Book Of Job Vs Odyssey

At some point in their lives, most people have heard their parents utter a variation of the phrase, "Life's not fair". This phrase about the injustice of life is a common theme that has shown up within many literary works throughout time. For example, we can find this theme in "The Odyssey", "Oedipus Rex", and even "The Book of Job".

"The Odyssey" is a story about a King named Odysseus, who is fated by the gods to make a perilous from Troy to his home in Ithaca. The only reason for this journey is that the gods' wanted the pleasure of seeing Odysseus suffer. Homer's reason for including this into his story, was because many Greek people in ancient times believed that the gods had chosen the fate of everyone who lived. This meant that …show more content…
Oedipus is the son of Laius and Jocasta, the King and Queen of Thebes. Because he was fated to murder his father and marry his mother, Laius has Oedipus chained to a mountainside. However, he is instead delivered to Polybus and Merope, the King and Queen of Corinth. As Oedipus becomes older he learns of his fate, so he runs away from Corinth as he believes Polybus and Merope to be his biological parents. While he is away, Oedipus argues with and murders a stranger on the road, kills the Sphinx, and becomes the new king of Thebes and husband of Jocasta. Even though the characters within "Oedipus Rex" know of Oedipus' awful fate and take precautionary measures, they actually perfectly allow it to happen. This shows that there is no escaping the fate given to one by gods.

Finally, "The Book of Job" accounts the life of Job, a sinless man who is punished by God. Although Job is perfect in the eyes of God, Job is allowed to be punish by the Devil because of a bet. When Job eventually endures so much pain, he begins to cry out and question why God would punish him in such terrible ways. God appears to Job in a whirlwind, and tells Job that since he cannot understand God, he cannot question him