I feel as though in general more people are aware of Achilles as a Greek hero than they are Odysseus, yet when it comes to the poems themselves The Odyssey seems to be so much more widely recognized than The Iliad, to the point were some people don’t even know its name. Is it just that the term odyssey as a story telling structure is so ingrained in our culture? Or are there other elements at play?
by creamy-buscemi
13 Comments
Is it more well known? I’ve always heard people talking about them together.
This is a complete guess but i think that its just more intresting. The iliad is really just them fighting back and forth, the odyssey is the whole Journey and fighting the suitors, i just think its more intresting for people to read/listen to
But thats just my guess lol
Achilles speaks more directly to the Greeks of Homer’s period–of what they saw as the ideal regarding warrior values.
Odysseus is a character for all ages. He is much more relatable character. His journey is one of discovery of his own world and the value of home and family. It is a journey in which the hero had to do what we all need to do and that is come terms with one’s own limitations in a world controled by powers beyond a mortal’s control.
The Iliad address what it means to be a warrior.
The Odyssey address what it means to be human.
The one with the horse is the most famous
The story of Odysseus and his journey resonates more with people than the story of the battle of Troy. The traveling metaphor is a powerful narrative device. But this is just a guess, I’m no expert
I read both in school and Odyssey is more memorable, I can’t remember much from the Illiad
The Illiad is a bit strange from our current perspective because many of the most famous stories connected to the Trojan War are not in the Illiad, most notably the Wooden Horse.
Whereas the Odyssey is made up of many well-known episodes: the Cyclops, the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis etc.
I know I for sure read the odyssey in school (unsure about the Iliad), so that may play a reason into popularity.
You’re assuming we know your “culture”… Whatever your culture is, “it” is different in others…
I never got that impression.
The “Trojan horse” is much more ingrained in popular perception than anything from *The Odyssey*. Ditto for “Achilles’ heel”.
dumb answer, but the true one for me, fuckin’ Wishbone
Wishbone did the Odyssey but not the Iliad.
I suspect that this view has changed over and over gain throughout the past 2500 years, but today with the brutal wars of the 20th century still in memory and the incessant wars of today that we try to avoid looming all around us, the survivors story about staying sane and trying to get home in The Odyssey is more relevant to present values and morals than the virtues and the betrayals the The Iliad.
But both are pretty good stories.