Violence In The Odyssey

There are many definitions for violence, however, a common definition is that violence is only heroic when it is used for the greater good (maybe add the personal vendetta part we’ll see). Odysseus, the main character of The Odyssey, by Homer, comes home to his wife after a great journey, dressed as an old man. When he had arrived back to his home, he found the suitors living on his land, courting his wife, and taking the resources. Odysseus, as an act of revenge killed “...the suitors in that hall, / turning, turning to strike and strike again, / while torn men moaned at death, and blood ran smoking / over the whole floor.” (Homer 22. 1851-1854). Odysseus just committed mass murder, without any warning nor a second thought. If the same were …show more content…
Today, those “heroes” would be seen as something despicable. Those acts of violence would result in serious consequences no matter what god backed you. Acts of violence such as the ones committed by Odysseus would not make him a hero by today’s definition. Alternatively, present-day examples of needless violence not used for the common good, can often be found in news. One of the most common examples is in terrorism. Malala was a twelve year old girl, when she wrote a blog-post on the BBC website about the oppression of the taliban. In an attempt to silence her, they shot her. However, she survived and went on to the UN to give her speech in 2013. Malala, saddened at the fact “Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and millions have been injured.” (Yousafzai) and that this was all caused for personal gain of the Taliban. In order to keep control of the populus, they injured and killed anyone that did not agree with them. This violence by the Taliban is villainous as it goes against what is good for all of mankind: equality and education. In her speech, Malala spoke of a equal and educated world, a world where there are basic human rights for all, and all have the knowledge to fight these