Essay Comparing The Odyssey And Sundiata

447 Words2 Pages

Sundiata and The Odyssey are two out of the many great great orally told tales in all of mankind history. In writing, comparing your work to another similar text is extremely important for making your paper understandable to any audience. In this case, I will be comparing the two similar texts, The Odyssey and Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali. Both of these two tables show the characters, Sundiata and Odysseus, long quests of pursuing and accomplishing a certain objective. To reach their goal, both characters encounter obstacles and enemies who want to stop them on their prolonged journey. Another item that is extremely important in both stories is the use and importance of fate. Both characters rely on their fates for assistance and for achieving …show more content…

In ancient times, for instance, people would gather around and orally create stories, which would eventually be written into book form. Another custom that is shown in both texts is the use of hospitality. Hospitality has been a major theme in most pieces of literature because it agrees that good always wins over evil, which is very clear in these stories. For example, the author Homer shows Odysseus as the essence of goodness in The Odyssey and portrays the suitors as the defeated evil doers. As for the Epic of Old Mali, sorcery is seen from Sundiata and the Sorcerer king, but the contrast is that Sundiata uses magic to help him win over Soumaoro, who uses his magic for evil and manipulative purposes. It is safe to say that The Odyssey and the Epic of Sundiata both embraced a rather comparable culture in their own original times. These characters are not only similar in their own texts, but are alike in their personality. Their courage and determination are what really make them stand out from other ordinary characters. Both Odysseus and Sundiata define what it takes to be a true hero and why doing the right thing leads to a good path. Their cunning, yet harmless tactics get them to their final destination and save the day. The characters in any story are the main parts of the story that engage the readers with the uniqueness

Open Document