Cultural Comparison Essay

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Cultural Comparison The “Odyssey” is an epic story that has been a meaningful piece of literature since it was first composed and will remain so for ages to come. One of the main reasons it is so significant is because of the hero, Odysseus. In today’s society everybody has a different opinion on what a hero does or is. In the time of Odysseus a hero was a person that was courageous,wise and had fighting spirit. He was brave, strong, unselfish, and a loyal person. Odysseus shows his characteristics throughout the entire story. Unlike the other the other ancient heroes depended on his cleverness and intelligence to get out of trouble. He made the Trojan horse, a boat, wax to clog the ears of his crew from the sirens, and attached his crew to the bottom of sheep to escape the cyclops. Odysseus first reveals his cleverness when he encounters Polyphemus’ cave. Before he decides to venture to the cave, he gets a feeling that something bad is going to happen and decides to bring along his magical bottle of wine. When he reaches the cave the Cyclops sensed that Odysseus and his crew were in his cave and traps them inside. When Polyphemus eats one of Odysseus’ men, Odysseus yells at him for not showing hospitality and he in turn will be punished by Zeus. If it was not for his cleverness during this time of his adventure odysseus and his entire crew would have been killed by the cyclops. Odysseus displays his audaciousness in Book X while docked on the island of Aeaea. Eurylochus returns to tell Odysseus of a possible trap. Eurylochus says, “You will never return yourself, I swear, you’ll never bring back a single man alive” (Homer390). Immediately, Odysseus disembarks and goes after his men. Going against Eurylochus’ wishes, Odysseus confirms that although faced with certain death, he will take his chance to secure the livelihood of his men. Odysseus is blatantly
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