Self-Serving Bias In The Odyssey
Maquella Kuhlmann
Ms. Schlosser
Aeneid Literary Analysis; Argumentative
01 Dec. 2015
Self-Serving Bias The textbook definition of self-serving bias (www.psychologytoday.com) is when people tend to attribute positive events to their own character, but they attribute negative events to external factors, so quite literally, self-serving bias is making oneself look good and blaming other factors. In Book 2 of the Aeneid, Virgil recounts the Battle of Troy from the Roman perspective while in Books 3 and 4 of the Odyssey and in the Iliad, Homer recounts the battle from the Greek perspective. Both epics tell the story of the Greeks construction of the Trojan Horse, which is a wooden horse secretly hiding the army in its hollow gut. The Greeks …show more content…
According to psychologytoday.com, it is common to see self-serving bias in literary works, especially literary stories telling of wars and battles. When there is a positive event, such as the Greeks winning the Battle of Troy, the win is attributed to the army’s own intelligence and tactfulness, but when there is a negative event, such as losing a war, the loss is attributed to external factors such as the Greek’s untrustworthiness. Because Virgil is of Trojan origin, he displays self-serving bias; consequently affecting his writing so that the Greeks are looked upon negatively. In the Odyssey, Homer also displayed self-serving bias. When Homer recounts the victory of the Battle of Troy, he emphasizes how amazingly intelligent Odysseus is for his idea of the Trojan Horse. In the article it states, “ Researchers have suggested the presence of a self-serving attributional bias, with people making more internal, stable, and global attributions for positive events than for negative events.” So this, in simplest terms means, in events which are considered positive by the writer, there will be more internal praises to himself rather than in negative events. So, because the Aeneid is told from a negative perspective of the author, self praising is less common than in the Odyssey which is told from a positive perspective. Retellings of stories use self-serving bias in order to make oneself look as positive as they can possibly be in the given
Ms. Schlosser
Aeneid Literary Analysis; Argumentative
01 Dec. 2015
Self-Serving Bias The textbook definition of self-serving bias (www.psychologytoday.com) is when people tend to attribute positive events to their own character, but they attribute negative events to external factors, so quite literally, self-serving bias is making oneself look good and blaming other factors. In Book 2 of the Aeneid, Virgil recounts the Battle of Troy from the Roman perspective while in Books 3 and 4 of the Odyssey and in the Iliad, Homer recounts the battle from the Greek perspective. Both epics tell the story of the Greeks construction of the Trojan Horse, which is a wooden horse secretly hiding the army in its hollow gut. The Greeks …show more content…
According to psychologytoday.com, it is common to see self-serving bias in literary works, especially literary stories telling of wars and battles. When there is a positive event, such as the Greeks winning the Battle of Troy, the win is attributed to the army’s own intelligence and tactfulness, but when there is a negative event, such as losing a war, the loss is attributed to external factors such as the Greek’s untrustworthiness. Because Virgil is of Trojan origin, he displays self-serving bias; consequently affecting his writing so that the Greeks are looked upon negatively. In the Odyssey, Homer also displayed self-serving bias. When Homer recounts the victory of the Battle of Troy, he emphasizes how amazingly intelligent Odysseus is for his idea of the Trojan Horse. In the article it states, “ Researchers have suggested the presence of a self-serving attributional bias, with people making more internal, stable, and global attributions for positive events than for negative events.” So this, in simplest terms means, in events which are considered positive by the writer, there will be more internal praises to himself rather than in negative events. So, because the Aeneid is told from a negative perspective of the author, self praising is less common than in the Odyssey which is told from a positive perspective. Retellings of stories use self-serving bias in order to make oneself look as positive as they can possibly be in the given