On the surface, Continental Drift and The Oddyssey are very different. The two protagonists, Bob Dubois and Odysseus, are as unalike as two men can be. Bob is an average man with an average life. He works for one man so that he can pay bills to others, trying to make what little money is left supply his family with the needs, both real and imagined, that every family has. Odysseus is a mythical figure, the ultimate man. He surpasses his peers in every manly endeavor, "Then there was no man who wanted to be set up for cunning against great Odysseus; he far surpassed them in every kind of stratagem," whether it is with his wit, bravery, skills as a warrior, strength, or charm, (Homer, 54). Odysseus represents the timeless virtues of masculinity that all men, including Bob, desire. That Bob seeks to break the free of his average life, tries to become something other than the sad normal man that his father was; that he endeavors to become a great man, is what brings these two stories together. As the men in The Odyssey look to Odysseus as the touchstone of masculinity, Bob Dubois looks to the men in his life in his attempt to become a good man. Bob wants to become a mythical male, "handsome, of course, and sexy and good-humored; he's not rich, not yet, {...} he's kind and gentle, tender to women, children and animals, without being sentimental, however, because after all, he's a "man's man" as well; he's a stern yet jocular father to his children, and he can take care of his wife too, can assume a custodial role in her life, honoring and attending to all her needs," (Banks, 133). Odysseus represents the benchmark in Bob's quest to rise above the multitudes, his level of excellence in every aspect, what Bob hopes to attain by emulating the men he respects, while trying to avoid the example of those that he does not. The fact that Bob fails in his quest only adds to the i...