...In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus displays his renowned cleverness in his journey to get home, but he also shows he is very prideful. While trying to get home, Odysseus and his crew land on the island of the Cyclops, a race of one-eyed, man-eating giants. They end up stuck in the Cyclops Polyphemus’s cave, and Odysseus uses his ingenuity to get (most) of his men out. Polyphemus is so massive, that the rock he seals the entrance with, lifted easily by him, is impossible for Odysseus and his crew to budge. The men are helpless as they watch, each night, the Cyclops devour two more of their number for supper. Shrewdly, Odysseus gives Polyphemus wine, ostensibly as a gift to gain favor, until he is drunk, and then he tells the Cyclops his name is Nobody. When the drunken giant falls asleep, Odysseus and his men bore his eye out with a hot, sharp pike. Odysseus keeps his head and thinks it through, knowing he cannot kill the Cyclops or they would be stuck in his cave until they starved. When Polyphemus calls for help, his brethren ignore him, thinking that if nobody hurt him, there’s nothing they can do. “’Nobody, Nobody’s tricked me, Nobody’s ruined me!’ / To this rough shout they made a sage reply: / ‘Ah well, if nobody has played you foul/ […] we are no use’” (9.445-48). The fact that Polyphemus might call for help is a detail others might overlook or have no clever ploy to counter. Polyphemus is blinded now, but he can still feel, and Odysseus must think of a way to sneak past Polyphemus...
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...Hero or Not Heroes try to make a minimal amount of mistakes, they act only with the best intentions, and they do their best to save everyone. In a story written by an author named Homer, called the “Odyssey”, the main character does not show these qualities, in fact he oftentimes shows the opposite. Thus he is not a hero. The story is about a man by the name of Odysseus. Being stuck at sea, Odysseus with his men, are trying to get home, but the gods are testing them. In this story Odysseus shows qualities like greed, arrogance and stupidity and proves that he is not a hero. The first reason why Odysseus is not a hero is because he and his men show greed and stupidity by raiding the cicones. Meanwhile Odysseus and his men were drunk, the cicones came and drove them back to sea On page 841, at the bottom in cursive Homer wrote “The raid was a success, but the overconfident men became drunk and mutinous”. Odysseus made a mistake, he wasn’t thinking of the consequences of his actions and he wasn’t being careful, therefore Odysseus is not a hero. Heroes also wouldn’t raid a village without reason. And he certainly wouldn’t get drunk afterwards and end up losing everything. Overconfident is a key word in this sentence. Being confident is a good thing, but like many other things, too much of something ends up being bad. Being overconfident can lead to mistakes. You might think you’re better than everyone, that you can never lose. But this might very well end up being the cause of...
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...waits twenty years for Odysseus to return and had faith that he was still alive. There are also similarities between the conflicts in the movie and book. Odysseus still faces Scylla and Charybdis in his long journey home and how Penelope's internal feeling of Odysseus being gone for so long is the same. Comparing the book and the movie of the Odyssey, there are many new scenes added in the movie or scenes that were completely cut out or changed. One of the scenes in the text that was changed in the movie is the Lotus Eaters scene. In the text, Odysseus and his men went to an island with Lotus Eaters while in the movie, the lotus blossoms were given by Circe. Which made him and his men stay longer with Circe for five years. That is also different from the text because in the text, Odysseus and his men only stayed with Circe for a year, not five years. The tree in the bedroom is similar to the movie because in the book it talks about that Odysseus built their house around a tree. The tree is in the bedroom. Telemechus anger was similar he has an anger problem and in the movie I think his temper is worse than what the story said says....
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...A promise is a promise. When a promise is made, that promise shouldn't be broken. A promise was made in the Odyssey, and Eurylochus broke that promise. In Homer’s Odyssey Eurylochus shouldn't have killed Helios’s cattle because they were craving something different, a promise was made to not kill the cattle, and a lot of people died from it. Eurylochus shouldn't have killed the cows because they didn't want fish. Eurylochus and his crew shouldn't have killed the cows just because they wanted something different. Eurylochus promised to leave the cows alone. However, when he was fishing, he decided he didn't want fish, so he killed the cows and ate them. The men were around a bunch of fish, yet they chose to kill the cows. He shouldn't...
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...As promised, the Athabaskans return to Aiaia, recover Eleanor's body, and go through the proper funeral rites. Circe reappears and feeds the men. She makes them promise to stay for the full day of feasting while she gives further directions to Odysseus. "Further directions" seems to be a euphemism for "more sex." Still, after the "further directions," she gives some actual directions on how to avoid the temptation of the Sirens who will try to lure him to death with their beautiful voices. Circe tells Odysseus that no man has ever heard the song of the Sirens and lived to tell the tale. But he can! He should have his men plug up their ears and tie him to the mast so he can listen without jumping overboard. Then she tells him about two different...
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...Odysseus, in The Odyssey by Homer, and I show self-restraint. Odysseus expressed self restraint by not eating the Lotus flower. Odysseus said, “Clear the beach and no one eat that lotus or you will lose hope of home” (898). Odysseus showed self restraint was by not letting his crew eat the lotus, but also he didn’t touch or eat it either. Another way Odysseus explains self discipline by not eating Lord Helios’s cattle, but Odysseus men eat the cattle and suffer the consequences for eating the cattle, but “They ignore Odysseus warning about not to feast on Lord Helios cattle”(937). Odysseus expressed self discipline by listening to Circe's warning about Helios cattle, but his men didn’t care and ate until they were stuffed. In addition, I...
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...Kirke is introduced to the audience as a seductress, and a witch. She tricks Odysseus’ men and turns them into swines or pigs using her magic, and now she has lured Odysseus into her arms. For example, in the citation above Kirke is using her role as a women to seduce Odysseus into her bed. But, Odysseus is clever. He makes a deal with her, the deal is that his men are turned back into men if he sleeps with her. Kirke is now one of the bad guys. It seems like Kirke’s only weapon against Odysseus is her beauty, and her magic. This shows that the role of women were very limited. The only power they had over the men were their bodies. It is absurd that women in the Odyssey exist to satisfy men’s needs. They are also there to give birth to men’s...
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...The issue of Odysseus loyalty is that no matter how hard or how much he desires to be loyal, most of times he is forced to do the opposite. When he gets to Calypso’s island, the sweet nymph, any man would want to stay because she offered him to become immortal. Only someone loyal to their desire to get back home would reject such a great offer, but only he who is loyal to home denied it, Odysseus. Even though he is loyal to his home and wants to go back, he is forced to stay with Calypso for seven years. Throughout those seven years very night he would weep because he was forced to stay there. Odysseus is trialed with many obstacles in his way home, but for ten years he did not lose hope and never gave up. He had to go through many losses of men and had to motivate them to keep on going to reach home. Even though all odds where against his favor he always kept thinking of one thing, home. He kept being faithful and kept true to himself maybe not physically but mentally and spiritually. He could’ve stayed in Circe’s island, he had a beautiful Goddess who desired him, which he could’ve chose from instead of Penelope, but instead he chose home once again, and part of home was Penelope. The main issue of Odysseus loyalty is that he is tested over and over again, and most of those times he is forced to be unloyal physically. His faith is put on trial many times and if it weren’t for the Goddess, Athena, who protects him, he would’ve fallen in temptation and lost his desire to get back...
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...George Saieed Dr. Cucinotta English 10 18th September 2012 Trust is a powerful word, one that displays many faces, which Homer uses to his advantage in his work The Odyssey. As shown by Homer, trust is the reliance on any quality or characteristic of a person (mainly his or her truthfulness), especially his or her ability or strength to perform an action. Trust can also be formed based off of a condition of a relationship, such as loyalty, i.e. the bond of trust between Odysseus and his men as a result of their loyalty to each other. Lastly, a big part of trust is formed from hope. All of these parts of trust combined form a very powerful concept, as lack of it wreaks havoc, while the presence of it can forge some of the strongest bonds, as both shown in Books IX – XI. In these few books, there are many happenings, some due to trust, and some due to lack of trust, as portrayed by the encounters of both the main character, Odysseus, the rest of his men, and those from the outside world. Trust, a seemingly ever – present concept, is usually a result of companionship, loyalty, or hope, and is sometimes essential for survival. In Book IX, much of the trust is based on the reliance of a person when performing an action. Near the beginning of the book, Odysseus and his men land on the island of the Lotus’. Odysseus sends out a few men, who eventually meet the Lotos Eaters, who offer them the Lotos plant. They eat of it, and no longer want to go home. Odysseus then goes...
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...on the Island of Helios. When his ship passed the sirens Odysseus could have not tied himself down to the mast. He showed leadership skills by telling his men to put beeswax in their ears so they would not untie him. He would beg and plead for his men to untie him, but they would only tighten more rope around him. The next trial brought Odysseus’ ship to the bottom of Scylla’s cave. Odysseus was forced to helplessly witness six of his men get taken away by the ferocious beast. Odysseus wanted to revolt against the monster and fate. This was to save the men, Odysseus had to hold himself back because Circe had instructed him ,“the only avail is flight.” Odysseus could not kill Scylla anyways, but this helped him learn self-control. The restraint taught him a lesson that he used time after time during his life. Odysseus did not always show self-control. For example, when Circe asked him to stay with her to recollect, relax, eat and drink, Odysseus obeyed. Him and his men stayed with her on the island for about a year. He also...
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...knowing that his men would die. He also stayed with the witch Circe for several months, and was only able to free his men thanks to Hermes. Odysseus learns the means of being a puppet by getting manipulated by the witch Circe and the gods on Helios's island. One way Odysseus becomes a puppet to the gods is when Odysseus was told what would happen if he went to Helios's island that his men would eat the cattle and they would die. After he was told this, and come across Helios's island he landed there. He and his crew stayed until they ran out of food. When they ran out of food the crew were desperate to eat the cattle, but Odysseus reminded them what would happen if an of those cattle died. So when Odysseus went to pray to the gods. The gods put Odysseus to sleep and while he's asleep the crew ate the forbidden cattle. later when Odysseus wakes up and relies what has happened, he and his crew left for the ship. The ship was then destroyed with a bolt of lighting from Zeus with only Odysseus left to live. This was one way Odysseus...
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...When Calypso tells Odysseus that there will be many pains that will hurt him on his way home, Odysseus does not change his mind at all about going home to see Penelope and his family. He is ready for whatever is going to come at him on his journey. This also shows that he took the hard way home. Calypso was going to give Odysseus immortality if he chose to stay with her on the island but he turned it down to see Penelope. Also when they are stuck on Circe's island, there was another very clear quote that explained why Odysseus is so loyal. “You think that we are headed home, our own dear land? Circe...
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...is given two choices; either to sail into the Wandering Rocks that birds cannot even wing through or to sail by the lair of Scylla who is deadly with six heads and by the divine Charybdis who sucks in saltwater three times a day. Very soon following came another challenge by which he his is forced to make a difficult decision. Odysseus and his men came to the perfect island of Hyperion the Sun where Helios has many immortal cattle grazing the land. Circe herself told Odysseus what he shall do if he stops on this island which is to stay away from slaughtering any of the cattle. He is warned that during his struggles to keep his mind on his journey or he will come home late and badly. The twelve legged, six necked and headed Scylla eats six of Odysseus’s men, just as Circe advised would happen, while leading his men to row by the tall rock home to her lair. We are given proof of Odysseus’s wisdom by his choice of leading them between the rocks of the two monsters rather than the route that only one ship has ever made it through. Circe explains, ‘’Even the doves that bring ambrosia to Zeus crash and perish on that slick stone’’(312). Odysseus makes the choice to sacrifice six of his men opposed to killing all of them including himself. This decision is another example of Odysseus’s thinking mind and is similar to when he and his men were in the Cyclopes cave with an easy way of killing the one eyed monster. They did not kill him though, which would have led to their death given...
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...Resumen: La Odisea, Homero Elaborado por: Mariela Mata. La Odisea es un poema épico griego que data del año 700 A.C. y se le atribuye a Homero. El poema, que se cree fue transmitido, en primera instancia, de forma oral, consta de 24 cantos y fue escrito usando una métrica llamada hexámetro dactílico, es decir, cada línea de la Odisea original estaba formada por seis unidades o pies. Argumento Odiseo es un héroe griego y el Rey de Ítaca, quién, después de pelear la guerra con Troya, le toma diez años regresar a casa. Penélope es su esposa y Telémaco su hijo. La Odisea cuenta la historia de Odiseo, uno de los héroes griegos más famosos, y su travesía de diez años a casa al final de la Guerra con Troya. En su camino se topa con hechiceras, cíclopes, dioses furiosos, entre otros. En casa, en Ítaca, su esposa, Penélope, y su hijo, Telémaco, son acechados por varios nobles y solteros codiciosos que creen que Odiseo está muerto y están buscando su fortuna. Eventualmente Odiseo regresa a casa y los mata a todos. La travesía del héroe abarca desde Troya, en Asia, menor pasando por las islas del Mar Mediterráneo (cerca de Italia) y de regreso a Ítaca, Grecia. Resumen de los Cantos Canto I: Homero comienza la Odisea invocando a la Musa para que cuente lo sucedido a Odiseo después de destruir Troya. En una asamblea de los dioses griegos, Atenea aboga por la vuelta del héroe a su hogar, quien lleva muchos años en la isla de la ninfa Calipso. La misma Atenea, tomando la figura de Mentes,...
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...grows on it, and Charybdis lurks below to swallow down the dark sea tide. Three times from dawn to dusk she spews it up and sucks it down again three times, a whirling maelstrom”(Homer 61-66). This example of Charybdis tells us that she is just a giant and violent whirlpool who sucks up everything including the tides which are huge, so the choice when you pass between Scylla and Charybdis, is if you would rather lose six of your men or lose everything. The last situation is Helios and his cattle. Circe the witch told Odysseus and his men not to touch Helio’s cattle or eat them or Odysseus would be cursed, but Odysseus’s men were tempted and ate them anyways. An example of Circe telling Odysseus and his men not to touch Helio’s cattle is “Now give those kine a wide berth, keep your thoughts intent upon your course for home, and hard seafaring brings you all to Ithaca. But if you raid the beeves, I see destruction for ship and crew”(Homer 100-105). The example is telling us that Circe told Odysseus to keep his mind on focused to go home and to leave Helio’s cattle alone and it turns out that Odysseus’s men didn’t listen. I have learned from Odysseus that he does not like to follow directions and his actions from not following simple directions had caused him all of his misery and problems. ...
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