Homer's Odyssey: Helen On The Wall

Homer’s Odyssey: Helen on the Wall & Hector and Andromache Greek mythology is still a widely studied and important subject in today’s society. For many years, Greek myths were passed down orally from generation to generation. These myths are stories with a purpose and reason that serve as an explanation for why certain things occur throughout history. For our presentation, we explored the topic of Homer’s Odyssey. The Odyssey deals with a very important time in Greek history, the time of the Trojan War. It recounts the story of war heroes and the beginning of the war. Through this myth, we learned that the Trojan War began because of a disagreement between the goddesses; Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite. Zeus sent the goddesses to Paris, where

For example, Helen on the Wall explores how one woman was able to bring so much violence and discord upon men. This reminded us greatly of the story of Pandora. When Prometheus stole fire from heaven, Zeus took revenge on him by giving Pandora to Prometheus' brother, Epimetheus. Zeus gave Pandora a jar and told her she was not to open it. However, Pandora became curious and opened the jar. By opening the jar, she realized all evil and the only thing that remained was hope. We connected the two stories because the women in both stories caused great suffering for mankind in their own way. Through the story of Hector and Andromache we are presented with this ideal of what a great hero should be like. A great hero should leave everything he loves behind and fight for his honor. During that time, most men chose to die an honorable death in war than to hide and be looked at as a coward. They would give up their life and family, just as Hector did to die an honorable and respected man. These were values that were taught to men throughout Greek history. It was their duty to make an honorable name for themselves, even if it meant they had to die for it. These ideas are reoccurring throughout history and throughout Greek myth. These stories are important because they help us understand many important events that have occurred throughout history and they help us understand some of the beliefs that were associated with Greek culture at the