Prompt
Objective: The final essay of this semester will be another iteration of the compare/contrast essay we completed in Week 12. Use the feedback you were given on that writing assignment to further refine your argumentative writing skills as you tackle a similar question. For this compare/contrast exercise, we will be comparing episodes from the Odyssey and the Bible.
1. Compare the Cyclops episode to one of the episodes involving trickery in the Bible (e.g., when the serpent tempts Eve or when Jacob tricks Esau out of his birthright and blessing). How is the attitude towards trickery similar or different in the Bible and the Odyssey?
2. Compare Moses’ relationship with God to Odysseus’ relationship with Athena as it is portrayed in book 13 of the Odyssey. What conclusions can you draw about the way in which divine-human interaction was viewed by the two different cultures that produced these texts?
3. Moses and Odysseus are similar in many ways as heroes and leaders. But they also have striking differences. Compare Moses and Odysseus as leaders and use your comparison to draw conclusions about the essential qualities of leadership in the Bible and in the Odyssey. You will likely want to focus on how each of these men interact with the people they are leading and how they handle disobedience and low morale.