It happens throughout all walks of artistic life. One song will take a chord from another song, one artist will take a paint stroke style from another artist. Though this may appear to be stealing, sometimes it adds a dimension to the piece of art that would never have been shown. What if the chord completes the song in a perfect ending, or the strokes make even the hair look real? This is observed in two very well-known classics: The Odyssey by Homer and Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. Inman and Odysseus, the two main characters, are similar because both have something preventing their return, both are driven by love, and both have a hero’s return. This gives the two books a whole extra dimension of text-to-text connections that can be made,…show more content… Though they both have physical stops, such as Inman’s wounds and Odysseus’s location, it’s their minds that both keep them away from home and motivate them to return in the future. In the end, Inman’s psychological state pairs up with that of Odysseus with a few parallels. They both think that they cannot make it home, and they recount their times in the war with both loathing and pure joy. Odysseus actually went home so he could be reunited with his home, while Inman wanted to marry Ada. Though Inman actually has drive to return home, Odysseus takes years to get off of the island of Calypso. He ends up needing the assistance of a god to get off of the island. Using this, it can be proven that the love for a person is a larger drive than the love for a home, a kingdom. Odysseus just loves Ithaca. While it is good to love your home kingdom, that’s his only drive for coming home. He just wants to reclaim his kingdom and rule again. I would say that this makes Odysseus a bit more shallow. He wants more materialistic and meaningless things and required the help of a god to escape, meanwhile Inman just wants to find the girl that he loves. Inman’s wants have to do more with people - this could be a leftover remnant of his fighting in war and seeing people get killed all of the…show more content… It was stated that their returns were similar. They do, indeed, seem to be increasingly similar as you look into the details. Inman and Odysseus both came home from their journey due to bad conditions in their last place of residing, and they both found their separate loves in the end. They had to be willing to kill to get their women back, but in different ways. Inman had to kill in the war, which ultimately led to his return. He may have left in the first place to kill, but he came back due to the excessive killing. Odysseus did the exact same thing, but under different circumstances. Inman, drained and in a near-depressed psychological state, left his wars. Odysseus stayed and fought his battles and was triumphant in the war before leaving. This kind of displays their personalities when they return. Inman never faced his inner demons, he just backed away from them. It is seen clearly in his nervousness upon return. Odysseus already faced his inner demons, causing a triumphant killing of those who took his wife’s attention while he was gone. He was at terms with himself. He was a man who knew what he needed to take care of, and did it at all costs. Inman did what he could to get back to Ada, but he was just a sad man away from the one he loved. In a way, he and Penelope are similar. Two members of couples who just want their lovers back, and will be loyal to the