Fortunato, Polyphemus, and Malvolio are all tricked and punished by others. While Fortunato is at a carnival, he is persuaded by Montresor, his false friend, into going into a tomb. He is then chained up and left to suffocate. Polyphemus finds Odysseus and his crew in his cave. After swallowing six men and drinking jugs of wine, Polyphemus passes out; and to prevent Polyphemus from eating more men, Odysseus blinds him. Malvolio is tricked into finding a love letter supposedly from Olivia. However, the letter is actually from Maria, Sir Toby, and Sir Andrew, in order to give him false hope and lure him into making a fool of himself. . Fortunato, Polyphemus, and Malvolio are all arrogant towards those they deem below them and thus to an extent Fortunato is revealed to be an extremely arrogant man. Not only is Fortunato richer than Montresor, with a more prosperous lineage, Fortunato believes that he is more sophisticated than most. Fortunato insists on going into the tomb, despite Montresor’s half-hearted protests. When Montresor mentions that he could ask someone else to ensure that the wine is indeed the rare Amontillado, Fortunato arrogance shines through. He says, “As for Luchresi, he cannot distinguish Sherry from Amontillado” (Poe, 109). Fortunato thinks of himself as better than others in tasting differences in wine. Fortunato is tricked into walking to his death by Montresor’s claim that he bought a cask of a rare wine. Once the pair reaches the tomb where the wine is supposed to be, Montresor chains Fortunato up and begins to build up a wall. Fortunato reacts with thinly veiled panic and attempts to talk out of the situation: “Ha! ha! ha!- he! he! he!- a very good joke, indeed - an excellent jest. We will have many a rich laugh about it at the palazzo- he! he! he!- over our wine- he! he! He!” (Poe, 113). However, despite Fortunato’s pleads, Montresor throws his dying torch into the now closed off alcove, sets the last brick in the newly built wall, and leaves his friend to Not only is he a monstrous creature in mind and body, he believes that nobody, not even the gods, can defeat him: “We Cyclops never blink at Zeus and Zeus’s shield of storm and thunder, or any other blessed god-we’ve got more force by far” (9.309-11). He considers his kind to be above mortals and even above gods. Odysseus manages to trick Polyphemus into letting his guard down by flattering Polyphemus into drinking an abundance of wine. Polyphemus drinks so much wine that he passes out. Odysseus takes advantage of this moment of weakness to blind him. Polyphemus awakens, enraged. After wildly chasing after Odysseus and the remnants of his crew, Polyphemus curses Odysseus: “. . .grant that Odysseus, raider of cities, Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca, never reaches home. Or if he’s fated to see his people once again. . . let him come home late and come a broken man” (9.588-93). Poseidon, Polyphemus’s father, filled with anger towards Odysseus, ensures that the curse comes
Montresor must trick and manipulate Fortunato to accomplish his goal of revenge. He tells Fortunato the reason he is at the ...
Odysseus’ recklessness and resourcefulness are predominant traits apparent in the Cyclops episode. When trapped in the Cyclops’ cave and after four men have already been devoured, Odysseus comes up with a cunning plan to escape. They cannot simply kill Polyphemus while he is sleeping and run away, due to the ‘huge boulder rolled across the mouth of the cave. Instead, he uses the resources available to him by getting Polyphemus drunk before sharpening the Cyclops’ staff, heating it in the fire, and stabbing it in his eye, blinding him. This is an extremely reckless undertaking, as it further enrages Polyphemus.
Meanwhile as Fortunato was concocting his plan beneath the earth, Montressor was heading back to his house feeling slightly guilty about what he had done. “He insulted me, he made me to be less that I am, he had it coming.”, Montressor told himself reassuringly. But that did not erase the ominous tone he now felt in the vaults. Something was not quite right since he pushed that last brick into place in Fortunato’s tomb. Shaking the feeling off as best as he could he reached the top of the catacombs and entered his home with a taste for the barrel of wine that he knew was Amontillado all along. After his drink he returned to his bedroom for the night and before he fell asleep he heard a small voice in his head saying that Fortunato was still alive and that he was coming for him.
Odysseus and some of his men went to investigate to see what these Cyclops were like. Unfortunately, they stumbled upon a Cyclops that had no intention of being nice. His name was Polyphemus who was the son of Poseidon. He took Odysseus’s men and ate them every night and would keep Odysseus and his men hostage. Odysseus made a clever escape and blinded the Cyclops. When Odysseus finally made it back on the ship with the remaining men that went along with him, Odysseus got a little too angry and shouted from the ship to Polyphemus and insulted him. Polyphemus prayed to the god, Poseidon and cursed Odysseus. This was on page 77, lines 526-533, book
Then the hero arrives at the home of Polyphemos. Polyphemos is a huge cyclops and also a cannibal. Odysseus and twelve of his men are trapped inside Polyphemos’ cave and can’t get out. Polyphemos comes back and eats some of the hero’s men. The next night Odysseus gets the cyclops drunk on wine, and when it falls asleep, Odysseus and his remaining men blind it with a large pole. He and his men barely escape with their lives and continue on the voyage.
Montresor takes full advantage of the fact that Fortunato has a soft spot for fine wines. Montresor seeing that the only opportunity that he would have to exert revenge would be when wine is to be drunk in surplus decides to wait until the Carnival Season. We are told of one evening during the season when Montresor invites Fortunato over to his place. The major reason for the invite is to have Fortunato taste a sample of sherry that he had acquired to ascertain if the s...
In the short story "The Cask of Amontillado" a man that could possibly be insane seeks revenge on another man after being insulted. Montresor, being the one that was insulted conjures up a plan to get vengeance on Fortunato the man that insulted him so terribly. Montresor runs into Fortunato at a carnival purposely, he then mentions a unique rare wine named Amontillado. This rare wine attracts Fortunatos attention immediately and he becomes interested in this wines authenticity. Montresor teases Fortunato by mentioning Luchresi,implying that he didn't think of Fortunato first and was going to see Luchresi about the Amontillado. Fortunato insists that that he must try this wine and while doing so insults Luchresis' skills in wine judging. Montresor then invites Fortunato to try the wine in his "vaults" where the wine is kep...
In the story, he captures a Greek hero named Odysseus and his men. They were all on their way back from the Trojan War and were trapped in one of the caves looking for food where Polyphemus had blocked the exits. Polyphemus had eaten six of Odysseus’ men. The most famous part of the story was when Odysseus had gotten him drunk and blinded him by plunging a pole at Polyphemus’ eye whilst he was sleeping. He then told Poseidon to put a curse on Odysseus while he was on his journey back because he was enraged that Odysseus had hid his identity and
Polyphemus ate four men of Odysseus' crew and in return, Odysseus and his remaining crew administered justice: 'Seizing the olive pole, they drove its sharpened end into the Cyclops' eye'; (pg. 135). In doing this, they were able to escape and they set sail. Odysseus, carried away in his pride, announced his identity to Polyphemus. When he had heard Odysseus' name, Polyphemus called upon his father, Poseidon, to adminis... ... middle of paper ... ...
Odysseus displays his desire for glory through his careless actions during his encounter with the Cyclops Polyphemus. The desire for glory Odysseus displays is shown through the words he speaks to Polyphemus. He is a clever character but makes rash decisions that affect the outcome of his original goals and intentions. While Odysseus is trapped inside of the cave of the Cyclops, he begins to taunt Polyphemus. “I called back to the Cyclops, stinging taunts: So, Cyclops, no weak coward it was whose crew you bent to devour three in your vaulted cave—with your brute voice! Filthy crimes came down on your own head, you shameless cannibal” (Fagles, 226). Odysseus was insulting the Cyclops, and those insults caused the rage of the monster to boil over. The Cyclops was already angry with Odysseus blinding him, and was even more demoralized and angry when Odysseus began to taunt him. As Odysseus goes on with his insults and as his anger rises, he says, “Cyclops—if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed—say Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged out your eye, La...
When one of the cyclops, Polyphemus noticed people in his cave, Odysseus was upfront about the situation and told him his name was “Nobody.” Polyphemus ate some of his men and this causes Odysseus to come up with a devious plan. When Polyphemus comes back to the cave, Odysseus gives him wine and sort of pursues and teases Polyphemus so that he drinks more, enough to get him drunk and passed out. This gives them time to prepare for their next step, which is to use the spear they made to stab Polyphemus in the eye to make him blind. He screams loud enough for the other cyclops to wonder what’s going on, but to only hear him say “It’s nobody!” This was genius on Odysseus’s part because the cyclops thought this literally nobody. While the flock of sheep is leaving the cave, Polyphemus uses his sense of touch to make sure it wasn’t any of the men. Little did he know, Odysseus tied his men to the sheep's belly so that they could safely escape without alerting the cyclops. His plan was perfectly executed and well thought out until Odysseus, the arrogant man he is, yells back at Polyphemus as they board their ship. He gloats about how he is Odysseus from Ithaca and how he overcame Polyphemus; however, he’ll soon experience the consequences for upsetting the
Next, Polyphemus demonstrates hubris by believing that because he is a giant, he is unbeatable by anyone, even a god. This is shown when Odysseus meets Polyphemus and greets him with gifts, as it is a custom to show courtesy to hosts and guests alike, (unexpected or not). Failure to give gifts can lead to revenge from the gods. Odysseus tells Polyphemus this, but Polyphemus “would not let you go for fear of Zeus” because the Cyclopes “have more force by far ”. (205; 200) Polyphemus then angers the gods further by kidnapping and eating Odysseus’ men, both of which are considered extremely uncivil in Greek society. Polyphemus is so confident in his invulnerability he lets the men roam free inside the cave, a mistake that leads to his downfall.
This was the beginning for me in learning just how cunning Odysseus truthfully is. In the midst of adversity Odysseus has the ability to lay the ground work for a truly epic escape and triumph over the Cyclops Polyphemus. After a couple of paragraphs we get to see Odysseus’ thought process unravel as he strikes Polyphemus’ one eye with a spear himself and his men made. While in complete anguish the Cyclops begins to scream loud enough for the others to hear him. Once they arrive and hear him saying that is was “Noman” who hurt him they shrug it off and continue on their way. This is only the beginning of his plan for escape, the next morning they successfully fool the Cyclops and make their way back to their ship. It is not over yet though because with great cunning usually comes stubbornness and ego. Odysseus pushes his luck, yet again, once his ship sets sail back towards
In Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, Odysseus fails as a leader by prioritizing his reputation over his crew’s safety after defeating the cyclops Polyphemus. In the story, Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, travels to Troy to fight against the Trojans. On his journey back to Ithaca, a string of damaging incidents lead him to a mysterious island, which he later discovers is inhabited by the murderous cyclops Polyphemus. His crew manages to escape the cyclops, but not before Polyphemus kills several of Odysseus’s crew. Odysseus escapes and could have sailed away peacefully, but he calls out to Polyphemus to suggest that “if anyone, any mortal man, asks you how you got your eye put out, tell him that Odysseus the marauder did it,” (IX, 500-502). This prompts Polyphemus to lob a rock, nearly destroying Odysseus's ship. It is odd that this was
To begin, one feature that makes Odysseus and epic hero is his intelligence. In order for him to have survived through his journey, he has to have a massive amount of intellect. To have survived a Cyclops is an accomplishment of its own. His ability to think on his feet and to plan situations and ability to make a right decision in horrid environments has helped him survive throughout his disastrous journey. When he is trapped by the Cyclops, Polyphemus, he has to carve, smooth, and sharpen a gigantic spear-shaped-pole out of a large tree that he and his strongest men would then use it on the Cyclops to blind it. In order to follow through with his plan, Odysseus has to sedate him. He gives Polyphemus an extremely strong wine, in which Polyphemus asks him his name. Odysseus replies: “My name is Nohbdy; mother, father, friends, everyone call me Nohbdy”(9.274-9.275) When the Cyclops passes out, Odysseus and four of his strongest men stab Polyphemus in his eye with the sharpened pole that he and his men ...