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
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
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