Punishment in the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Hebrew Bible

Not everyone has the same idea in mind about punishment, and nor did other countries from other times. The following books: The Iliad, The Odyssey, and The Hebrew Bible, entitling instances of cheating, kidnapping and murder, insulting and their punishment. Very rarely would you get away with something unseen because the Gods saw everything, and they could do just about anything known on earth to mankind or even to each other. Anything was punishable whatever time ear it was, and the Gods would cease the chance to take seeked revenge upon another. In many of the Greek based books, there was a lot of cheating going on.

In the Hebrew Bible, there are severe punishments for cheating. In book I of The Iliad, Agamemnon had stated: “the daughter of Chryses. I have set my heart on keeping her in my own house, for I love her better even than my own wife Clytemnestra, whose peer she is alike in form and feature, in understanding and accomplishments. ” In this statement, Agamemnon rathers Breisis, over his very wife because she is similar in looks, therefore would cheat instead of going back to his wife over some foolish love for a girl! Within the Odyssey, book III, one example is about how Nestor explains to Telemachus, – “… ut we were over there, fighting hard at Troy, and Aegisthus who was taking his ease quietly in the heart of Argos, cajoled (consoled? ) Agamemnon’s wife Clytemnestra with incessant flattery. ” In the Hebrew bible, it states, Leviticus 20:10 “If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife–with the wife of his neighbor–both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. ” So if caught cheating, followed by what the Hebrew bible says to do, you will be put to death. So if you are the one putting someone to death for adultery, doesn’t that make you the murder?

To take away a living being’s life? Throughout the Iliad and the Odyssey, there are many points where women are given as prizes. So if the women are given as a prize, is it counted as cheating? In the Iliad, punishment to Agamemnon’s adulterous wife, Agamemnon kills her. In the Odyssey, Clytemnestra tries to take her love, Aegisthus for revenge. Soon enough, he is also put to the death, and she as well. In the Hebrew bible, one quote that represents well is Deuteronomy 22:22 “If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die.

You must purge the evil from Israel. So the average punishment for adultery, or cheating, was the death penalty. Kidnapping was also a big theme in the Iliad, in which Breisis, daughter of the priest Apollo, was kidnapped by Agamemnon, whom professes his love for her and does not want to give her up for life itself. Helen to was kidnapped by Paris, in order to fulfill their love, but making things worse. In the Odyssey, Persephone is kidnapped by Hades, and brought to the underworld six months of the year. s Exodus 21:16: “Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death. ” So is there a pattern for death at this time back then? Yes, indeed! In the Iliad, many people like Ajax the greater and Ajax the lesser and Agamemnon both insult Achilles for not fighting, but then Achilles also takes his prize of Breisis. Being insulted was part of the shame culture and many of the men would rather die than shame their village or family. In the Odyssey, book XVIII, Cached – SimilarYou +1’d this publicly.

Undo after suffering enough insults from the servant-girl: Melantho, Odysseus is taunted by Eurymachus, who also hurls a footstool, though missing. Insulting could get charges put on them. When you have insulted someone, due to what the Hebrew bible says, they are to be stoned to the death, even for the first offense. Punishment pretty well was all the same in the Hebrew bible, with even the first violation being stoned to death, but also anything that may not even be a violation tied together with another one. They all come out with the same outcome of death, usually stoning.

In the Iliad, many of the punishments too were death, and so to also in the Odyssey. Between these three books, they had just a different timing on things. Now days with cheating or adultery, it is taken pretty well lightly. Kidnapping is still yet not light, but it is taken more serious to find the kidnapped. Insults even now these days doesn’t compare with how minor they may be to any of these books, because they were not taken lightly, but in today’s society, things like that are okay. This is my essay over punishment and the comparison between The Iliad, The Odyssey, and the Hebrew Bible. ttp://messagenetcommresearch. com/myths/bios/pose http://www. fjkluth. com/clytem. html idon. html http://books. google. com/books? id=qdDrwupM0dUC&pg=PA72&lpg=PA72&dq=where+is+there+kidnapping+in+the+odyssey? &source=bl&ots=oaVyOz5jgk&sig=3tsZ-Meye2UftnfMoDMQoMCZYAk&hl=en&ei=14qSToj5MOHJsQLu7Y2LAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false http://www. twopaths. com/faq_CapitalPunishment. htm http://ancienthistory. about. com/cs/troyilium/a/helenoftroybasc_2. htm