Achilles and Odysseuses' Self-sufficiency - Essay Example

Affiliation: Compare the figure of Achilles with Odysseus in light of this ment: Aristotle said "that the man, who is incapable of working in common, is no part of the community, like a beast or a god". The self sufficiency may be explained as reducing one's needs to the level of procuring all by self. Secondly, you may have many needs and fulfill these with the help of others. The most important attribute of Aristotle's self -sufficiency is happiness. The man who does not need friends is not self- sufficient rather the one who needs friends and have them is self sufficient. A community is necessary to fulfill moral needs of a man (Gerson 73). The self sufficiency is fulfilled by (1) one has the abilities to procure needed resources; (2) one does not need resource so large as to require help from others; and (3) one does not need any amount whatsoever of those resources, like political power or friendship, which naturally require others. Because Aristotle associates the sufficiency of 2& 3 with the state or community, the self sufficiency through state may be called as 'political self-sufficiency' and that is the focus of Aristotle's discourse (Brown 5-6). The virtues and ultimate good are promoted by the state when man lives in the polis, the city. Human is a political animal and the man who lives away from polis or does not need the city is either the worst sort of animal or a super- human, the god. The power of speech indicates that human are not self sufficient since they can express pleasure or pain and concept of justice and injustice clearly shows that human are political animals (Marietta, 127). The present article intends to compare personalities of Achilles and Odysseus in the light of Aristotle's concept of self- sufficiency. The portrayal of Achilles and Odysseus is a presentation of bie ( wild force) and metis (tact or cleverness). Homer, though pays honor to Achilles which is deserved by his greatness yet in the end the intelligence and endurance of Odysseus triumphs (Clay 96). When we first meet Odysseus, he is sitting on the seashore, desolately lamenting for his island home Ithaca and his wife Penelope. His longing is for society, his city and domesticity. However, after rejecting the public assembly and throwing the scepter on the floor, Achilles also sits by himself on the seashore with tears in his eyes and waiting for his mother Thetis. The goddess comes and promises to intervene with Zeus for him against Agamemnon. This scene shows Achilles' obsessive and lonely nature, self-imposed isolation from his society instead he seeks godly intervention through his mother. Such a contrast in the warriors' character is evident throughout the Homer's epics (Abad 3). After the death of Patroclus, his dear friend, Achilles admits that despite his supremacy in war others are better than him. These 'others' certainly included Odysseus. He is less elegant and hungry for glory but at the same time more practical and less impetuous. In Iliad, Odysseus is entrusted with the task to return chrysies to her father; he saves the day when Agamemnon's catastrophic test of morals misfires. Besides, his good qualities, he also possesses great rhetoric skills (Homer and Rutherford 16). Just before the war the assembled Greeks were having a feast on Tenedos. But Achilles was invited last. An argument took place between Agamemnon and Achilles. Odysseus tried to shift his attention from quarrel but Achilles announced returning back to home (Clay 99). It shows ability of Odysseus to resolve issues through dialogue while Achilles was reluctant to make use of that exclusive gift to man, the speech. At this Odysseus accused him of cowardice and harsh words were exchanged between them. Achilles did not need either the society or the reason as a social human would do. Achilles obsession with war and revenge is his most destructive side which is prominently depicted in Iliad. Odysseus urges Achilles to have breakfast and let the army eat too before seeking vengeance on Hector. Odysseus also insists on Achilles to accept the Agamemnon's offer to reconcile. Odysseus again shows rational and calculated persona compared to unrepressed passion for war of Achilles. In odyssey, his hearty appetite and happiness on receiving gifts is frequently narrated which is a contrast to Achilles grief stricken fasting (Homer and Rutherford 17). There appears some antagonism between the two since Achilles is irritated at Odysseus' cleverness and ridiculed him saying 'I hate the man who hides one thing in his heart and says another'. Achilles is not alone in despising Odysseus' cleverness though (Homer and Rutherford 18). The comparison between Achilles and Odysseus shows greatness and glory of a warrior destined to early death while continued existence and wisdom of successful strategist and conspirator who survives all odds and wins through in the end (Homer and Rutherford 23). Achilles is heroic, Odysseus more like other men; he has human attachments for food, family and all worldly comforts while Achilles seems away from such desires. He is unmarried and alone in the world; his mother is a sea goddess while his father Peleus is far away. About his son Neoptolemus, he is not aware whether he is alive or dead; as to the young woman Briseis, his war trophy taken away by Agamemnon, he said "I wish she had died before she caused our quarrel." Achilles is unconcerned with worldly possessions (Abad 5). However, Achilles feels sorry after his death as he grieves for his father and son. He expresses, to Odysseus, his desire to be alive again and live a life even if it is without glory rather than being a king to the dead (Homer and Rutherford 25).Through the repentance by the ghost of Achilles, Homer has reasserted absolute need for state to meaningful living. Odyssey and Iliad are opposite kind of epics. Achilles chose a glorious death while Odysseus a mortal life after declining the offer of immortality made by Calypso. Achilles' story depicts him a man increasingly isolated from society. Even after the end of wrath, he sits and dines apart from rest of the hosts. Odysseus unites with his wife, family and kingdom is restored to peace and order. Place changes to domestic and civic (Homer and Rutherford 26). The two lives are opposite; one fighting for reinstating community while other for a quicksilver glory as warrior. Aristotle's concept of self -sufficiency could be applied well to the two warriors' persona. Achilles concern for his father, devotion to his mother and love for his friend is godly while the obsession with brutal war, to the extent of mutilating dead Hector's body, is beastly. Odysseus presents a perfectly social and political man's persona. . Work cited Abad, Gemino. "Iliad and Odyssey: Arte and Tim". October 2003. Singapore Management University, 1 Apr 2009 Brown, Eric. "Aristotle on the choice of lives: Two concepts of self-sufficiency". Apr 1, 2009. http://artsci.wustl.edu/eabrown/brownautarkeia.pdf. Clay, Jenny Strauss. The wrath of Athena: gods and men in the Odyssey. Rowman & Littlefield, 1997 Gerson, Lloyd P. Aristotle: Politics, rhetoric and aesthetics. Taylor & Francis, 1999 Homer and R. B. Rutherford. Odyssey. Cambridge University Press, 1992 Marietta, Don E. Introduction to ancient philosophy. M.E. Sharpe, 1998 Read More