Comparing The Odyssey, Theogony, Works And Days, And The Symposium

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Reading works like the Odyssey, Theogony, Works and Days, and the Symposium will allow students to look at the world in a different perspective. By reading about how the characters went through life in these works, students can learn life lessons they can use to better their own life. If the students were required to read one of the works, they should be required to read the Odyssey for the lessons it teaches students that can be applied to their lives. Many students are looking for the right person to start a relationship with. The Odyssey teaches students how to find a good and desirable partner and what a good relationship looks like. After reading about Odysseus and his interactions with Nausicaa and Calypso, readers learn that he wants homophrosyne, similar beliefs or common way of thinking and mortality; he doesn’t want immortality and physical beauty (6.12). This shows students that they should not just look at the physical beauty but look at personalities because in the end, people would want to be with someone who has a great …show more content…

In the Odyssey, the relationship between Telemachus is a perfect representation of the right relationship. When Telemachus meets his father, “the son and father let their sad tears fall” (16.323). This shows their affection and respect for each other. The Theogony is a work that gives examples of how a relationship between a father and son should not be. For example, Ouranos stuffs his children back into earth and “did not let them reach light” because he was scared that his kids will be more powerful than him (Theogony 155). This example shows students the kind of parents they should not when they grow up. Parents should always want their kids to be better than them and help them achieve greater things, like how Odysseus feels about Telemachus especially when he sees Telemachus handle the