What does a book written more than two thousand years ago have in common with modern day civilization? Quite a bit if you think about it. The book in question, The Odyssey is an epic story with a vast and diverse group of characters that today’s society can draw a parallel to. There are many themes in the book ranging from infidelity to hubris. Our hero Odysseus is our lens into his world and through him we can examine ourselves and our society. In the odyssey infidelity is like a plague running rampant in the world, no stone unturned no quarter given. The same can be said about our society as well with he most unlikely people always getting caught. These people can go on to include some of the most powerful and respected people in the world.
…show more content…
It invades our media, our news and our personal lives. If you were to take a wager and say that infidelity isn 't as big an issue then you would have already lost by muttering those words alone. Our media seems to have an infatuation with infidelity and I can 't quite grasp why. You hear music all the time about men stealing other mens women and TV shows a lot of the times seem to have a plot point relating to it. One great example of a recent TV show is mad men, where not a single person was faithful to their significant others. One can draw a parallel between the show and the odyssey in the main characters Don Draper and Odysseus respectively Don Draper was a very cunning individual who achieved all he did through manipulation and cleverness whereas our hero Odysseus did the same. Not only were they alike in that regard but both were unfaithful to their wives on more than one occasion. Although Odysseus did those things in order to survive don did them because he was reckless and although he tried fighting against that hunger in the end he succumbed, to this end that’s where their similarities end. If you think that mad men is the only show to have infidelity as a plot point then prepare to scratch your head and say …show more content…
Odysseus for as wise and cunning as he is still falls to his nature which is the nature of us all to be prideful in our moments of victory. There is nothing wrong with pride, the issue is having too much of it. Odysseus after outsmarting the cyclops lets his pride get the better of him, one would think that something so minor as saying your name would have no consequences but something I learned the hard way was that every action has a consequence no matter how minor. I was once a kid with no regards for myself at the time a simple game led to my overestimation of skills. Led on by jealousy and rage I attempted a jump that a friend had done to prove that I was just as good. Deep down I knew it was not the best idea by my pride fueled by the flames of my jealousy led me to attempt it anyways. One small misstep and I landed face first on the ground onto a piece of broken glass. A chipped tooth and a scar on the palm of my hand were constant reminders that I was not as good as I thought and that my pride was very dangerous to me and to others. On saying his name to the cyclops Odysseus doomed himself to misfortune stirred by the gods themselves for me all it took for me was one small step for a lifetime
It invades our media, our news and our personal lives. If you were to take a wager and say that infidelity isn 't as big an issue then you would have already lost by muttering those words alone. Our media seems to have an infatuation with infidelity and I can 't quite grasp why. You hear music all the time about men stealing other mens women and TV shows a lot of the times seem to have a plot point relating to it. One great example of a recent TV show is mad men, where not a single person was faithful to their significant others. One can draw a parallel between the show and the odyssey in the main characters Don Draper and Odysseus respectively Don Draper was a very cunning individual who achieved all he did through manipulation and cleverness whereas our hero Odysseus did the same. Not only were they alike in that regard but both were unfaithful to their wives on more than one occasion. Although Odysseus did those things in order to survive don did them because he was reckless and although he tried fighting against that hunger in the end he succumbed, to this end that’s where their similarities end. If you think that mad men is the only show to have infidelity as a plot point then prepare to scratch your head and say …show more content…
Odysseus for as wise and cunning as he is still falls to his nature which is the nature of us all to be prideful in our moments of victory. There is nothing wrong with pride, the issue is having too much of it. Odysseus after outsmarting the cyclops lets his pride get the better of him, one would think that something so minor as saying your name would have no consequences but something I learned the hard way was that every action has a consequence no matter how minor. I was once a kid with no regards for myself at the time a simple game led to my overestimation of skills. Led on by jealousy and rage I attempted a jump that a friend had done to prove that I was just as good. Deep down I knew it was not the best idea by my pride fueled by the flames of my jealousy led me to attempt it anyways. One small misstep and I landed face first on the ground onto a piece of broken glass. A chipped tooth and a scar on the palm of my hand were constant reminders that I was not as good as I thought and that my pride was very dangerous to me and to others. On saying his name to the cyclops Odysseus doomed himself to misfortune stirred by the gods themselves for me all it took for me was one small step for a lifetime