Comparative Essay Julius Caesar and the Odyssey Throughout William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar and Homer's epic poem The Odyssey, loyalty is strongly featured as a major motif. In both texts, loyalty is highly valued as one of the most important traits of a person's character. Not only do loyal characters receive a better fate, but those who are not loyal are punished for their actions, usually through revenge. In Julius Caesar, the characters who remained loyal to Caesar are the few who end up alive at the end of the play, and in The Odyssey, those who remained loyal to Odysseus were rewarded by Odysseus, and those who were not were killed. In Julius Caesar, Cassius leads a group of conspirators, including Brutus, Caesar's loyal friend, to kill Julius Caesar. Brutus, who was too trusting of those around him, had been convinced to help kill Caesar on the grounds that it was what would be best for the Roman people, without knowing the greed that motivated Cassius. Despite his good intentions, Brutus was disloyal to Caesar and he paid the price. After Caesar's death, Brutus and Cassius are chased out of the city by the ensuing mob. The people of Rome plan to avenge Caesar's death by shouting "Revenge!" About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill! Kill! Don't let a traitor live! (3.2.197-198). Meanwhile, the faithful Marc Antony prepares an army. Antony was responsible for the rise of the people against Brutus after Caesar's death, and now intended to fight Brutus using his own forces. As the Roman mob promises to kill Brutus, they promise Mark Antony: “We will listen to him.” We will follow him. We will die with him” (3.2.201). Although the Romans are reckless and easy to influence, it is clear that loyalty is extremely important... middle of paper ... even, those who are disloyal end up being paid by those they have betrayed - Brutus admits his defeat and commits suicide after seeing the ghost of Julius Caesar, and the suitors are killed by Odysseus for trying to marry his wife. However, the acts of loyalty in The Odyssey are arguably far greater than those of Julius Caesar. In The Odyssey, the characters had to maintain faith in Odysseus' return for twenty years, whereas in Julius Caesar, the characters had to simply not kill Caesar and not take the side of his murderers after his death. Yet those who proved disloyal had to pay the ultimate price. Even though the consequences of disloyalty may be significantly less severe in today's world than they were in either text, they both prove that loyalty is still a valuable trait which is of utmost importance in friendship, family and life..