Differences Between The Odyssey And The Iliad

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The world described by Hesiod in the Works and Days is different from the heroic world described by Homer in the Iliad and the Odyssey. These world differ in many different ways from each other in the aspect of realism. The descriptions in the Works and Days is a world that is close to Greek life and doesn’t exaggerate many aspects while the Iliad and the Odyssey are books that exaggerate heroes and warriors and wars throughout the story. There are a lot of major differences between the books such as daily activities, views towards religion, and roles of women. One of the major differences between the realism of the Works and Days and the Odyssey and Iliad is their daily activities. The Works and Days is very focused on the agricultural arts …show more content…
In the Iliad and the Odyssey women were treated as protectors of the house. They watched over the house while their husbands were away at war and took care of the children to raise them to be Spartans. Women in ancient Sparta also learned to fend for themselves with self defense, they were encouraged to be competitive, and they were taught to be assertive and speak in public. “Lycurgus felt that slave girls were perfectly capable of producing garments, and that the most important job of free women was to bear children; he therefore decreed that women should take as much trouble over physical fitness as men” (Bauschatz,75). Still in ancient Sparta women were still sometimes treated as objects and used as prizes “Either the great-hearted Achaians shall give me a new prize chosen according to my desire to atone for the girl lost, or else if they will not giver me one I myself shall take her.” (Bauschatz,5). This quotes shows how men still perceived women as objects even though they had training and were very well educated. In the Works and Days women, as opposed to the Iliad and the Odyssey, you can sense a hostility presented by Hesiod. Hesiod said that women were created as a pain or annoyance to men which proved he looked down on women. “Women wheedle and coax; all the time what they want is your barn.” (Bauschatz, 58) in this quote you can see that Hesiod didn’t like women and thought they were weasels who just wanted to take your money and land and then leave you. This showed a very big difference between the books in the way women were perceived and

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