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Samuel Powell

Mrs. Field

LNG 311

09 December 2010

Greek Epic Heroes of the Past and Present

Epic heroes have been in stories throughout the past. In The Odyssey by

Homer, Odysseus is the epic hero who has a long journey home from the

Trojan War. However In the more present The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Percy has to return the lightning bolt to Zeus before the summer solstice to

prevent a war of the gods.

In Epics, heroes will have a have a motivation for why he is going on

the journey/quest. Odysseus’ motivation is Paris and Helen and the Trojan

War. Odysseus made an agreement to Agamemnon and Menelaus that if

anything would happen to Helen they would protect her. Percy’s motivation

is his mother, which whom Hades abducts. Hades abducts Mrs. Jackson

because Percy is blamed for stealing the lightning bolt, which Hades wants

control of so he can control Olympus. Both Odysseus and Percy have this

motivation to keep them going throughout their journey; because of this

motivation they will go anywhere.

Both Odysseus and Percy travel to the unknown. Odysseus travels to

the underworld to retrieve a prophecy from the blind prophet Tiresias;

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however Percy travels to the Underworld to get his mother. In 1200 BC,

Greek culture believed that prophets could tell the fate of a person, However

in 2010 Percy has a more difficult journey and goes to show the loyalty to his

mother. The Underworld is only one of the major obstacles that Odysseus

and Percy have to overcome.

Odysseus and Percy both have to conquer multiple obstacles to

complete their journey and stay alive. Odysseus overcomes a Cyclops, Scilla

and Charybdis, Circe, Calypso and the suitors. Percy has obstacles like a

fury, a Minotaur and medusa. Even though there is over an 800 year

difference between these heroes they both overcome some of the same

obstacles like the Lotus Eaters, however the way the obstacles are expressed

are different through the time period. Theses heroes are the ones that

conquer obstacles in order to return safely to/with their family.

These epics are great examples of how the mind of a culture doesn’t

change throughout time. These two heroes originate through the Greek, one

present time the other 1200 BC but they still have and still will have some of

the same ideas/beliefs as long as the Greek culture creates heroes.