THE ODYSSEY
In the story “The Odyssey” we talk about a man who was a king in Ithaca, who
goes by the name Odysseus. It talks about the hardships he had to give up and go
through during his journey from the Trojan war all the way back to Ithaca. Not
only did he make it back safely, but he had gone through all the trials and
tribulations of the many places he had passed through. (and believe me it was not
easy!). Today our world also faces similar situations of the same values and
beliefs the Greeks had way back then. So let me give you a little example of three
values that our generation now and the generation way back then have and still
believe in, but in different ways.
The first value that was and still is will have to be RESPECT. About 3,000 years
ago many people of that time believed to have respect when meeting new guests.
You were to welcome your guests with all you have by giving them a place to
stay, food to eat, and a warm place to stay in. There was one thing that was
forbidden to ever do when welcoming a guest and that was Never to ask your
guest for their name! This is an example of what happened in one part of the
Odyssey, when Odysseus and his men welcomed their selves into the cave of
Cyclops. They ate, slept, and did anything they wanted, because your guests and
what else were they suppose to do? Just then Cyclops came in angry that they came and ate all his food,
he had lost it and he threw a temper and out came the words,
"what is your name?" (There you go), he had just broken one of the rules and that was having
Respect to your guests when welcoming them. He later ended up getting punished
not from the gods, but from Odysseus, dagging the knife into his eye!
The next value will be SACRIFICE. During the Greek ages, when wanting to
receive help or trust from the gods you were to sacrifice your best animal. Many
people today don’t do that, because sacrificing something to your god won’t
usually work because they wont just come down and swoop it out of our hands
right? But when we do need help we can always turn to god and pray. This leads
me into a chapter were Odysseus had to give up one of his best animals to
Teresias to learn what his destiny will be. Sacrificing something will make the
gods happy and you usually end up with the things you’ve wanted, but sometimes you
wont get what you've asked for because you’ve done something they seem to not like! But now,
we don’t go through things like that, but we do have times when we have to give
up things in order to do what we are suppose to do. (Right?)
The last value I’m going to talk about is being OBEDIENT. This has to do with
most of us today and way back then. When you are told to do something you are
supposed to do it right? This also has to do with one part in the Odyssey, when
Odysseus had to sacrifice an animal in the land of the dead to Terisias so that he
can learn his destiny. This is an example of being willing to obey. Another
example will be if your parents want you to do something, you listen, but then
you go out of their wishes that’s being untruthful! So the ways before and today
are still the same. Being obedient to your parents is a thing you have to do, but
then it’s what we always end up breaking!
The Odyssey is a myth which reveals many of the Greek values. Such as Respect,
Sacrifice, and Obedience are shown in parts of the story. Today we can see those
same values in everyone but just in a way different way then it was back then.
The influence of the Greek culture on modern civilization has to mainly do with
the same beliefs, but way back many years ago many of the things they did were
more realistic than it is compared to ours.
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