the Iliad ( good? he did non until Athena aids him during the slaughter of the suers, anyhow ) .

Ultimately, the Iliad takes the point of position that persons are nil more so the marionettes of Zeus & # 8217 ; s tribunal, while in the Odyssey, humans finally control whether or non they bring decease and bad luck to themselves. How the Gods of Olympus dainty you depends on how you treat them? Odysseus brought the wrath of Poseidon on him when he blinded the Cyclopes, who was Poseidon & # 8217 ; s boy. The fact that Odysseus did non cognize this until after the fact does non decrease the clear cause and consequence relationship. Odysseus & # 8217 ; work forces bring certain decease onto themselves when they slaughter the darling sheep of Helios. This is another illustration of the distinct cause and consequence relationship that exists in the Odyssey. In the Iliad, things are non about so simple. Sometimes the Supreme beings merely want to stir up problem, so they break the armistice between the Trojans and the Greeks. Zeus wants to animate Achilles to come in the battle, so he kills his Achilles best friend Patroclus. The point is, persons are nescient playthings to be set up and knocked down at the Gods leisure, and for their ain clandestine grounds. That is why life is so awful and random and short for most people. Deal with it. In the Odyssey, life is awful and random, but it does non ever have to be so short. If you are cagey plenty, strong plenty, and persevering plenty, you can suppress merely about anything the Gods or other work forces throw at you. Well? normally anyhow.