Analysis of Characters in Odyssey and Sophocles Essay Example
Analysis of Characters in Odyssey and Sophocles Essay Example

Analysis of Characters in Odyssey and Sophocles Essay Example

Available Only on StudyHippo
  • Pages: 5 (1161 words)
  • Published: October 5, 2021
View Entire Sample
Text preview

The notion of revenge and justice appear to be seen as harmful yet necessary qualities found in Hamlet and the Odyssey. In Hamlet, Shakespeare attempts to show people how brutal revenge can be. In the Odyssey, the act of revenge appears to be seen as an adverse although occasionally necessary part of life. These killings were made, but those who did them never took pleasure in them. For instance, after Odysseus kills suitors the nurse known as Eurykleia is pleased to see that he (Odysseus) has overcome the trespassers and Odysseus utter to her to rejoice inwardly (Homer 6). Hamlet sought revenge for the murder of his father.

The two characters were away for sometimes and then later came to seek revenge. The two characters managed to kill, for instance, Odysseus kills Eurykleia while Hamlet kills Claudius (Homer 11). Hamlet did

...

investigation before killing while Odysseus did not carry out investigation. Hamlet’s revenge was aided by gods while Odysseus’ revenge did not involve the help of gods.

He does an investigation, and his father's ghost shows him that it is his uncle Claudius who killed him. Odyssey makes decision revenge against those who mistreated his family (Homer 12). A familiar kind of behavior is showing one face to the world and another to oneself. The heroes in Odyssey and Hamlet all apply deception to attain revenge against the people who have mistreated them. However, the way in which they carry out these deceptions remains different between them. Although revenge is, of course, an overwhelming authority in the two narratives, it is not seen in a genuinely useful light in either.

In Hamlet, the young prince applies deception as

View entire sample
Join StudyHippo to see entire essay

a way to bring on his revenge for the murder of his father (Sophocles 7). The picture of madness that he intends to show would likely have saved him if he did not go through with his schemes of revenge, and killed his uncle, Claudius (Roma 18). Unfortunately, his uncertainty leads to his devastation. Odysseus Similarly uses physical disguises instead of feigned insanity to trick his enemies and realize his ends.

He is concealed as a beggar at the time he arrives at his home: At no extended period, Odysseus came by his doorway as a lumped like a package of rags above his stick. He settled on inner ash timber sill, inclining against the entrance jamb. Unlike Hamlet, Odysseus human disguise remains to be successful and takes him wherever he wanted to be. Again he is not uncertain and does not stay to do whatever was needed to be done. Instead, he rushes in amid a fierce purpose and attains it over with. Hamlet is depicted in a more unclear way than Odysseus.

Odysseus is, of course, a hero; he resists against impossible odds attempting to get himself together with his crew home undamaged (Homer 17). He never accepts into the persuasions of immortality as well as comfortable life yet rather chooses adversity and ultimate death together with his family. Telemachus, just an infant at the time his father went to Troy, Telemachus is maturing when Odyssey begins. He is wholly dedicated to his mother, and to sustaining his father’s domain, but he fails to know how to defend them from suitors (Roma 22). After knowing the intentions of the suitors, he soon becomes assertive.

He confronts

suitors and criticizes the mistreatment of his estate and when Penelope become anxious or rather upset, he still does not fear from taking control. Telemachus has a heavy heart and a lively mind, and occasionally even some temper, but he does not scheme with similar skill with quite similar fluency as Odysseus. While Odysseus makes a few mistakes in judgment over the development of the epic. Telemachus has not inherited his father’s harsh pride either (Roma 16).

Similarly, Hamlet has fascinated viewers and readers for many centuries; he is enigmatic. There is more in him than other characters. When he talks, his speeches sounds there is something he is leaving out, or he does not know. Hamlet is exceptionally philosophical and contemplative. He is mainly drawn to complicated queries which cannot be replied with any certainty (Sophocles 12).

Hamlet becomes preoccupied with proving the guilt of his uncle before attempting to act. Hamlet remains to be a character that is driven by impulsive and emotion. After the ghost of his father showed him that it is his uncle that killed him, he decided to follow the case. The leadership style of harlot can be said to be democratic. He first does the investigation to confirm the truth before acting.

Jocasterter is the mother and wife to Oedipus, who did a horrible thing by the virtue of her heart since she got married to her son, who slain his father first (Sophocles 7). Although the gods kept reminding people of that knowledge for a period. Marrying her son was not her choice; however it was a result of a complex series of events. The marriage of Liaus to Jocaster seemed

advantageous as both Jocasta together with Laius were of the lineage of Cadmus.

But Jocasta could not become pregnant and carry on the family. Therefore, Laius consulted the oracle. The Oracle said that it was the kid Laius father who would murder him. Consequently, Laius rejected Jocasta, who became pregnant. When a child was born, he was thrown away (Sophocles 9). In Hamlet, Gertrude is the contrast of her son, Hamlet who is a scholar as well as a philosopher, probing for life's most indefinable answers.

Gertrude is shallow and thinks just about her body, and external contentment. As a kid, she longs to be pleased (Roma 16). Gertrude is a sexual being, and it is her sexuality which turns Hamlet aggressively against her. The Ghost provides Hamlet with those who are already shocked by his mother for getting married to his uncle, Claudius such a short period immediately after his father's death. Penelope is a wife to Odysseus and a mother of Telemachus. Penelope takes most of his day within the palace pining for her husband who went to Troy twenty years and never returned.

Homer portrays Penelope as occasionally flighty and excitable yet also witty as well as steadfastly real to her husband (Homer 42). In Odyssey, Penelope shows the often contradictory characteristics of the two goddesses. Sometimes within the poem, Penelope portrays the traits of the Artemis, who is the goddess of virginity and at other periods she behaves like the Aphrodite, who is the deity of sexual desire.  Penelope brings out these attributes when she wants to manipulate suitors to accomplish her particular needs, or to assist her son. Penelope continues to be the epitome of the

respectable woman within Ithaca and probably Greece. Penelope shares her celebrated beauty with Aphrodite together with Artemis, although she applies it in a way that is best recognized with Aphrodite.  Athena enhances her attractiveness, so that goddess' plans to assist Odysseus to recover his household with his wealth refilled by suitors’ gifts.

Get an explanation on any task
Get unstuck with the help of our AI assistant in seconds
New