Theme Of Sleep In The Odyssey

The famous writer Edgar Allan Poe once said, “Sleep, those little slices of death, how I loathe them.” In the book The Odyssey by Homer sleep leads to bad consequences and a few good. The motif of sleep symbolises many things throughout the book.

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

survive and made a fatal mistake. If Odysseus did not fall asleep he could have told his crew not to eat the cattle and to push on.

The story of the Bag of Winds symbolizes greed from the crew.

Odysseus is given a bag to be used to create a small amount of winds at one time. Odysseus fell asleep on the trip and the crew opened the bag because they thought there was gold and silver inside. The men began to say that, “... there must be gold and silver in that bag” (120c). If Odysseus was still awake he could have defended the bag from the crew.

The story of retelling to the Phaeacians symbolizes willpower from Odysseus. When Odysseus is halfway through telling the king and queen of Phaeacia his story he asks to sleep. The king and queen urge him to keep going. Odysseus replies with, “... there is a time for long stories, and there is a time for sleep; but if you wish to hear [I will keep telling]...”(142d). Odysseus obviously wants to sleep, however for the sake of the king and queen he keeps telling. This shows willpower, without it he would have refused their pleas and slept.

The story of the Battle in the Hall symbolizes ignorance from Penelope. Throughout the entire fight Penelope had been sleeping. She had not yet seen her husband that was missing for 20 years. When the old nanny came up to wake her Penelope replied with, “... the gods have made you mad… why do you mock me with this crazy tale…”(282c) and similar remarks. If she had not been asleep her ignorance of the situation would be gone and she would have already been

reunited.

The use of sleep in the book can show many things. Doubt and the partaking into the forbidden that comes with it. Greed and not being able to defend the most precious resource, wind. Willpower and the will to stay awake. Ignorance and the false mockery that comes with it. As Edgar Allan Poe once said, “Sleep, those little slices of death, how I loath them.”