Compare and Contrast Space Odyssey and Odyssey

Compare and Contrast of 2001: Space Odyssey and the Odyssey

In 2001: A Space Odyssey and the Odyssey, both of the main characters experience a hero's journey. Each man goes through the many hardships of the hero's journey cycle. In the journey both experienced the help of an outside greater power. Neither Odysseus nor man could have advanced without the influence of this outside power or force.

In both the Odyssey and 2001: A Space Odyssey, the main characters Odysseus and David Bowman could not have advanced without the help of a supernatural force. In Odysseus's case, without the help of the Greek Gods, Odysseus would have never made it home to Ithica alive. For Odysseus, each God helped in a different way. Athena, the God of wisdom, was his mentor throughout his journey back to Ithica from the Trojan War. Zeus, the God of the sky, was the one who helped Odysseus of the endless sea surround island of Ogyia, where Odysseus was being held back by Calypso. "Of all that breathes and crawls across the earth, our mother earth breeds nothing feebler than a man. So long as the gods grant him power, spring in his knees, he thinks he will never suffer affliction down the years. But then, when the happy gods bring on the long hard times, bear them he must, against his will, and steel his heart. Our lives, our mood and mind as we pass across the earth, turn as the days turn." (The Odyssey by Homer). This quote by the author Homer is saying that it was the Gods who helped Odysseus on his journey back to Ithica, and it was them who gave his the strength and wisdom to make it back alive.

In Bowman's case, without the help of the aliens or the advanced technology such as weapons or Hal in 2001: Space Odyssey, he would not have discovery the second monolith and eventually save the world for a huge nuclear bomb. For Bowman, it was the extraterrestrial force that got him started on his hero's journey. The E.T. force left a huge, black monolith on the moon and this caused Bowman to follow the signal it sent when it was struck by light. "The spear, the bow, the gun, and finally the guided missile had given him weapons of infinite range and all but infinite power. Without those weapons, often though he had used them against himself, Man would never have conquered his world. Into them he had put his heart and soul, and for ages they had served him well. But now, as long as they existed, he was living on borrowed time." (Arthur C. Clarke 2001: A Space Odyssey). In this quote the author Clarke is saying that it was the weapons that gave man full power and the technology to evolve as mankind. Without these weapons and higher technology or greater power the evolution of mankind was not possible.

Although both the heroes had the supernatural aid, not all the things the higher power did helped them. In the 2001: Space Odyssey, Hal, the super computer that helped guide