Othello and Odysseus are both war heroes in their stories that have overcome many obstacles and have many stories to tell. The difference between these war heroes is that Odysseus is a trickster of sorts while Othello appears to be the one getting tricked. Othello’s foolishness is shown by Emilia when she says “O thou dull Moor, that handkerchief thou speak’st / of / I found by fortune, and did give my husband” (5.2.267-269). At the end of the play Emilia shows Othello how much of a fool he is by showing him how the proof Iago presented was fabricated. This shows that Othello is easily tricked and that he leads himself into disaster through his gullible nature. Odysseus contrasts Othello in this regard because Odysseus is portrayed as the trickster and not the fool. Othello says “my story will tell you all you need to know. / There is a land called Crete” (Odyssey 396) . This passage shows that Odysseus lies even when he does not have to just in case some one was looking for him. Odysseus manages to find his way out of many situations through deceit. He is also portrayed as a very doubtful person. He lies to everyone to cover his own identity in case anyone was plotting against him. Othello confronts his problems head on while Odysseus find shortcuts through his. Both these characters are war heroes, tell stories to entertain people, and lead armies, but Odysseus appears to be much more intelligent in his endeavors while Othello is always being played. Odysseus’s “trust no one” attitude completely contrasts with Othello’s assumption that everyone around him is trustworthy. Odysseus and Othello have similar roles but they could not be more different in character. This major difference could be why Othello dies in his story surrounded by tragedy while Odysseus gets his happily ever after.
