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The Odyssey Versus The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Summary: Both Homer's epic The Odyssey and L. Frank Baum's children's storybook The Wonderful Wizard of Oz utilize the theme of home and homecoming. Both Odysseus and Dorothy must overcome many obstacles in order to return to their respective homes, encountering in the process a wide range of supernatural beings. Although both works employ this common theme, they each reflect the times in which they were written; The Odyssey reflected the social and cultural contexts of Homer's time, while The Wonderful Wizard of Oz reflected the political context of the United States of 1900.
Texts and their respective cultural context provide insight into the way values have been maintained and changed, as text and the arts in general has always been a reflection of its society. By looking at two texts that explore the same themes but are set in a different time and context, one can easily see the two society's views on the subject.
The common theme in Homer's epic, The Odyssey and L. Frank Baum's children storybook The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, is the concept of home and homecoming. Both protagonists must overcome many obstacles before they are able to return to their respective homes. The obstacles that stand between Odysseus and Ithaca are caused by the ineptitude of his crew, and also by Odysseus's act of hubris shortly after departing Troy. This concept of gods and heroes was taken literally in ancient Greece where Homer lived. Heroes were...
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This section contains 992 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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