A reflection of Odysseus and Modern Day Heroes Essay

indite close to two thousand and seven hundred years earlier, the Odyssey is chill out influencing modern storytelling today. Odysseus, the legendary Greek king of Ithaca and protagonist of Homers epic poem the Odyssey was recognized as a smashing friend of his time. He was kn take in for his defining qualities of superior strength and athleticism, sharp intellect, coarse ness, and a thirstiness for glory. These character attri onlyes are still being employ to attri notwithstandinge modern day fictional heroes such as modern, sea captain Jack hedge sparrow, crowd affixation, and Spiderman. accordly, the heroic qualities of Odysseus can be still be seen in todays modern day fictional heroes.Odysseuss superior strength and athleticism resembles to modern day character of Neo in The Matrix. In the Odyssey, Penelope told the suitors that she would marry who constantly was able to set up Odysseuss old bow and shoot it through twelve ax heads. Mevery suitors attempted thi s task but not a individual(a) one was even watertight enough to string the bow. However, Without any strain, Odysseus draw the great bow Taking the string and the head grooves he force to the middle grip, and from the very chair where he sit, bending the bow to begin with him, let the arrow fly, nor missed any axes from the kickoff handle on, but the bronze-weighted arrow passed through all, and out the some other end (Homer, 319 320). Odysseuss exponent to string the incredibly stiff bow and to shoot it through twelve axe heads when not a single other suitor could do it depicts his sheer strength and athleticism. This ability is withal apparent with Neo from the depiction The Matrix.In the movie, Neo has the ability to freely manipulate the simulated earth of the Matrix. This s exhaust, allows him to have divine strength and agility, and the ability to brush off attacks that would kill or disable a normal human being with sexual relation ease. There is a particular sc ene that exemplifies this where Neo fights off about thirty agents with his bare hands. As depicted in the script indite by the Wachowski Brothers, Their attack is a devastating onslaught of speed and situation closing in around Neo resembling a vise. only Neo is a mirage, slipping and flipping around them in a acerbic counter attack, heaving agents in the air (Wachowski Brother, 18). Neos superhuman strength and athleticism is comparable to Odysseus. Both characters are way stronger and profligate than the average warrior, which enables them to fight off exceptional opponents. Besides Brute strength, Odysseus shares galore(postnominal)other deeper qualities with modern day heroes.Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean shares Odysseuss knack for quick thinking and chichi. Odysseus demonstrates this trait when trying to escape from the Polyphemuss hollow by tricking Polyphemus into thinking that his have-to doe with is Nobody. When Odysseus finally attacks the Cyclops and blinds him, Polyphemus cries for overhaul saying, Good Friends, Nobody is killing me by force or treachery. So then the others speaking in winged words gave him an answer If only when as you are none uses violence on you, (Homer, 147). Odysseuss cleverness to say that his name is Nobody prevents the other Cyclopes from entering the cave and allows him escape with his custody. Captain Jack Sparrow also possesses this same trait of cleverness.Sparrow is often out skilled in sword contend by other characters so he resorts to using negotiation in order to distract his enemies or turn them against each other. Sparrow stated, wherefore fight when you can negotiate? All one needs is the befitting leverage (Walt Disney Pictures). There is a scene that exemplifies this when a group of soldiers spellbind Sparrow trying to steal one of their ships. The Soldiers ask Sparrow, Whats your line of work in Port Royal,? And no lies Sparrow answers, I confess I intend to commandeer one of these ships, pick up a junto in Tortuga, and go on the account, do a little salutary pirating (Walt Disney Pictures). Sparrow is so openly honest about his mischief that the soldiers have ont even believe him. This clever use of words and psychology help Sparrow escape from the Soldiers and eventually steal their ship. Both Sparrow and Odysseus use this type of sharp cunning intellect to get what they need.Odysseus also shares his trait of sensual ness to women with the modern day hero of James Bond. There were legion(predicate) occasions where Odysseus came across a beautiful fair sex and lived a luxurious life with her before continuing his journey inhabitancy. common chord such examples were Calypso, Nausicaa, and Circe. With Circe in particular, Circe turned all of Odysseus crew into swine, but he was able to brook her powers, which caused her to fall in love with him. Odysseus then dogged to elapse a year of luxury on her island as her lover. Odysseus said, W e sat there feasting on unlimited meat and sweet wine. that when the sun went down and the sacred darkness came over but I, acclivitythe surpassingly beautiful bed of Circe, clasped her by the knees and entreated her (Homer, 164). Odysseus enjoyed his luxurious life with Circe in an exotic land, but only to a point. Eventually, he decided to boil down on the great task at hand and return home to Ithaca.James Bond possesses this same trait of sensual ness towards women end-to-end all of the bond films. In just about every film, Bond comes across a beautiful female that he ends up expending an intimate time with before going off to save the world. In Casino Royal, Bond enters a relationship with Solange. Solange says to Bond, What is it about bad men? You my husband. I had so many chances to be happy, so many thin guys. Why cant nice guys be more similar you? Bond replies, Because then theyd be bad. Solange kissing him some more, Mmmmm, yeah (MGM). Bonds smoothness and intelle ct help him win over the hearts of numerous women just like Odysseus. However, both(prenominal) Bond and Odysseus never get in addition wrapped up in a relationship to forget what their greater goals are. Bond always moves on and saves the world and Odysseus always leaves his lover in order to return home to Ithaca. Both characters have a strong sense of sensual ness towards females, but it never seems to distract them from their primary(prenominal) goals.Lastly, a trait that may not be seen as affirmatory is Odysseus lust for self-exaltation and glory, which is shared with the modern day hero, Spiderman. Like other Greek heroes, Odysseus longed to win kleos, which is glory won through great deeds. This kleos sometimes led Odysseus into taking pride in his own glorious acts when it wasnt really necessary. After cleverly tricking the Polyphemus and escaping from his lair, Odysseus said, Cyclops, if any mortal man ever asks you who it was that inflicted upon your eye this shamefu l blinding, tell him that you were blinded by Odysseus, sacker of cities (150, Homer). Odysseus could not resist his thirst for glory after defeating the Cyclops and needed to reveal his name for the sake of his own pride. Peter Parker as Spiderman possesses this same role. When Peter first learned of his new spider powers, he tried to use them to ingrain other people. He took pictures of himself fighting criminals and sent them to the newspaper for people to see. He wanted other people to see how amazing his powers were and to glorify him for them.According to the story synopsis, At first, Peter decides to use these powers to make money toimpress Mary Jane. He appears in a wrestling match and, arm with his new spider strength, wins the match in record time (Marvel, and capital of South Carolina Pictures). Peter used his powers to glorify his own image just like Odysseus. However, this trait between the two characters does not benefit them in any way, so why is it relevant betwee n two heroes?The fact that both Odysseus and Spiderman had a strong sense of pride provided room in the stories for it to be overcome. This trait of pride had drastic consequences for both characters. Spidermans pride caused him to spend too much time on impressing other people when he could have been a hero. This prevented him from saving his uncle Ben from being murdered because he was preoccupied.Odysseus pride caused him to reveal his true identity to Poseidon, who in turn seeked vengeance on him. This lead to a great amount suffering that Odysseus had to endure on his journey home. However, both characters were able to overcome their pride to a authentic degree by the end of the stories. Spiderman eventually learned that with great power, comes great responsibility and to use his powers to protect the city from evil and not for his own glory (Marvel, and Columbia Pictures). By the end of the epic, Odysseus seemed much more unbidden to temper pride with patience. When disguise d as a beggar, he did not immediately react to the abuse he received from the suitors. Instead, he endured it until the yap was set for him to strike down on them. In a sense, the quality that was passed down from the Odyssey to modern day heroes is the ability to overcome pride and the extol self.Many of todays fictional heroes resemble the character traits of Odysseus. Odysseus fauna strength and athleticism can be seen in Neo. His cleverness and quick thinking resemble Captain Jack Sparrow. His sensual ness towards women, but without losing sight of the greater goal is comparable to James Bond. And his pride and thirst for glory is shared with Spiderman and how both of them were able to suppress it. Overall, its scarce that todays characters still resemble such an ancient hero. volition our idea of what makes a hero ever change?Works CitedElliot, Ted, terry Roscio, and Walt Disney Pictures. Pirates of the Caribbean Curse of the Black Pearl Screenplay. hundland.com. 3 Nov. 2 008 .Homer. The Odyssey. 1967. Trans. Richard Lattimore. New York Harper & quarrel Publishers, 2007.Marvel, and Columbia Pictures. Spider-Man The Story. Spider-Man Official site. 3 Nov. 2008 .Purvis, Neal, Robert Wade, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Casino Royale Script. Script-O-Rama. 3 Nov. 2008 .Wachowski Brothers. The Matrix Reloaded Screenplay. horrorlair.com. 3 Nov. 2008 .