Similarities Between The Odyssey And The Most Dangerous Game

Trapped against their foes, fighting to survive. The common problems while trying to fight for your life. In the book The Odyssey by Homer, the main character Odysseus has just began to return home from Troy after fighting in the Trojan war. During his journey home he experiences many impeding steps, For example a cyclops battle, being trapped with the goddess Circe’s on her island, and being trapped with Calypso. In “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, Rainsford, the protagonist in the story, gets stranded on an island and is hunted by the antagonist General Zaroff. General Zaroff’s hunting sport is the hunting of Humans in the story. In both stories the main characters have to fight to survive against their foes. In the Odyssey

He has to overcome his foes and his environment. In the cavern with the cyclops, Odysseus must fight to survive. He and his men have to use wit and strategy to escape the cave. After the first attack on his men Odysseus knew he would need to develop a plan to survive. Odysseus and his men are put in danger as they encounter their foe:“Neither reply nor pity came from him, but in one stride he clutched at my companions and caught two in his hands like squirming puppies to beat their brains out, spattering the floor” (Homer 903). This is an example of one of the major problems on Odysseus’ journey. He is always losing his men in battles. This doesn’t help him at all his manpower slowly dwindles down until just him remains. In the encounter with the Sirens Odysseus had to listen to Circe’s warning so he wouldn’t be lured by their song. Odysseus took the advice of Circe for his encounter with the Sirens:“ I carved a massive cake of beeswax into bits, rolling them out I then went down the line and covered the men’s ears heavily” (Homer 933). This text shows that Odysseus can be humble and accept that he needs to listen to survive and he alone can not keep his whole crew alive. Odysseus tends to use his own wit and skills to survive not needing others help, but sometimes he does need to take others advice to

When Rainsford used various traps to outwit General Zaroff in “The Most Dangerous Game” he was using his prior knowledge to outwit Zaroff . General Zaroff was so focused on hunting Rainsford, he triggered the trap Rainsford set: “So intent was the cossack on stalking that he saw it. His foot touched the protruding bough that was the trigger...the cut living tree, crashed down and struck the general a glancing blow on the shoulder as it fell...He staggered but did not fall”(Homer 54). This example shows that Rainsford had to use his wit and mind to survive and out play his foe. Towards the end of the story Rainsford escapes by jumping off a cliff into the ocean to get away from General Zaroff. Rainsford escapes the island in a very clever way: “He reached it. It was the shore of the sea ...Twenty feet below him the sea rumbled and hissed. He heard the hounds, then he leaped out into the sea…”(Connell 57). Both Odysseus and Rainsford devised good plans to escape from their captors who were trying to kill them. Rainsford used his prior knowledge of hunting and traps to outwit and beat General Zaroff at his own