The Odyssey: Differences From Today's Society In the book the Odyssey by Homer violence, deceit, disorder, absence of law enforcement, and it's principal of self-sufficiency, obviously differs from our modern society today. In modern world today we have laws and law enforcers, which is to help keep away from as much violence as possible. We have legal systems and courts to decide whether people deserve punishments, and this shows in many ways how the present differs from the past. That is why many leaders of the past couldn't be successful leaders in running today's society. Odysseus went by his own rules and made up his own rights, which he lived by, and