Similarities Between Odysseus And Martin Luther King Jr

During ancient Greek times, heroes were considered people who did something extremely epic and courageous, such as the journey of Odysseus. In today’s day and age, anyone can be a hero. Martin Luther King Jr may not have defeated real life monsters and fought an epic battle, but he did go on journey to reach his goal of living in a world where all people are equal. Both Odysseus, from The Odyssey by Homer, and Martin Luther King Jr, a civil rights activist, go on similar journeys of a hero to achieve their own goals. They each must defeat different monsters, both literally and figuratively, in order to obtain their goals. Although they may seem quite different at first glance, there are many similarities between the two. These two characters,

Odysseus says, “Here, Cyclops, take this wine and drink after your feats of human flesh” (Homer 529). By having Polyphemus drink the wine, he can set out on his plan of escape and trick him

Odysseus went into this battle knowing that in order for himself to survive he had to sacrifice six of his men, one for each of Scylla’s heads. Although it may seem as though Odysseus only cares for himself, it shows that all heroes must go through sacrifice. By letting six of his men die, he and the rest of his men are able to live. Odysseus says, “That sight was the saddest of all sights my eyes have ever seen, while through sore trials I wandered the sea’s ways” (Homer 538). This just further proves that having six of his men die is not ideal, but is necessary for him and his men to move further along on their journey. While Odysseus decides to sacrifice his own men, Martin Luther King Jr only ever sacrificed himself. He decided to be the one to speak out about rights for African Americans and brought all of this to the attention of the public. Just like Scylla, the people of the public can be merciless and King expressed hero like qualities when he sacrificed his own comfort and safety for the greater good. Odysseus defeats Scylla because of sacrifice and King defeats the racists of the public by