Greed In The Odyssey

Thomas Harris, an American writer of suspense, said: “Nothing makes us more vulnerable than loneliness, except greed.” He is best known for a series of novels about his character, Hannibal Lecter. Even though the two authors Harris and Homer both come from different time periods, Harris being modern and Homer not, the shared human experience connects them. Odysseus and Achilles are so distracted by greed and fame that they are willing to risk everything for it such as Odysseus’s life and the life of his crew, and Achilles dying in Troy. In the movie “Troy”, the main character Achilles travels to Troy with the rest of the Greek army to fight to gain control of Troy and meets many challenges throughout the battle. In “The Odyssey” written by

Odysseus first tricks the Cyclops by saying “My name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends, everyone calls me Nohbdy.” and then Odysseus and his men make a spear and stab Polyphemus in the eye, he yells for help saying “Nohbdy, Nohbdy’s tricked me, Nohbdy’s ruined me!”, To which the other cyclops reply “ Ah well, if nobody has played you foul there in your lonely bed, we are no use to pain given by great Zeus.” Since Polyphemus can no longer see, Odysseus and his men escape and are leaving on their ship, when Odysseus yells to the Cyclops, “Cyclops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes’ son, whose home’s on Ithaca!” (Homer 9. 380-381, 384).
By revealing his true identity to the Cyclops, Odysseus unknowingly curses himself and his crew for the rest of their journey. The Cyclops is a son of Poseidon and the god performs countless acts which continuously setback Odysseus and his men on their journey home. This is a perfect example of when Odysseus is overcome with fame and can only think for himself. Had he not been so self-centered, he wouldn’t have cost the lives of countless amount of his men later in the

He wants to be remembered for doing unthinkable things, killing the impossible. The gods are seen as such a high power by the Greeks and to give guidance by one is a huge accomplishment. Yet Odysseus still thinks only of fame. Even the goddess realizes this, Odysseus can not even listen to the gods when they tell him to be careful, he is too overcome with greed and fame to care about his own life. Odysseus shows yet another time throughout his journey that he is willing to risk his life and the life of others to be remembered.
Achilles is warned by his mother about what will happen if he goes to Troy to fight.
“If you stay in Larissa, you will find peace. You will find a wonderful woman, and you will have sons and daughters, who will have children. And they'll all love you and remember your name. But when your children are dead, and their children after them, your name will be forgotten... If you go to Troy, glory will be yours. They will write stories about your victories in thousands of years! And the world will remember your name. But if you go to Troy, you will never come back... for your glory walks hand-in-hand with your doom. And I shall never see you again” (Troy). Said by Thetis, Achilles mother.
Even though Achilles was warned by his mother that is he went to Troy he will be remembered, but he will die, he still held his own. There was no price too high to pay for fame,