The World-Views of the Iliad and the Odyssey Shira Traison

The respective endings of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey prove the different world-view that each epic takes. While both concern the era of the Trojan War, the characters in each seem to value two opposing outlooks. A close reading of the concluding passages regarding the heroes and their wives in each epic demonstrates the outstanding values of their respective worlds. Though both concern an acquisition of honor and glory, the different mediums used to achieve those goals result in antithetic conclusions.

"...Your father, remember, was no man of mercy...

not in the horror of battle, and that is why

the whole city of Troy mourns you now, my Hector-

you've brought your parents accursed tears of grief

but to me most of all you've left the horror, the heartbreak!

For you never died in bed and stretched out your arms to me

Or said some last word from the heart I can remember,

Always, weeping for you through all my nights and days!

Iliad, Book XXIV, ll.870-877

"Rage - Goddess"(Ibid., Book I, l.1), Homer's invocation of The Muse to begin the Iliad, introduces the reader to the world-view he will present throughout the entire epic. The reader is automatically treated to the knowledge that "Peleus' son...