Bilbo And Odysseus Comparison

Odysseus from The Odyssey and Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit are popular heroines in the world of literature. With their bravery and the help of mentors, they were able to fight off challenges throughout their journey that risked the possibility of death. When deciding who had a tougher challenge between fighting off tests, enemies, and monsters; it is important to reflect on Odysseus’s and Bilbo’s Ordeal, amount of aid given from their mentor, and their own bravery. According to eighth step of the Hero’s Journey, a character will be at a moment where he is at rock bottom. The test or challenge could possibly result in the death of the hero. Each 12 cities Odysseus traveled to had a different challenge, but Scylla and Charybdis was his toughest …show more content…
The only difference between the two mentors were the amount of aid they provided to the hero. Odysseus’s mentor was Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Attempting to get Odysseus home, the context says, “The story of Odysseus begins with the goddess Athena’s appealing to Zeus to help Odysseus, who has been wandering for ten years on the seas, to find his way home to his family on Ithaca” (1.Summary). In other words, Athena is trying to convince Zeus to send Odysseus back to his family. Throughout The Odyssey, Athena was able to appeal to Zeus to aid Odysseus and his crew back to Ithaca. Athena is also involved in the ending of The Odyssey once Odysseus has landed back in Ithaca. She is the one who disguises Odysseus from Penelope’s suitors as an attempt to win her love. Bilbo’s mentor, Gandalf, is a wizard known for many adventures. In a tough situation, the narrator expresses this about Bilbo, “He did not like being depended on by everyone, and he wished he had the wizard at hand” (Tolkien 162). The narrator is saying that in this moment Bilbo is in need of his mentor and his guidance. This includes saving the travelers from the trolls, having Beorn accept the visitation of the men, and finding allies to fight the war. These are just the few examples of some of the times Gandalf has came to the rescue. Compared to Odysseus, Bilbo relied on Gandalf as his mentor to …show more content…
For Odysseus, his bravery was inspired by his attitude from the very beginning of the epic poem. During his ordeal, he thinks to himself, “He is fairly sure they can survive this peril if he keeps their spirits up.” (12.Summary). Odysseus acknowledges that his crew is horrified by the challenge that Scylla and Charybdis will put them up against. Furthermore, he lets his bravery conquer his attitude. Even though no one in the crew survived in the finish, they trusted Odysseus to lead the journey because of his bravery. For Bilbo, bravery was alienated to him due to the fact that the hobbit community did not believe in adventures. A key object that allowed Bilbo to overcome obstacles was an invisible ring. Following the time where his companions learn about the magic of the ring, they exclaim, “What is our burglar doing for us? Since he has got an invisible ring, and ought to be a specially excellent performer now” (Tolkien, 192). This statement alone shows the growth that dwarves see towards him in the end of the novel. The story started out with Bilbo living peacefully in his hobbit hole to fighting spiders, trolls, and a fierce dragon with his ability to become invisible. The men are now able to look up to Biblo for support. In conclusion, both men displayed bravery in the moments most needed and they were respected by their peers because of