Compare and Contrast Ulysses and Tithonus Josh Benson LSM ww Ulysses and Tithonus are narrated by two men, who are both very much unhappy. They both want different
Compare and Contrast Ulysses and Tithonus
Josh Benson LSM ww
Ulysses and Tithonus are narrated by two men, who are both very much unhappy. They both want different to change but want contrasting things. Inevitably though each wish they have is most likely to end up in death. Tithonus was a handsome man in his youth and this got him the love of a goddess Dawn. This drove him to ask her to grant him the gift of immortality. However Tithonus was casual in his demands and forgot to ask for eternal youth, the thing he really craved. Tithonus thought he was special and wanted to be different from other people and continue to have Dawn’s love. By the time Tithonus has grown old he can’t feel her love anymore and wishes to be the same as the people he envies. He just wants to get back the power to die like any other human. He questions ‘why should a man desire in any way to vary from the kindly race of men’.
Ulysses however does want to be different and has no thoughts of anything different. He wants to be famous and talks about himself as being full of energy and something of a hero. He claims to be and ‘idle king’ and singles himself out from others. He believes the people ‘that hoard, and sleep, and feed and know not me’ are so different from himself. Being ruler of Ithaca - something most power hungry people would be satisfied – with its ‘common duties’, is not enough for Ulysses. He wants to go on adventures on his ships, he is bored with who he is, he wants drastic change and quickly. Ulysses has the belief that as long as something is done greatly it doesn’t matter about the outcome. This is shown in his line ‘I have enjoyed greatly, have suffer’d greatly’. Like Tithonus’ wish, death is likely to be the eventual outcome.
