What Is The Greek Sacrifice In The Odyssey

The Iliad and The Odyssey tell the story of a man, Ulysses or Odysseus, fighting in the Trojan War and making his way home. Throughout the stories, Odysseus and other characters face many challenges that illustrate Greek values. Within the stories of The Iliad and The Odyssey, the Greek poet Homer displays many Greek values, but the most important of which are honoring the gods, following prophecy, and vengeance motivated by loyalty. During the story of Odysseus, the Greek value of honoring the gods is displayed very prominently. Even before the stories begin, the Greeks honor the gods through an invocation, or a request for help to tell the story. The invocation shows the importance of the gods in every Greek activity. It asks for help

Achilles is a great example of how important prophecy is to the Greeks. When Achilles was born, his mother was told a prophecy that stated he would die young and in battle, so when it came time for him to fight in the Trojan War, his mother feared he would be killed and hid him away on a island, disguised as a princess. Before the war began, Achilles had made a promise to Helen’s father that if she were ever kidnapped he would fight on her behalf, but their belief in prophecy was so strong that Achilles was willing to disregard his promise to Tyndareus, Helen’s father. Polyphemus demonstrates the Greeks belief in prophecy as well. Polyphemus is Poseidon's Cyclops son, who was blinded by Odysseus. After Odysseus had escaped Polyphemus’ cave he became arrogant and stopped being careful not to reveal his identity,y Odysseus shouts after Polyphemus to tell people that it was Odysseus that blinded him, to which Polyphemus then responded to him by telling about the prophecy. Polyphemus states that the prophecy tells about a man named Odysseus would come and blind him. The Greek belief in prophecy is so strong that Polyphemus never doubted that a man named Odysseus would come until Odysseus told Polyphemus that his name was Nobody. Until, Odysseus’ true identity was revealed did Polyphemus once again have faith in the prophecy. Another example of the importance of prophecy in The Iliad is the prophecy of Paris.

An illustration of this idea is shown when Achilles kills Hector to avenge Patroclus. Patroclus was Achilles’ friend who Achilles was extremely fond of. During the Trojan war Achilles quarrelled with King Agamemnon and refused to fight, but out of honor to his country Patroclus wanted to fight and during the battle was slain. Achilles was very loyal to Patroclus, and so felt obligated to avenge Patroclus’ death by killing his killer, Hector. After the news of his friend’s death, Achilles is heartbroken and no longer gives priority to his dispute with Agemmenon as stated by Achilles,“but I also well know that I sent my friend to his death, and I, the best in battle of all the Greeks could not help him . . . so to cause the death of my dearest friend. What does my fate matter now? Let it come when it may, but let me first have my vengeance upon Hector”(Russell, Book 5, Pg. 180). In this quote, immense guilt is shown by Achilles. He let his argument with Agamemnon distract him from his priorities causing him to allow his friend to fight in place of him and die. Even though he was aware of his fate, Achilles did not care and thought it more important to avenge his friend in order to show his loyalty, and decided it was more important to prove his loyalty than to live. Another example of vengeance motivated by loyalty to a person was demonstrated by Poseidon