Ancient Greek Values

1) What values were most important to early Greeks?

Based on the excerpts from the Odyssey that we listened to, I would say that the three most important values of Ancient Greece would be ingenuity, teamwork and justice.

We can see ingenuity in a lot of the excerpts of the Odyssey. 

Penelope shows ingenuity when she tells the suitors that she will not get married until she finishes weaving a piece of cloth and she unravels all her work at night. 

Odysseus also shows ingenuity when he tells the cyclops that his name is 'Nobody' so when the cyclops is in pain and screaming for help, he says that Nobody blind him and the other cyclops do not come to help.

Another excerpt where we see ingenuity is when Odysseus wants to hear the beautiful voice of the sirens, and thinks of a plan to do so without being in danger. He puts wax in the ears of his crew and he asks them to attach him to the mast of the ship.

The second value would probably be teamwork, the excerpts show us that Odysseus and his crew always work together and they are a team.

The crew shows teamwork when they blind the cyclops, when they do not remove the wax that Odysseus has put in their and when they kill all the suitors when Odysseus comes back to his house.

The third value is justice. We could say that justice is in every excerpt in a way but the ones where it is the most obvious is when Odysseus blinds the cyclops, when Odysseus promises to his friend Elpenor a proper burial. We also see justice when Odysseus beats the suitors at the archery contest and also when he kills them all with the help of his crew.

2)In what ways are early Greek values found in modern society?
At school, we are thought to be ingenious and to learn how to do things ourselves. We also see a lot of teamwork that teaches us how to work in groups and with different people. There is also justice because when somebody does something wrong, they are punished for it and if they do something really good, they are praised.