Hamlet And Odysseus Comparison

Although Homer and Shakespeare lived centuries apart, they both managed to write their own masterpieces that were well ahead of their time. Homer, an ancient Greek writer creates a very intelligent character, Odysseus, who experiences the highs and lows of life and identity formation. Similar to Homer, Early seventeenth-century English playwright, Shakespeare, tailors his main character to have similar attributes to that of Odysseus. Both characters are intelligent, quick witted and natural born leaders, and their creators both focused heavily on their wits and their moral didacticism, which is portrayed throughout both the Odyssey and Hamlet. When creating Odysseus, Homer didn’t leave him without any admirable traits. He was charming, strong,

Like his Greek predecessors, Hamlet also thinks up an elaborate subterfuge, but instead of building a trophy or changing his name he writes a play. That’s right, Hamlet writes a play within a play, to try and read the reaction of Claudius, the man who killed his father. He gets actors to reenact the death of his father, and when it’s shown that he is poisoned Claudius’s reaction is a dead giveaway and Hamlet immediately knows the truth. He knows that Claudius poisoned his father to take over the thrown. Unlike Homer and Odysseus, Shakespeare and Hamlet don’t have such a heroic, happy ending; it is a tragic ending resulting in the death of almost every main character in the play but is finished with Hamlet getting closure on his father’s

Characters in their stories show that they are very loyal and have similar beliefs. Take Penelope for example, She followed through on her promise to Odysseus, when their son was old enough to grow facial hair, she began the process to look for a new husband. Although she didn’t want to she knew it was what she had to do to stay loyal to her husband. Similar to that, the people of Ithaca, a majority of them stayed loyal to their king, even though he was gone for 20 years. They knew better than to just loose hope and forget about him. Just like the people of Ithaca, Hamlet didn’t just forget about his king, and his father. He yearned to figure it out. Most characters in Hamlet are very loyal, Laertes, Hamlet, Horatio, and Fortinbras, all show their loyalty throughout the play. Whether it’s starting an army to avenge their father, or creating a subterfuge, it’s evident that loyalty is a big part of the play. It was this display of loyalty that helped make both stories so timeless and make them still relevant