The respective endings of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey prove the different worldview each epic takes. Although both concern the time of the Trojan War, the characters in each seem to value two opposing perspectives. A careful reading of the concluding passages concerning the heroes and their wives in each epic demonstrates the exceptional values ​​of their respective worlds. Although both concern the acquisition of honor and glory, the different mediums used to achieve these goals reach antithetical conclusions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay » ... Your father, remember, was not a man of mercy... Not in the horror of battle, and that is why the whole city of Troy mourns for you now, my Hector - You brought your parents cursed tears of sorrow But it is for me that you especially left the horror, the sorrow! For you never died in your bed and you never stretched out your arms to me Or said a last word from the heart that I remember, always, crying for you through all my nights and all my days! Iliad, Book XXIV, ll.870-877 "Rage - Goddess" (Ibid., Book I, l.1), Homer's invocation of The Muse to begin the Iliad, presents to the reader the view of the world he will present throughout the epic. The reader is automatically led to know that “Peleus’ son, Achilles” (Ibid.) is doomed to tragedy. by the end of the first stanza, the destruction of the city is evident. Homer glorifies the savagery of war, through the ethos of honor and glory, supposedly acquired through death. The world presented in the Iliad is based on destruction and ruin through the power of honor and glory, characterized by chaos and disorder in both the upper and lower worlds. The tantalizing aroma of this heroism attracts both Greek heroes and Trojan warriors, so much so that they abandon all other concerns, including the world of female domesticity pitted against the world of male warfare. Achille knows that “two destinies carry [him] to the day of his death. » (Ibid. Book IX. L. 500) He could either die at Troy, but a glorious death, or live, but without glory. He chooses the first. Hector, the foreman of the Trojan army, appears throughout the epic as a “bronze-helmeted” hero (Ibid. l. 336), “the bravest fighter they could field.” (Ibid. l. 414). Even though he knows that the Trojans are likely to lose the war, "showing his helmet" (Ibid. l. 387), he states that he "would die of shame to face the [people] of Troy...s he [had] moved back. of the battle."(Ibid, ll. 388-390)1. He is constantly identified by his helmet and his combat clothing, but when he arrives home, his son is terrified by the "shining" helmet (Ibid. l.422). In his fear, the boy moves away from the world of his father, from masculinity and violence, towards the “full breast of his nurse” (Ibid. l. 423), the world. of womanhood and education Once Hector removes his helmet, the boy accepts his father's kiss and Hector is once again invited into the family's kingdom He blesses him that one day he will return "from. fights with the bloody equipment of the mortal enemy he killed in war - a joy to his mother's [sic] heart" (Ibid. ll. 438-440). arrive, but he is cut off in the warrior world He leaves them, with his wife “smiling through her tears” (Ibid. l. 443), the heroic ideal exceeding the value of domesticity. their culture is about accepting their fate and living the life of the former. Heis a dichotomous world of war2 and home, but the two worlds are incompatible. The domestic world will invariably lose to the world of war. Andromache, Hector's wife, internalized this message when she mourns her husband as he turns his back to go to war, because she knows what the future holds for him. When he dies, she feels the supreme “horror, the grief!” »(ibid, Book XXIV, l. 874) For him, and for other warriors like him3, women are secondary, just like the domestic world they represent. Man's ethos of independence and glory denies women's domesticity and a peaceful world. Homer leaves Troy through the eyes of Andromache, fantasizing the unfulfilled dream of dying in the arms of a loved one. The Iliad ends with a weeping widow and hope for domestic life destroyed. Although it is not clear which was written first, the Iliad or the Odyssey, the Odyssey comes chronologically later, after the end of the Trojan War. Brave Odysseus spent ten years wandering before returning home to his wife Penelope. "Now from his chest into his eyes the pain of desire rose and we cried at last, his dear wife, clear and faithful in his arms, desired as the sun-warmed earth is desired by the swimmer. Passed into the rough waters where his ship sank Under the blows of Poseidon, the violent winds and the tons of sea. Few men can survive through a great surf To crawl, coagulated with brine, on kindly beaches In joy, in joy, knowing the abyss behind: And so she also rejoiced, her gaze fixed on her husband, Her white arms around him pressed as for ever " Odyssey, Book XXIII, ll. 233-244In many ways, Odysseus' Return emphasizes the antithetical worldview of the Odyssey to the Iliad. This time, the invocation of The Muse speaks of a "man skilled in all ways of fighting... [who] deep in his heart... fought only to save his life, to bring back his comrades at home... and yet all the gods had taken pity on Lord Odysseus... until he finally landed on his own lands. (Ibid. Book I, ll. 2-32). From the beginning, the reader is informed that not only will Odysseus succeed in his journey, but that his return home to Ithaca is his main concern. He faces many adventures during his ten-year long journey, and his loyalty is often questioned, but he never loses hope of returning home and being reunited with his wife. When he is first introduced, it is in the company of the beautiful sea nymph Kalypso, who holds him hostage in her caves dug under the sea. He refuses her advances. She points out that as a goddess, she is more beautiful, interesting and desirable than any mortal, to which he tells her that her "quiet Penelope... would seem a shadow before [her] majesty" (Ibid. Book Vll. 225-226). Nevertheless, for all the greatness of Kalypso, his discreet and modest wife is preferable to him. Odysseus is compared to a "swimmer" (Ibid. Book XXIII ll.237), because he has been lost for many years, repeatedly gasping for air in order to maintain his identity, and all this to return to his wife. Kalypso, meaning "to hide or cover" in Greek, had tried to prevent his return, but he "crawled, coagulated in brine...on benevolent beaches...knowing the abyss beyond." (Ibid ll. 240-242). The vehicle of the swimmer desperately reaching his goal underlines the tenor of this metaphor; Odysseus overcame the trials and tribulations he faced to reclaim what was important to him. In Ithaca, he is the great King Odysseus, and he wants nothing to stop him from claiming that title. ThroughoutFrom his trials, he must overcome the adversity that comes his way, and he survives until he can return home to his wife. Penelope, "the earth warmed by the sun" (Ibid. l.237), sits at home, courted by many suitors, but rather than succumb to them, she sews a burial shroud every day and every night she undoes it , promising that when it ends, she will choose a new husband. She remains faithful and constantly regrets her missing husband. On her return, to check if he is really her husband, Penelope asks the nurse to remove their marital bed, which provokes Ulysses' rage. “It is our pact and our commitment, our secret sign, embedded in this bed.” (Ibid. Book XXIII ll. 192-193). The wedding bed is the vehicle that carries the tenor in the metaphor of his unwavering love. Their bed is built on an olive tree trunk, which cannot be moved. Regardless, both remained faithful in their ordeal for years. She promises him that "no other man has ever seen him." (Ibid. l. 229) At the heart of the epic is the character's belief in the different gods. Odysseus's survival of the suffering he must endure and his triumphant return to Ithaca magnify the glory of the gods. He constantly attributes the gods and glorifies their names. He returns home, but doesn't tell anyone that he is Odysseus. Those who did not truly believe in his return were those who had little faith in the gods. Before killing them, he told the suitors that "contempt was all [they] had for the gods who govern the heavens." (Ibid. Book XXII l. 38). Telemakhos, who may not have had complete faith before and must have been encouraged by Athena, only gains power and strength by demonstrating his faith in the gods. Those who believe in the return of Odysseus, like the swineherd and the cowherd, prayed to Zeus to “grant [their] old wish” (Ibid. Book XXI, l. 207), and Odysseus assured them that their faith, well that “only among [his] people” (Ibid. L. 215), was appropriate. Odysseus' very name means "suffering" or "inflicting suffering." He knows he will be subjected to adversity, but his identity is tied to suffering. The most dangerous thing about all of Ulysses' trials is that he will lose his identity. When Odysseus returns home, the gods have brought him. When he returns, he regains his identity and gains glory not only for himself, but also for the gods. He constantly praises the gods for his return. "To glory in slain men is not piety. Fate and the will of the gods have overcome them and their own harshness." (Ibid. Book XXII ll. 43-433). In a sense, the Odyssey begins where the Iliad ends. The Iliad shows the destruction of domesticity and the Odyssey shows its consequences, the war taking Odysseus away from his home and family. In the Iliad, Thetis requests that armor be made for Achilles during his final battle against Hector. It is designed with the images of two cities: one of war and one of peace. Perhaps each epic takes on the character of each of these cities. While Achilles had stood for the ideal and the abstract, with little confidence in God's abilities and much confidence in his own, he had not survived. Odysseus believed in the gods, and his return home proves that he had no reason to look elsewhere for the ideal, because everything was right where he had left it. He had always had an ideal, but he had never achieved it. When he returned, it was not the same Ithaca as when he left, because it was not the same Odysseus. He was able to understand the importance of domestic life because, although he had wanted it, he had almost lost it. The Odyssey overtly alters the priorities outlined in the Iliad, as Odysseus journeys to the underworld (The Odyssey, Book XI). It is there that he meets Achilles, who has become king of the underworld. Achilles is.. 243-244)