Revenge Theme In The Iliad And The Odyssey

Homer’s the Odyssey is an epic poem telling the story of Odysseus, war hero and king of Ithaca. This story details the challenges he faces on his voyage back to Ithaca and when he returns home. Soldiers still have a war mentality even after the war ends. Odysseus and his men plundered the island of Ismarus: “I stormed the place and killed the men who fought”(Homer pg.562). They stopped on the island to rest on their journey home, and they sacked Ismarus because they were still in combat mode.

Aias had fought alongside Odysseus in the Trojan War. While Odysseus was finding his way back to Ithaca, Aias had killed someone who Athena favored, which angered her. He had escaped punishment, and took pride in doing so. He “in his insolence yelled that the gods’ will and the sea were beaten, and this loud brag came to Poseidon’s ears. He swung the trident in his massive hands and in one shock from top to bottom split that promontory, toppling into the sea” (Odyssey 537).

In battle Hector killed Achilles´s best friend Pactorlos in battle. In grief Achilles wants to fight Hector for what he did. Hector has two choices, either to fight Achilles or hide behind the walls of Troy. Hector exclainms doubtedly “What shall I do? If I retreat behind these walls, … And now that I have ruined them all by my rashness, I am ashamed to face the men and women of Troy, or some base fellows may say-Hector thought too much of his own strength, and ruined us all!” (Homer 257) “Either I shall kill him and return in triumph, or I shall die with honour

Odysseus shows considerable hubris when he brags to King Alconis about slaughtering the small village of Ismarus. Odysseus claims that he and his men “stormed that place,” enslaved the women, and slaughtered those who fought. (Homer 43). Due to Odysseus’ arrogant decision to assault Ismarus, a few of his men died. This demonstrates how arrogance and the hunger for victory will lead to certain death.

196).” In Book 16, Odysseus had arrived on Ithaca, and plotted with his son Telemachus to kill the suitors who were trying to marry his wife, Penelope, for the past 20 years. When Telemachus asks Odysseus how can they win because they are drastically outnumbered by the suitors, Odysseus responds,”Is it not indeed enough for us to have Athena and father Zeus beside us (Mandelbaum, Book XVI, pg. 325)?” Odysseus convinces his son that having gods on their side matches any number of

Both Agamemnon and Odysseus, have wives besieged by suitors and a son who, logically, dislikes them. The story of Agamemnon parallels that of Odysseus. But Agamemnon's story turned negative: the suitor killed him and married his wife, though his son, Orestes, avenged his death. This foreshadowing effect is only a brief statement by Zeus in Zimmerman’s interpretation as time is a vital resource in a play while in an epic it is held in excess. Homer’s ability to enhance the epic with secondary characters came from years of oral history and time but pays off tenfold.

Achilles is maddened and appeals to his goddess mother saying, “If I am to die soon, shouldn’t I have what I want?” Feeling only sorrow for her son, Thetis requests Zeus to cause to Greeks to lose until Achilles fights again. Slowly the Greeks are pushed back farther and Agamemnon pleads with Achilles, offering Briseis back. Achilles declines due to his pride and the Trojans come close to burn the Greek ships. Even when a ship was burning, Achilles refused to fight and instead sends out Patroclus. Eventually Patroclus gets killed.

Boom! It shocked her, her own brother has died why “why would this happen to me, she repeated to herself.Antigone begins with the two sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polyneices, who are fighting for the kingship of Thebes. Both men die in the battle. Their successor, Creon, decides that King Eteocles will be buried, but Polyneices, because he was leading a foreign army, will be left on the field of battle.Antigone and creon both have feeling and the way they showed them was bad.One of the character traits that creon had was he was a unruly ruler and antigone hated him.fine to die while doing that. I’ll lie there with him, with a man I love, pure and innocent, for all my crime.

The Trojan War was led up to the fact that Paris took Helen from her husband, Menelaus. He wanted revenge on Paris, so the Greek gods and warriors of Sparta battled and fought each other for 10 straight years. Eris rode into battle, one of the days, and was intrigued by the bloodshed and slaughter of the Trojan War. The Trojans became victorious in the end and Helen was brought back to Menelaus. Although difficulties arose, the Trojans were determined to win the

It was the same Cyclops that Odysseus and his men stabbed in the cave. After the Trojan War, Odysseus blamed all of the gods for not helping them through the war that lasted ten years. After Odysseus blamed the gods, Poseidon, started creating bad seas forcing him not to