Nicholas Richardson, a commentator on the Iliad, suggests,”
when Homer gave the end of the Iliad of the form it has, the Odyssey was already taking shape in his mind.” Defend his position with evidence from both the Iliad and the Odyssey. Focus your agrument on Book Twenty-four of the Iliad and Book
One of the Odyssey, and reflect on both the similarities and differences; for example the attitude of the gods towards humans(eg Apollo’s pity towards Hector in the Iliad and Athena’s pity towards Odysseus in the Odyssey. How both victims made sacrifices and how they honored the gods.Achilles claims that miseries are from Zeus’ jars in Book 24 of Iliad and how in book 1 of the Odyssey Zeus agrees
but says that human recklessness magnifies miseries); father son relationships(Priam & Hector & Astyanax, Peleus and Achilles, Telemachus and Odysseus and Laertes, Agamemnon and Orestes); guests hosts relationships(reciprocity and gifts, how Achilles gave Priam the greatest gift(hector’s body), in Odyssey the suitors corrupt the idea of hospitility); the tone and emotion of the books; etc. This paper is basically an analysis of the evidence provided by the two books.
Please restrict the paper to only these two sources:
1)Homer. The Iliad. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin, 1990.
2)Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin, 1996