In The Odyssey by Homer there are many important themes that are also reflected in many movies of today’s time. One of them is that the idea of fate may feel very uncomfortable. The fact that people have no control over their lives can make them very uneasy about life. Another theme is that great heroes are created by the noble deeds that they do. And yet another theme is that patience is something that must be learned over time, usually by some type of suffering.
Patience is a virtue that must be learned, usually through suffering. Odysseus had to patiently suffer through 20 long years of struggling to get back to his family, which only strengthened his patience because he knew he would get back some day. “I’m sure no other woman could be so cold and keep her husband at a distance, now he has come home after twenty years and all those terrible dangers!” (255).
In the movie Gladiator, Maximus is also at one point separated from his family, but when he returns home to find his wife and son murdered, he must patiently suffer until he can get his revenge.
Great heroes are made great by noble deeds of mind, body, and spirit. Odysseus was a very noble man, defined only by the seemingly endless amount of noble deeds he had done throughout his quest. “…the noble Odysseus, The ever-patient man, who they say fought by your side when you took Troy.” (34).
Here Odysseus had not hesitated to go off to Troy to fight for his king to try and help return his wife. In the movie Armageddon, Harry Stamper nobly sacrifices his life to save the world from a massive meteor aiming for earth, defining his nobility.
The Essay on The Great Gatsby: Theme and character anlysis of Tom and Daisy
Greed, Corruption, the Search of One’s Self and the 1920’s The characters’ search of their own identities and the struggle that ensues is the most suffusive theme throughout The Great Gatsby . The fact that we never really know the characters, and the corrupt immoral things they do, directly represent the 20’s high society lifestyle. The characters continued to cheat on their spouses, let money ...
Human beings are frequently alienated from god and have no control over the fate that befalls them but they do have control over their own reactions to the events of their lives. A very good example of this is during Odysseus’s journey home, when he had just started out and was almost across the sea to Phaiacia and Posiedon had noticed him. “Then he gathered the clouds, and stirred up the deep with his trident: he roused all the tempestuous winds, and covered in clouds both land and sea…” (68).
This is just an example of how Odysseus had no control on what happened to himself. Something else that closely resembles this feeling of not being able to control one’s own life and shows it very well is once again the movie Armageddon. When the meteor was falling down, and the crew was up in space drilling, it can be easily imagined how the people down on earth felt about the situation, Completely helpless as to what happens up there.
Overall, in The Odyssey, there are very many themes to be recognized and they should be for many reasons. They may impact people in a way that could change their outlook on life, and make them think twice about something they are doing, or will do in the future. They can teach very valuable lessons about life and many of the situations people may find themselves in today.
