Comparing Veasey In The Odyssey And Cold Mountain

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Odysseus’s crew and Veasey both have parallels when comparing the stories of The Odyssey and Cold Mountain; the two accompany the stories’ respective heroes and serve as hindrances despite good intentions. Additionally, both serve as subordinates, Veasey venturing wherever Inman dared go and the crewing being under the command of Odysseus. As the story progresses, it is apparent that the crew and Veasey do more harm than good to their respective protagonists. Both the crew of Odysseus and Veasey are hypocritical in their tendencies, claiming to fight for righteousness yet blatantly insulting the very gods they follow. In the Greek culture, it was considered suicide to even insult a god and the crew was clearly praying for a safe passage home. Despite this, they give in to their hunger, forgoing fasting for the prime cattle of the gods themselves. In parallel, Veasey is also a man of religion, yet as a priest, he is even more tightly bound to the laws of his god. Despite his apparent duties, Veasey is frequently shown to hedonistically over-indulge as well as greedily steal from those who deserve better than he, claiming that “the Good Lord is very flexible on the subject.” Both the crew of Odysseus and Veasey are slain by the end of the book. The two fall to the main antagonists of their …show more content…

Everything which Odysseus encounters is something which he could have handled solo. Polyphemus left Odysseus with the task of handling several men in addition to himself. Also, Odysseus is made to backtrack by his crew, including traveling all the way back to Circe’s island to clean up after someone who slipped up. On the other hand, Inman is constantly put at risk by Veasey’s actions throughout their journey as he consistently breaks the law whenever an opportunity to do so offers benefits to the greedy