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Influence of The Odyssey on Later Epic Works

The Odyssey is a text that has the capacity to fascinate scholars from both literary and academic fields alike. It is the rare case of a text over 2,500 years old which has the power to illustrate at least a basic view of daily life in the culture where it originates, and yet it combines that with heartbreaking drama, interesting characters, and epic scenery. Today, fantasy works of all genres (from epic to high to low to dark) have seen some influence from epics such as the Odyssey. But it is the Odyssey itself which truly shows the most influence in the Western canon.

The Odyssey is certainly not the first work to exhibit the "Hero's Journey" archetype (*cough* the Epic of Gilgamesh *cough*) but, unlike the aforementioned Mesopotamian work, the Odyssey exhibits more of a traditional Western fantasy story where one hero and his allies face extraordinary odds instead of a villain teaming up with a hero to kill a monster, which is shown in Gilgamesh.

Today, the Odyssey, to those familiar with fantasy literature, may seem familiar but different. For example, we have the sterotypical strong hero, but, rather than coming from poor, humble beginnings like in a lot of literature today, he was already king. This is only a major of one of the many differences the Odyssey presents itself to us today, but there is certainly no denying the influence of one of the earliest and most awe-inspiring of Weatern literature.


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