The men and I were stuck on an island, missing our home and almost starving to death. We have been through so much turmoil, and it was usually our leader, Odysseus,’ fault. But, this time, surprisingly, it was the fault of a man I thought to be smart, Eurylochus. He advised we should kill “The Cattle of the Sun God’s” cows to fill our hunger pains. But, I disagreed strongly and out of anger yelled, “Men! Do not listen to Eurylochus! Did you not hear what Odysseus warned us against? This is a God we are talking about, the ‘Cattle of the Sun God,’ and we are no match for him. I will not listen to this any longer! But, of course, no one listened to me. All they were concerned about was filling their stomachs, and didn’t think clearly
Odysseus’s revenge towards the suitors, whose only crime was the crime of theft, was unnecessarily cruel, after all, a hero must be able to forgive. It has been twenty years since anyone on Ithaka have seen, or even heard news about Odysseus. Therfore, it would have been perfectly pliable to pronounce him dead. “ He has been gone for twenty years.” The people of Ithaka were all under the impression that Odysseus, has in fact, passed a...
On Odysseus's journey he stopped at Cyclops’ Island for supplies and food. Instead of hunting and making supplies our protagonist and his crew steal from Polyphemus and stay in his living space thinking they can get more from him. After a while Polyphemus comes home and starts to get angry at his “visitors” so Odysseus tries to patch things up “here we stand, beholden for your help, or any gifts you give -as a custom is to honor strangers.” In the end they escape with Polyphemus's sheep.
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In this paper, I have considered the above simile in Book 22 of The Odyssey by Homer, and I have argued that although the surface meaning of this passage is the slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and his men, the deeper meaning of the passage is the revelation of Odysseus ' true nature, similar to that of a vulture, they are both opportunistic and self-serving, even on the most basic
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
Odysseus dealt with his disobedient crew. After an already difficult journey, Odysseus and his crew arrive at Aeolis, where the king Aeolus offers him wind in a bag, which had enough wind to send Odysseus’s ship back home to Ithaca. While Odysseus sleeps, the crew conspires, believing that the bag contained treasure, “Aeolus has lavished these gifts upon him. Let 's have a quick look, and see what’s here, How much gold and silver is stuffed in this bag” (Homer p.142). The crewmen opened the bag and the winds rushed out, taking them back to Aeolis’ island. Due to their curiosity and disobedience, the crew adds years to the journey. But the crew does not learn from the mistake, and the next time they disobey, the consequences were fatal. When they arrive one Helios’ island, Odysseus forbids the crew to consume the cattle of the Sun God. “But swear me a great oath, every last man: If we find any cattle or sheep on this island, no man will kill a single cow or sheep. In his recklessness, but will be content to eat the food immortal Circe gave us” (Homer p.186-87). But while Odysseus is gone, the crew disregards his instructions and feasts one Helios’ cattle. Their consequence was Zeus destroying the ship and the crew, leaving only Odysseus alive. Odysseus wishes to go home, but he cannot control his men’s ignorance. The crew’s disobedience prevents Odysseus from achieving his
So Eurylochus urged Odysseus to stop over on land so they that they may rest. And Odysseus gives the order for his crew if they, “come on a herd of cattle or fine flock of sheep, not one man among us- will slaughter an ax or ram’ (Fagles 280). And they all promised they wouldn’t hurt any cattle. While on this land for a whole month because of the wind, Odysseus fell asleep, and that is when Eurylochus “opened up his fatal plan to friends” (Fagles 281). Since the food was running out on ship and they were growing hungry, Eurylochus proposed to slaughter the cattle for food, and the shipmates went along with this act. When Odysseus awoke he was angry and blamed Zeus for giving him sleep that “lulled him into disaster’ (Fagles
“Oh for shame, how the mortals put the blame on us gods, for they say evils come from us, but it is they, rather, who by their own recklessness win sorrow beyond what is given,” (1.32-34) is a simple quote reminding us the entities in charge of all characters in the poem The Odyssey – the gods. Hubris, or excessive human pride, is most detested by the gods and likewise is most punishable by them. The Odyssey is a story about Odysseus and Telemachus, two heroes who throughout their adventures meet new people and face death many times. Telemachus goes to find his father after he learns from Athena that he is still alive. The two meet, and Odysseus attempts to go back to Ithaca after he was lost at sea, and on his way there becomes one of the most heroic characters in literature as we know it. Like all heroic characters, Odysseus began to display hubris as he learned how true of a hero he was. James Wyatt Cook, a historian and an expert on The Odyssey, wrote about how hubris can affect the characters that display it. He says, “Because Homer’s Odyssey is essentially comic, that episode [opened wind bag destroys ship] is only one of a series of setbacks Odysseus experiences before reaching his home in Ithaca and recovering his former kingdom and his family. Such, however, is not the case for those who display hubris with tragic outcomes.” (Cook 1) Initially, Odysseus learns about Aias who died as a cause of the excessive pride he portrays. Proteus warns Odysseus when he says, “…and Aias would have escaped doom, though Athena hated him, had he not gone widely mad and tossed outa word of defiance; for he said that in despite of the gods he escaped the great gulf of the sea, and Poseidon heard him…...
The myths which prove the contradictory behavior of the gods, acting as both benefactors and tormentors of man, can readily be explained when viewed in light of the prime directive for man, to worship the gods and not “overstep,” and the ensuing “Deus ex Mahina” which served to coerce man to fulfill his destiny as evidenced by the myths: “Pandora,” “Arachne, and “Odysseus.” Humankind and it’s range of vision over the gods beauty and power portrayed them to be benefactors but unseemingly it depicted their affliction towards humans.
The one-eyed Cyclops present a monster with extremely barbaric qualities that the Greeks abhor. When Odysseus first reaches the island of the Cyclops, he is surprised by their uncivilized ways, which are foreign to the Greeks. He describes them as “lawless brutes, who trust so to the everlasting gods/they never plant with their own hands or plow the soil” and explains how the Cyclopes “have no meeting place for council, no laws either,/no, up on the mountain peaks they live in arching caves-/each a law to himself, ruling his wives and children,/ not a care in the world for any neighbor” (9.118-128). The Cyclops live alone in caves, never tending to their crops, and are cared for by the gods. They have no structured civilization or sense of community, and have no regard for one another: they live like wild animals. They have “not a care in the world for any neighbor”, they don’t “plant with their own hands or plow the soil”, and they have “no meeting place for council, no laws either.” The Cyclops seek no comfort of camaraderie. They live by themselves and for themselves, and do not ab...
The story of the Cattle of Helios symbolises doubt from the crew. The crew is faced with a dilemma, they are out of food on the ship and they have resorted to hunting for food not yet killing the forbidden cattle. However Odysseus wanders off and the gods lull him into a slumber, Eurylocos responds with a speech, “ … the most pitiful death is to starve. Let us [kill] the best of the cattle and sacrifice them to the immortal gods.” Because of Odysseus’ slumber the crew had doubt that they would
Picture this: a hero of great legends who travels to the underworld and back to get directions to his home from a blind prophet. It sounds like quite an impossible journey, but that is exactly what makes Odysseus all the more fascinating. The Odyssey, an epic poem orally transmitted by Homer, a Greek poet who wrote The Iliad, had to contain some variety of attributes that Greeks valued in a person. That one embodiment of what the Greeks found intriguing in a character is Odysseus. Odysseus is known as what is called an epic hero. An epic hero is a protagonist of a story that represents the most important attributes of a civilization. Odysseus, being based in ancient Greece, is the embodiment of intelligence, loyalty, and strength.
The most obvious evidence of this is the way that Odysseus treats Thersites. Thersisties catches the attention of Odysseus by loudly complaining and saying, “It’s not right for a leader to march our troops in trouble…(Book 2 Ln 254)” and saying that he wants to go home. Odysseus responds to this by thrashing Therisities with his scepter and saying, “ You’re nothing but trash… You have no right to mention kings in public…(Book 2 Ln 268-276).” Thersisities was complaining and belittling a commanding officer, but his grievances did not seem unreasonable. All he wants to do is go home after fighting in a war for 9 wars against a people who did not do anything to him personally. From this perspective, Odysseus actions are vile and show no respect
Homer’s The Odyssey is a Greek story that follows the journey of its primary character, Odysseus, back to his home in Ithaca after the Trojan War. Odysseus encounters many challenges in his journey home, from encounters with Polyphemus the Cyclops, the witch Circe and even the ghosts of dead Greeks. Meanwhile, his household in Ithaca is being threatened by suitors of his wife, Penelope, all wanting to inherit Odysseus’ possessions in the belief that he was already dead. Like many epic heroes, Odysseus possesses many admirable qualities. Three good characteristics of Odysseus are—cleverness, bravery and strength—here are some supporting instances from the epic that demonstrates Odysseus possession of such characteristics.
Homer’s literature served as a moral messenger to the people of ancient Greece. The Odyssey by Homer demonstrates the character development of Odysseus, the epic hero, and his journey of self-discovery. Odysseus was a great, wise, noble, and well respected war hero to his people. Odysseus had one tragic flaw that was demonstrated by his actions throughout the book. The author Homer continued to strip Odysseus of his arrogance throughout the story, by throwing challenges his way, making him pay for his mistakes, and allowing him to continue to overcome obstacles. The main purpose of Odysseus journey also to reach his home a more humble man. Reading Odysseus’ journey also served as a way to look at morals. The