Violence in "Odyssey" and "Trojan Women"

Paper Summary:

This essay describes how Homer and Euripides view the meaning and legitimacy of violence in their plays "Odyssey" and "Trojan Women". It presents a detailed, text-based analysis and evaluation of the two works' arguments and perspectives on the societal implications of violence.

From the Paper:

"The Odyssey portrays the fall of Troy and the subsequent events from the point of view of the victorious Odysseus, while Euripides' play The Trojan Women depicts the experiences of the defeated Trojans: how the Greeks enslave them, burn their city, and kill the newborn son of the fallen hero Hector. In spite of the two poems' disparate narrative perspectives, they share the same view about the legitimacy of violence: that it depends upon the underlying intentions causing the violence. While violence performed in order to fulfill egoistic aims is impermissible, in some cases, constructive ends may justify destructive means. This emphasis on the intentions involved in applying violence, rather than its actual results, helps in understanding why the two poems judge the same event, the conquest of Troy and, more specifically, the role of Odysseus during and after the war, entirely differently. Thus, it serves to explain why Odysseus is an exalted hero in one poem, but a cruel coward in the other."

More papers on Violence in "Odyssey" and "Trojan Women":

• Analytical Essay # 139417 : "Confronting Violence in Toronto and Canada"
• Film Review # 97231 : "The Trojan Women"--A Film Review"
• Analytical Essay # 29771 : "Quiet Odyssey: A Pioneer Korean Woman in America" and "Coming of Age in Mississippi"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: