Sixteen Ways of Looking at Hamlet & Odysseus - part 7
The list of similar incidents and themes in Hamlet and literature mentioning the Trojan War* is long. We might one day discern what similarities are coincidental [1], as compared to evidence that Shakespeare knew and was influenced by his first- or second-hand knowledge of Trojan War-related texts [1]. For now, here is a new list: 1. Odysseus swears an oath to Tyndareus to defend whoever wins Helen; Hamlet swears an oath to avenge Claudius having taken Gertrude from his father. 2. Paris takes Helen from Menelaus. Claudius takes Gertrude from King Hamlet. 3. Odysseus feigns madness , delays keeping his oath to Tyndareus; Hamlet feigns madness, delays keeping his oath to the ghost. 4. Hyperion/Helios is unsympathetic to Odysseus’ hungry men who steal his cattle. The ghost’s skin was made “ Lazar -like,” (ref. to a rich man who was unsympathetic to the beggar Lazarus in Luke 16). 5. Ithika's court & society are corrupted in Odysseus’ absence. Denmark is corrupted...