Indiana Jones And Odysseus Comparison

Indiana Jones is most like the epic hero Odysseus of The Odyssey. The four epic heroes we have studied in class are completely different in the way that they go about their journeys and trials. Though, despite these drastic differences, all share at least one character trait with Indiana Jones, whether it be a search for balance between good and evil, a drive to finish what has been started, a more human nature, or meeting opposition along the way. However, it is Odysseus that most closely resembles Jones in both character and motivation.
The epic hero Beowulf lived up to his title in seemingly every way possible. He was an incredibly strong and undefeated hero who travelled in search of challenges to conquer and monsters to defeat. He shares
one commonality with Indiana Jones, which is the fact that during their journeys they both witness a struggle in the balance between so called good and evil. For example, Beowulf’s goal was to defeat Grendel, the evil of his story, who threatened the Danes, the good of the story. Indiana Jones also dealt with a conflict between evil, the Nazi’s in his case, and good, the archaeologists who wished to see The Ark placed into the right hands. This similarity is worth recognizing, though there are major differences between the two men as well. For example, when fighting against Grendel the monster, Beowulf stated that he would fight with his hands only. He believed that fighting with weapons would injure his pride. This was almost the complete opposite opinion to that of Indiana Jones. Jones was very aware of his weaknesses. He admitted to them and worked around them by often taking the easier alternatives that presented themselves to him. For example, while Jones was chasing after Marion in Egypt he was confronted by a masked man who wanted to fight him. Had it been Beowulf, he most likely would have put off his chase in order to fight the masked man in a hand to hand battle; however, Jones saw a quick end to the conflict and ended up shooting the masked man rather than take the time to fight. This difference in their fundamental nature is why Jones is more closely related to Odysseus rather than Beowulf.
Another hero that can be compared to Indiana Jones, but isn’t the most similar, is Aeneas of The Aeneid.
Aeneas and Jones were both extremely dedicated to their goals. Aeneas continued to lead his people forward and toward their destinies despite many setbacks, such as the attack from the Trojan horse and the death of his wife. Jones was committed to finding The Ark despite the competitors and snakes, which he feared greatly, in his way. Though, despite this similar dedication, the two men had drastically different outlooks on their lots in life. Aeneas was reluctant to continue his journey; in fact, he truly only kept moving forward because of his sense of duty to his people and country and because he felt as if he couldn’t escape his fate. Indiana Jones was the complete opposite, he loved his work and found enjoyment in traveling the world in search of rare artifacts. His search for The Ark was driven partially by his sense of responsibility to keep The Ark from falling into the wrong hands, but it was mostly driven by his own desire to go after the legendary artifact. Jones was passionate about his mission and this key difference keeps him from being the most similar to
Aeneas.
The third hero that can be compared to Indiana Jones is Sir Tristram from Le Morte d’Arthur.
Tristram is similar to Jones in the way that they are both very human heroes. In Tristram’s case, he was an amazing knight that defeated countless other knights who overlooked him, but that didn’t give him a large ego. Tristram was very aware that he was not invincible, he didn’t win every fight, and he was emotional enough to fall in love. Jones was similar to Tristram in these ways; he too was aware of his mortality, he admitted to his fears such as snakes, and he too fell in love. These emotions and flaws gave the two men a much more human feel than the the other heroes who were almost comparable to gods. Despite this similarity in nature, Tristram is still not the most similar hero to Jones. The two were different in their motivations for doing what they did. Tristram was a knight, loyal to his king and country, noble in a way that Jones wasn’t. Jones was on the hunt for The Ark largely for personal reasons; he wanted to be the one to discover the legendary artifact. This variance in their motivations is enough to keep them from being the most
similar.
The other heroes mentioned did share certain traits with Indiana Jones, but the hero that is the most similar to Jones is Odysseus, the epic hero of The Odyssey. One similarity between the two is that the two men were extremely intelligent. Odysseus thought quickly and used his intuition to escape dangerous situations such as the cyclops cave where he devised a method to stay alive until he could make it out. Jones was a professor and he was extremely knowledgable in the field of archeology; his knowledge was very valuable when it came to his adventures. For example, he was able to recognize the components needed to find the true location of The Ark, he was also able to think his way out of the the temple when the Nazi’s trapped him and Marion inside. However, their intelligence and problem solving skills aren’t the only similarities, Odysseus and Jones also followed similar paths to reach their end goals. Along they way they faced many challenges and setbacks. An example of this is shown by the setbacks that were caused by the two men’s enemies. Odysseus was constantly harassed by Poseidon; Odysseus was forced off course many times by Poseidon when he created rough waters that forced Odysseus to stray from his course and land on unfamiliar islands. Jones was harassed by his competitor Dr. René Belloq, who seemed to always be one step ahead of Jones and often took the artifacts that Jones discovered. The two men experienced long journeys that they were motivated to complete. They had almost selfish reasons to embark on these epic journeys; Odysseus wished to return to his wife and position in order to keep his high rank within his society, and Jones wished to discover an amazing archeological find that would set him apart from other archeologists. These many similarities in character and motivation are what makes Indiana most closely related to Odysseus rather than the other heroes.