A Character Analysis Of Odysseus In Homer's Odyssey

When Odysseus and his men reach the island, Aiolos is hesitant at first to seek out Kirke and he wants to turn back. However, some of Odysseus’ men decide to seek her out anyways. When they go to her place, she greets them with a feast and wine. However, even though it looked like she was being nice, she was actually drugging them and she turned them into pigs. “bodies, voices, heads, and bristles, all swinish now, though minds were still unchanged” (264-265). So, even though their bodies appeared as swine, their minds were still as they were before. This could be more creul because they still felt that they were human, and they still had all of their memories, but they were still pigs. After she turns them into pigs, she then violates xenia even more by feeding them pig food, rather than human food.

When Odysseus goes to seek out Kirke, she tries to drug him too, and turn him into a pig.

She then says “’Down in the sty and snore among the rest’” (360). As one can clearly see, Kirke is not showing hospitality, or Xenia, to Odysseus or his men. She even insults Odysseus by talking to him the way she did. But when he pulls his sword, and she realizes that her drugs do not work on him, she offers to sleep with him. She does this so that “mutual trust may come of play and love” (377). However, Odysseus claims that she will try to take his manhood if he enters her bed. If this is true, and she really was going to try this, then she definitely would not have been a good host. She swore she would not try this, so they made

love.
Afterwards, she bathes and offers to feed Odysseus. Odysseus refuses to eat, because his men are still pigs and are trapped in the pigsty. Odysseus says “Put heart in me to eat and drink – you may, by freeing my companions. I must see them” (430-431). This shows us a lot about Odysseus’ priorities. He is willing to give up food, and possibly starve if it meant that he is helping rescue his men. Odysseus is the kind of guy that you would want to be your leader. She agrees, and turns Odysseus’ men back to humans. Instead of turning them back to exactly the way they were before, she made them taller and more handsome. This could be because she wanted to make things right with Odysseus and his men.
However, I believe she is doing this because she is actually afraid. She realizes that Odysseus is no mere human, but he has the power to kill her. She cannot control him, and this frightens her beyond measure. And she might actually be doing all of these nice things in order to save her own skin, rather than to show xenia. If this is the case, then she is not being a good host. She is just trying to make Odysseus like her so that he wont try to kill her.