Free Essays on Homers Odyssey: Religion and Death :: Homer Odyssey Essays

Religion and Death in Homer's Odyssey      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   How does the Ancient Greek beliefs of religion and death differ with the view of other cultural groups?   Death, the way it is represented in Homer's book, The Odyssey, is always caused by human error.   Whether their death was caused by greed, selfishness, or just being curious, many people died in The Odyssey.   Still, the question of what happens after we die remains.   Many religions have different beliefs of religious ideas from the Ancient Greeks.   Afterlife, is a belief where the comparisons among religions become extremely close. The Greek beliefs of gods and death are different from the modern day beliefs of other religions such as Judaism and Ancient Egyptian beliefs.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For example,   The Odyssey begins with a scene containing a conversation among the gods.   The goddess Athena, goddess of war and wisdom, is discussing the matter of Odysseus with Zeus, the head god and god of sky (Homer 10).   Of course these are not the only Greek gods and goddesses. Other examples of Greek gods and goddesses are Apollo, god of music, poetry, medicine, archery, and young unmarried men and Hestes, goddess of the home. As you can see, the Greeks believed in many gods unlike the people of the Jewish fate who believed in one god.   The Jewish god does not have an emblem that which it is represented by.   The belief is that the god is represented by everything.   For example, members of the Jewish religion believe god is everywhere, in everything, and represented by everything they do.   Another example of the religious differences is how Ancient Egyptians believed in idol gods which are gods represented in statues. Ancient Greek beliefs are different from those of other societies because of differences between how gods are represented in Judaism and Ancient Egyptian beliefs.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Equally important are the Ancient Greek views of death.   Death caused by human error is widespread throughout the book.   Human error is encountered in each one of Odysseus's adventures on his return home.   The Kyklopes represented the greediness, selfishness, and uncilvilization of Odysseus's men.   Odysseus fell asleep and his men unleashed a bag of bad winds, throwing them off path (Homer 315).   Skylla and Kharybdis was a representation of death from nature when Odysseus's men stopped rowing and six of the men were killed.