Heroism In The Odyssey

Movies, which show more and tell less, allow potential heroes to prove their heroism with actions and not words. Each movie that we watched for class showed heroism in a different way, much like the ancient Greek and Roman poems told about heroism in a different way. Partially a product of their time, each movie approached a World War in a way that reflected the values of their time, much like how Odysseus’s cunning was praised by the Greeks and condemned by the Romans. However, I think that the sequence of movies matches up quite nicely with the sequence of poems. Comparing The Grand Illusion to the Iliad, Saving Private Ryan to the Aeneid, and Inglourious Basterds to the Odyssey brings out contrasts, like the definition of heroism, between
The main characters are a group of Frenchmen, who are prisoners of war in German camp, but a German nobleman, who has the additional role of officer, also plays a significant role in the plot, in a positive way. The Iliad paints both sides of the Trojan War in a positive light, too. Both Hector and Achilles are heroes that the reader can like. This is the way The Grand Illusion most deviates from the other movies: making both sides of the conflict relatable and even likeable, much like the Iliad. Both the poem and the movie show that heroism is subjective to what side you stand on. Obviously this movie has the backdrop for that; no-one wants to paint Hitler or Nazis in a heroic light (except neo-Nazis, but that’s a different bag). In The Grand Illusion, we can see the heroic value of the Germans when they inspect packages sent along to the French prisoners, and although they are hungry and not eating well, they do not take the packages for themselves (11:39). The Frenchmen’s heroism is introduced when they share their food, at first, and then their plans for escape, after learning in the newcomers are worth trusting. This is much different than other war and action movies, where one side is right, with its group of heroes, and the other is wrong, at all