Mikey Koenig

Mr. Palcsey

Honors English 10-5

Dec 21, 2017

Personal Journey

The subject of journey is the common ground of every thematic element offered and

examined in the Greek epic, The Odyssey, and the cinematography, Gladiator. Homer

successfully captures the journey taken by the Greek hero, Odysseus, while the director of

Gladiator, Ridley Scott, portrays his main character, Maximus, as a gladiator who must fight his

way back to freedom and family. As both Maximus and Odysseus find throughout their own

personal odysseys, family is the root of happiness, home is the source of contentment, and not

one dream is out of reach with just a little bloodshed.

Maximus is an ex-general for the Roman Army. After the death of the emperor, Marcus

Aurelius, Maximus is next for the throne. Marcus’s son Commodus becomes the main

protagonist after sentencing Maximus to death. After escaping death secretly, Maximus journeys

home to find his family, scourged and hanged by Commodus’ men. Although Maximus never

sees his family alive, he dedicates himself to traveling home to see his family, much like

Odysseus does in The Odyssey. Odysseus travels home and finds his home perpetrated by the

suitors, many of whom seek to steal his wife and his fortune.

Odysseus spends the final portion of The Odyssey seeking revenge on the suitors, even

after he gets home. After Maximus’ homecoming, he is captured by tribesmen who work for
Rome who take him back to Africa where he fights as a gladiator in hopes to earn freedom and

revenge on Commodus. Both characters truly believe that revenge is the only way that they will

find an end to their troubles, as well as the only way they can symbolize their return and

effectively put an end to a long personal journey home. A major theme throughout The Odyssey

is the importance of home and how true happiness can be obtained through the relationship

between a man and his family. After Maximus loses his family, he is forced to turn violent to

survive. Odysseus must violently take out the suitors he has deemed as his enemies to take

control of his home, which is one that he has been away from for twenty years. Both characters

seek their home and comfort constantly throughout the plots of their own personal journeys.

Maximus and Odysseus are both extremely successful military generals who have led

massive attacks and masterminded magnificent victories on the battlefield. It is second nature

for both to turn to violence to solve their problems. Odysseus has a large problem that is putting

his family and his fortune on the line, while Maximus lost his family and now needs to murder

the main antagonist, Commodus, to fulfill his desires of revenge. Odysseus is a character who

seeks the destruction of all the suitors, particularly Antinous. Antinous has been the ring leader

of the suitors and was in the lead to steal Penelope before Odysseus comes back and shoots him

in the neck with his bow, and then following that up with the brutal murder of up to two hundred

suitors. Maximus turns his blood-thirsty desires into reality when he fights as a gladiator in the

arenas, murdering many barbaric foes as he journeys back to Rome to kill Commodus.

In the end of Gladiator, Maximus loses his own life after carrying out his revenge

and murdering Commodus. Just before he dies he sees his family again, as they were murdered

at the hands of his enemy, Commodus. Odysseus returns home and seeks to kill all the suitors,

which is how he will find peace with his family. After his commitment to murdering every one
of them with the help of Athena and Zeus, he is reunited with his family. As both characters

carry out their plans of revenge, they find peace in knowing that their enemies can no longer

torment them, and their families are there to stay.

Mention main protagonists Ant and Commodus

Story of homecoming for both