From the undergraduate literature course at MIT: (http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Literature/index.htmcourse)

For a "3 Good Ideas" paragraph:

• Among his other achievements, Odysseus visits Hades, the land of the dead, and returns alive. Here he meets, among others, the specter of Achilles, who could have had a long but obscure life or a brief but glorious one and chose the latter. How would you contrast the two great Homeric heroes, Achilles and Odysseus-the great warrior and the great home-comer?

• How is Odysseus an "Everyman"? In other words, how can his experiences be interpreted as representative of human beings in general?

   

• Why are the answers to Odysseus's questions found in Hades? (Wouldn't you think they were on Mount Olympus?)

   

• Characterize Odysseus's relationship with the gods.

   

• Using Book 11 as evidence, what is the poem's definition of justice?

3 Good Ideas in Response to the first question:

ANSWER THE QUESTION

Although he is dead and cannot benefit from them, Achilles is obsessed with fame and reputation. In contrast, Odysseus is focused on achieving goals and having adventures whether people applaud his deeds or not.

PROVIDE THE EVIDENCE TO SUBSTANTIATE YOUR CLAIM

For all his protestations that he would rather be a living , obscure slave than a dead, famous warrior, Achilles reveals his obsession with glory and honor when he asks Odysseus for news of his father's and son's status in the world of the living.  He must know if Neoptolemos, his son, has made "a name in battle" (491), and if  Peleus, his father, enjoys "rank and honor" (493). When Odysseus assures him that his son is renowned among warriors, he rudely runs off without saying goodbye to his old friend so that he might "glory" in what Odysseus had told him (557). Odysseus does not seek the glory that Achilles craves. He has entered Hades alive, a magnificent feat, but deflects all attempts at praise that his dead friends make. When Achilles gushes in wonder at what "greater feat" (468) Odysseus has planned next now that he has crossed into the realm of the dead, Odysseus almost matter-of-factly explains that he is only there looking for directions.

EVALUATE THE WORK AS A WHOLE IN LIGHT OF YOUR ANALYSIS

We may accuse Odysseus of false modesty-- he is willing to sit up all night and tell his humble tale to the assembled Phaiakians in the court of Alkinoos-- but the contrast between Achilles and Odysseus is clear. The epic suggests that the desire for fame lands you in Hades, dead and pining for the days that are no more. It can also incur the wrath of the gods. All of Odysseus's troubles with Poseidon began because he had to brag to Polyphemus that it was a mere mortal who had fooled him. The godswhoe rule the universe of the poem-- some of them, at least-- prefer deeds over reputation.