Choose a quotation of 4-8 lines from the Iliad and contrast it with the quotation from the Odyssey below to make your own argument about the difference between their perspectives on (1) violence or (2) divine justice or (3) gender or (4) kingship:

"I saw the beautiful Epikaste, Oidipodes’ mother [the mother of Oedipus],

who in the ignorance of her mind had done a monstrous

thing when she married her own son. He killed his father

and married her, but the gods soon made it all known to mortals.

But he, for all his sorrows, in beloved Thebes continued

to be lord over the Kadmeians, all through the bitter designing

of the gods; while she went down to Hades of the gates, the strong one,

knotting a noose and hanging sheer from the high ceiling,

in the constraint of her sorrow, but left to him who survived her

all the sorrows that are brought to pass by a mother’s furies." (Odyssey 11.271-280)

Make sure to incorporate into your argument:

the details of the passages through an analysis of the language

your larger understanding of the texts in which they appear

your ideas about the significance of the theme you choose in the two myths.

Have an introduction with a strong thesis, body paragraphs with analysis, and a conclusion that shows how the analysis proves your thesis.

*USE ONLY RICHMOND LATTIMORE TRANSLATIONS. VERY IMPORTANT.*