Essay Comparing The Odyssey And Hamlet

Two works of literature everyone should read is The Odyssey by Homer and Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Homer’s story about the journey Odysseus went on is relatable to our lives and the journey we have to live on our own. It also relates to the freedoms that we have away from home, but with the longing to be home. Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, is also relatable to us because he is rebelling because his mother is with someone other than his father and he also questions what happens after death. These are not the only ways we relate, but reading The Odyssey and Hamlet gives you a better understanding of how we relate. Although they are from different time periods, the literature gives you a better sense of how we should live our lives as it because …show more content…
He is a hero because he saves his wife and home by killing the suitors who were trying to take his place. He also kills the women who work for him for sleeping with the suitors in a way to bring harmony back to Ithaca from Ithaca being in discord after he left. Odysseus says, “These men have been destroyed by divine destiny and their own recklessness. They honored no one, rich or poor, high or low, who came to them” (Homer 597). They brought discord to Ithaca because of their selfish acts. He has to get rid of the people that destroyed the country to bring harmony back to his …show more content…
Greek culture has a basis of what is civilized and is savage. To be civilized, there is order and rules in the country to live by. Savages live by their own rules, often of which society would not agree with. This represents the Greek culture because Odysseus sees savages through living with Calypso and meeting the Cyclops. He sees civilization in living in Ithaca and staying on the Land of the Phaecians. Coming home to the suitors being in his house, taking advantage of his family and of Ithaca, acting as savages, it is important to him to make Ithaca civilized