Theme Of Justice In The Odyssey

The Odyssey is most like The Count of Monte Cristo because of the prominent and recurring themes of nobility, justice, and virtue. Edmond Dantes, a man driven and utterly changed by his insatiable thirst for revenge, which is his perceived justice, is easily comparable to the noble and great Odysseus, who takes down over a hundred mooching suitors who have tried to woo his wife. Both instances can induce many unanswerable questions, such as: “is this revenge?”. “is revenge the same as justice?”, “at what point does justice become revenge?”, and so forth. Charlotte Brönte’s Jane Eyre poses the same questions.

One of the most well-known texts concerning the concepts of justice and virtue is the work of Plato. Plato’s Meno is one of the

“a socially or politically privileged class whose titles are conferred by descent or by royal decree; the state or quality of being morally or spiritually good; dignity: the nobility of his mind” (Collins English Dictionary, nobility). The nobles of a society are usually treated with the utmost respect, are well-known, and are idolized by the public. Odysseus is well-known in his city, and has an incredibly loving and faithful wife who willingly waited for him. By this definition, he is noble, even without his godlike strength and

He wept as he held his lovely wife, whose thoughts were virtuous. And as when the land appears welcome to men who are swimming, after Poseidon has smashed their strong-built ship on the open water, pounding it with the weight of wind and the heavy seas, and only a few escape the gray water landward by swimming, with a thick scurf of salt coated upon them, and gladly they set foot on the shore, escaping the evil; so welcome was her husband to her as she looked upon him, and she could not let him go from the embrace of her white arms” (Homer, Book 23, lines 231-240).

In this quote, Odysseus and Penelope have met again, and are glad to be in each other’s arms again. This quote displays the sheer love and loyalty that exists in their relationship; in a sense, the ability to have this kind of connection with anyone must be a type of nobility. For a high-class, young, attractive woman like Penelope, she could have easily married one of the suitors while Odysseus was away. However, she did not, which means Odysseus must have had something special with her, something that would not enable her to leave