The Odyssey vs the Lord of the Rings
Comparing the Odyssey to the Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings and Odyssey are two very weird stories in my opinion. The two stories include several similarities. The most noteworthy similarity of the two that were in common was the use of themes. Both included similar themes such as, life, death,power, brotherly love, myth, temptation, and journey. One thing I noticed was the use of several different themes included in both stories. In the Lord of the Rings the inhabitants of Middle Earth join to save themselves from enslavement. Centuries before, a ring was forged putting much power into control of who had it. Some men fell into that power, but an alliance of men and elves defeated it. The Ring was cut from Sauron hand. Sauron was a antagonist character who was pursuing the power by wearing the ring. After being cut from Saurons hand, the ring should have been destroyed, but a human prince, Isildur, took it. Isildur was slain, and the Ring fell into a river. Myth also played a part in The Lord of the Rings, the sense of transience and lost grandeur that pervades The Lord of the Rings goes, in part, with the territory in which Tolkien is wading. He writes the novel in a mythic mode, and one of the conventions of myth is that it describes a past that is more glorious than the present. This sense of loss certainly is present in the Greek myths, for example, or in Homer’s epic poems that draw on these myths—both of which describe a world in which men and gods mix freely, a world that is no more. Tolkien’s own work is something between mythology and fiction, locating itself in a middle ground between a past that is remembered only in song and the everyday present of the reader. This sense of ancientness is constantly present, brought to life in chants, poems, and graven inscriptions. As Tolkien shows again and again—whether with the Elves or with the Númenóreans or the Dwarves—the stories that the characters tell define them. In
The Lord of the Rings and Odyssey are two very weird stories in my opinion. The two stories include several similarities. The most noteworthy similarity of the two that were in common was the use of themes. Both included similar themes such as, life, death,power, brotherly love, myth, temptation, and journey. One thing I noticed was the use of several different themes included in both stories. In the Lord of the Rings the inhabitants of Middle Earth join to save themselves from enslavement. Centuries before, a ring was forged putting much power into control of who had it. Some men fell into that power, but an alliance of men and elves defeated it. The Ring was cut from Sauron hand. Sauron was a antagonist character who was pursuing the power by wearing the ring. After being cut from Saurons hand, the ring should have been destroyed, but a human prince, Isildur, took it. Isildur was slain, and the Ring fell into a river. Myth also played a part in The Lord of the Rings, the sense of transience and lost grandeur that pervades The Lord of the Rings goes, in part, with the territory in which Tolkien is wading. He writes the novel in a mythic mode, and one of the conventions of myth is that it describes a past that is more glorious than the present. This sense of loss certainly is present in the Greek myths, for example, or in Homer’s epic poems that draw on these myths—both of which describe a world in which men and gods mix freely, a world that is no more. Tolkien’s own work is something between mythology and fiction, locating itself in a middle ground between a past that is remembered only in song and the everyday present of the reader. This sense of ancientness is constantly present, brought to life in chants, poems, and graven inscriptions. As Tolkien shows again and again—whether with the Elves or with the Númenóreans or the Dwarves—the stories that the characters tell define them. In