Violence, it is a part of the Iliad and Odyssey; it is portrayed in nearly all our movies and literature. The numerous battles in the Iliad constantly described the grotesque deaths of warriors. "He brought him down with a glinting jagged rock, massive, top of the heap behind the rampart's edge, no

easy lift for a fghger even in prime strength, working with both hands, weak as men are now." Giant Ajax hoisted it high and hurled it down, crushing the rim of the soldiers four horned helmet and cracked his skull to splinters, a bloody pulp..." 435-443. Violence, the many scenes of war in the Iliad reminded me of the first battle scene of Saving Private Ryan. The extremely violent images of men crying out for their mothers, the intestines spilling out of a man's belly, and the many pictures of bullet wounds. I believe that if Homer had lived in the 20th century, that the battle scenes of the Iliad would resemble those of the many gruesome films and books written in this century. A specific example of senseless violence was during the fall of Troy; Hektors young child was thrown off the high walls of Troy. It obvious that every society throughout time has appreciated virulent violence.

As I read the Odyssey, I could not help but notice the multiples uses of "wondrous magical herbs" and other types of narcotic substances. The first time that I noticed the use of narcotics in the Odyssey, was in the country of the Lotus-Eaters. The inhabitants of this country were nice but somewhat odd. They had a bizarre plant that when eaten by seamen; it would quickly cause memory loss and laziness. In our society, there are countless drugs that effect your memory and our will to survive. Usually the people that are using them are nice but somewhat odd. In the homeland of Circe, many of men were turned into swine by the "magical wand" of Circe. Odysseus survived because he had a mysterious herb called "moly," which he received from Hermes.

Like the Iliad, the Odyssey had many violent and action scenes. Odysseus's encounter with the Cyclopes, Polyphemus, entranced the reader with many cacophonous images. "Up from his gullet, bits of human flesh and wine were gushing: in his drunken sleep, he'd vomited." Pg. 181. Then the description of the blinded of Polyphemus: "and when that stake of olive-wood, though green, it was glowing...and then they clasped the pointed stake, and drove it into his eye, twirling the burning hot point deeper and deeper into the eye." Pg. 181. I could not help it, but when Odysseus returned to Ithaca, it reminded me of a Jerry Springer episode. Near the end of book XVIII, Odysseus is engaged in a verbal argument with Eurymachus; during the argument Eurymachus actually throws a stool at Odysseus! A scene like that has never happened on American TV before. In book XXII, Odysseus kills at least seven men.

There are certain characteristics that are common within every society; including those found within literature and cinema. Our society is constantly changing. The United States society, least resembles the society of the Iliad and Odyssey. T

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1893
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)