How the Modern World Compares to Ancient Greece Essay

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Odysseus is an ideal of manly conduct and resourcefulness in ancient Greek society, as is shown in Homer's The Odyssey. For example, it is the idea of Odysseus to have his men tie him to the mast of their ship and to pour wax in their ears when they are sailing past the sirens: Odysseus wants to hear the music but he is smart enough to know that if he does hear, he will guide his men to sail towards the rocks where the sirens are and then they will wreck. So he uses foresight as a means of self-discipline. And, indeed, when he does hear the voices of the sirens, he wants to go to them -- but, of course, he has guarded against this catastrophe. This would be an example of how Odysseus is resourceful.

An example of the way in which Odysseus displays manly conduct could be found at the end of his journey when he returns to Ithaca and goes home to find that his house is overrun with suitors trying to win the hand of his wife Penelope, who has been waiting all these years for Odysseus to return. Odysseus first want to find out if Penelope has been faithful to him so he disguises himself as a beggar and enters into his own home, not revealing his identity. He learns directly from Penelope that she is still waiting for her husband's return.

Then, with the help of the goddess Athena, who is looking after Odysseus (a sure enough sign of manly valor and resourcefulness in and of itself), Penelope holds a contest in which she challenges all the suitors at the home to string the bow of Odysseus and shoot a straight arrow. Of course, none of them can do it because the bow is so tough -- but Odysseus, still disguised as the beggar, takes part in the challenge. He alone is strong enough to string the bow -- then he shoots the arrow through the axe heads, and wins the contest. But he does not stop there. He then turns the bow upon the suitors and with the help of his son and loyal friends, he slays them all. This is such a display of bold, physical manly action that nothing could top: it is the image of a man returning to his home and ridding it of all those who are attempting to take it and his wife for their own. It is violent, unforgiving, and exceedingly masculine.

Thus, Odysseus embodies strength, cunning, and curiosity -- traits that the Greeks would have naturally admired because they themselves had a strong regard for strength (seeing as how they had to constantly defend themselves in war), they were especially fond of cunning and strategy (as brains and brawn are a formidable mix), and their curiosity and regard for the world at large was what allowed their artists, politicians and philosophers to become so engaged with life and questions of truth and honor.

Odysseus overcomes the temptation to spend all his time with Circe, with whom he stays for a whole year as part of his promise to show her love for her returning his men back to human form (after she turns them to pigs). Odysseus also overcomes his temptation to give in to the sirens by using his cunning and foresight -- so that he could hear but not give in.

It is possible for Odysseus to exist today. A James Bond type of character would display the resourceful aspect of Odysseus (but Bond does not have the same "home" or "fatherly" aspect as Odysseus, who has a wife and home). A better example of an Odysseus type today might be a knight type of character -- from the Arthurian legends, for example -- but even that is not intensely popular today. Polumetis could be applied to the James Bond character or the Ethan Hunt character -- even the Eastwood character has it more or less -- but none of them have the same "home life" waiting for them at the end, which they have to defend. So maybe Odysseus could only exist today in a limited capacity.

2.

The leading cultural ideals and values of the Homeric Greeks in the spheres of religious, social, political, and intellectual life was diverse. For instance, even in terms of religion, some persons favored some gods and goddesses while others favored different ones -- and the gods and goddesses in turn favored some persons and not others (sometimes for personal reasons and sometimes for petty reasons).

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In The Iliad for instance, Athena and Apollo are on opposing sides: Athena favors the Greeks while Apollo favors the Trojans (even though a statue of Athena also existed in Troy -- but because the Greeks stole it, Athena took away her love from the Trojans). So in terms of religion, loyalty was a big ideal and very strongly valued.

In the social life, respect for one's duty, one's people and one's own honor was very important. The Iliad begins with Achilles feeling dishonored by Agamemnon -- and the only reason he is there is because Agamemnon's sister-in-law Helen has been abducted by Paris of Troy. It really has nothing to do with Achilles but for the sake of honor and social kinship, he agrees to go fight. And, of course, he stops fighting when he feels slighted and disrespected by Agamemnon. In fact, the whole story of the Iliad turns upon this point.

Politically speaking, the Homeric Greeks acted more with a sense of hierarchy (following a king-like leader such as Agamemnon) at the same time they also displayed a kind of democratic sense. They would, for example, often show signs of individualism and conference instead of humbly submitting to the will of their leader. Achilles' friend does this when he puts on Achilles' armor and runs off to battle to frighten the Trojans. No one tells him to do this -- he does it all on his own.

As for their intellectual life, it is clearly very sharp, as they are able to show great refinement and sensitivity even as they are launching spears at foes' heads or sawing off the limbs of their opponents (or dragging the corpse of a beloved son around the city from the rear of a chariot). The intellectual life is respected in councils and in discourse with the gods, and here it is most evident as without it there would really be no possible discourse -- because the gods do not communicate to empty suits (although they do attempt to trick them -- they even attempt to trick each other, as Hera shows with her relationship to Zeus).

The social institutions of the Greeks, however, were not all the same: the Spartans were definitely different from the Athenians, with the former placing physical strength above the intellectual life, which Athens promoted. But Athens being more northward and centrally located among the other city-states, this is understandable; for Sparta was southward and viewed somewhat as a barbaric place. For the Athens, theater and drama were great amusements and they produced some of the greatest playwrights (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Aristophenes, and Euripides) as well as the greatest philosophers (Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle). Sparta on the other hand produced warriors and the warrior-kind and is only really remembered because its strict, harsh and "Spartan" way of life, which did not entail many creature comforts of the sort that people in the modern era really like. Sparta also made more use of slaves and (ironically) their women appeared to have more say in the society than in Athens, where they were primarily kept at home (Fantham, Foley).

3.

One of the key differences between our civilization today and that of the ancient Greeks is that they actually believed in the gods and goddesses whereas most people today do not really have any view of religion or spirituality one way or the other. There are, of course, many people who still do believe in God or some form of higher power, but it appears to be very different and on a different level. Religion is much more politicized today -- in fact, everything is so politicized today. The Political Correct nature of society today is completely opposite to the nature of the society of the Greeks: they said what they thought and did what they wanted, and they were respectful about things because they didn't want to offend others and have to go to war (although they would go to war if the cause was just -- as the Iliad shows). But today, we go to war for unjust reasons and bomb innocent women and children and wedding parties in the Middle East and then cry foul when all the homeless refugees whose cities we've blown up pour into Europe or into our own country. To me, it is only fair -- but others are upset by it and do not realize that it is….....

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