Forrest’s momma always told him, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” In life you never know what to expect. You don’t know when something might happen, how something will going to happen, or why anything happens.Like a box of chocolates life can be random, and the decisions you make will ultimately decide what you get. In The Odyssey and Forrest Gump, the protagonists had a purpose that led every decision they made; this shows the both were epic.

For a story to be an epic it must have certain characteristics. An invocation to muse or a statement of theme happens to be one of these characteristics. In the Odyssey, Odysseus’ muse happened to be Athena. She guided Odysseus throughout his long journey home. In Forrest Gump, Forrest’s mom plays the significant role of his muse. Forrest’s mom guided him throughout his difficult childhood and most of his adult life as well. He said that she always had a way of saying things so that he could understand them. “Momma always said, Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get.” For a story to be an epic, it must also begin “in medias res” (in the middle) The Odyssey begins when a man finds Odysseus washed up on a beach. Odysseus has been missing for 10 years and he flashes back and tells what happened on his journey up to that point. Forrest Gump starts with Forrest at a bus stop, waiting to go see his Jenny. He flashes back and starts telling the story from the