Odysseus has a problem with his ego. He is an arrogant and cocky person, who thinks he can get away with anything without consequences. Polyphemus and Poseidon show him that this assumption is wrong. Polyphemus is a cyclops and the son of Poseidon. He lives on a far off island where he tends to his goats and lives alone. Odysseus stops at Polyphemus's island on his journey home and decides to go into his cave. Odysseus and twelve of his men met a savage cyclops who, by the time their ‘visit’ is over, has eaten six of them. To escape the cave Odysseus blinds Polyphemus. But because Odysseus can’t do something without recognition, he tells Polyphemus his name. Polyphemus then uses this information to beg to his father, Poseidon, to set a curse …show more content…
He had his treasure and he and his men. But soon his boat sails off course, and he comes upon the Cyclop's island. Odysseus had heard the tales of them, how they were "lawless brutes" (215). But Odysseus never to turn away an adventure to add to his story decides to endanger his men and go up to one of their caves. The men choose to eat his cheese, which the cyclops had worked hard on, and wait for him to come back so they could demand a guest gift. Odysseus requests a guest gift from Polyphemus, the cyclops, but doesn't deserve one because he is not a good guest. Odysseus is not in need of help he already has twelve ships with meat and wine waiting for him to come back on an offshore island, he didn't need the Cyclop's treasures, he only desired them. In response to Odysseus's rudeness, Polyphemus eats two of the twelve men in the cave. While cannibalism is savage-like and grotesque, Polyphemus was just reacting to have strange, rude men come into his house, eat his food and then demand treasures from …show more content…
Even though Odysseus after the island is a good leader and tries to help his men survive, he is the reason they need help surviving in the first place. Once Polyphemus tells Poseidon to place a curse on him. Polyphemus says, “Hear me Poseidon… / … grant the Odysseus, raider of cities, / Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca,/ never reaches home again. Or if his is fated to see/ his people once again and reach his well-built house/ and his native country, let him come home late/ and a broken man - all his shipmates lost,/ alone...”(228, 585-594, his men are doomed. They are not as quick-witted or as smart on their feet like Odysseus; they fall for things ordinary men would fall for, like eating food when starving at Helio’s island. But the men wouldn't even have had to go into these dangerous and unfortunate circumstances if Odysseus hadn’t felt the need to brag to Polyphemus about blinding
His men wanted to leave but Odysseus wanted to appeal to the laws of hospitality. When the cyclops returns to his cave with his flock of sheep he captures Odysseus and his men, and blocks the entrance of the cave with a boulder”but he,behind,reset the stone as one would cap a quiver”(Book 9, line 218-219). They get trapped, and Polyphemus eats two of his men anytime he was hungry. Odysseus shows his intelligence and comes up with a plan to get out. He gives Polyphemus some strong wine and Polyphemus becomes extremely drunk.
Odysseus decides to yell back his actual name, making sure his victim knows who has outsmarted him, “If ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye; Laertes’ son, whose home’s on Ithaca!,” (The Cyclops.502-505). The detriment of his life is now allowing Polyphemus to ask his father to punish Odysseus for what he has done, and if his pride did not get to the best of him and had he been satisfied with just knowing that he outwitted his opponent, he would have been able to sail home without trouble, but he had to taunt Polyphemus. After Odysseus and his men go to the Cyclop’s cave and find that the creature is not there, Odysseus’ men want to take some food and leave. However, Odysseus does not want to take his men’s
Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus has the tendency to be a narcissistic, selfish and inconsiderate leader towards his men. When Odysseus and his men finally escaped certain death from the giant cyclops, Polyphemus, the not-so-heroic king of Ithaca shouted a taunt above the pleas of his aghast crew, towards the blinded cyclops. He yelled to the enraged cyclops,”If any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shame you so--say Odysseus(Homer IV. 558-560).” With this reproachful act of arrogance, Polyphemus, son of the wrathful Poseidon, cried out to his father, praying that Odysseus' travels be cursed and that he would return home a “broken man” and with “all shipmates lost(IV. 593).” This event shows how he is too unworthy
Their odyssey includes years of sailing the open sea, as well as encounters with numerous dangerous monsters. Though the trip home is already going to be long and exhausting, Odysseus makes it even worse for himself and his men by leading them along several unnecessary detours. For example, Odysseus makes a mistake that adds extra time to his journey when he disrupts the life of an angry cyclops on his island. Out of curiosity, and not caring to measure the consequences, Odysseus leads his men into the cave of the beastly cyclops, Polyphemus. The cyclops traps the men in his cave, so Odysseus tricks Polyphemus into sleeping, which gives Odysseus the opportunity to blind him.
When at the island of the Cyclopes Odysseus puts his men in jeopardy by antagonizing Polyphemus. Odysseus decided to tell Polyphemus his name thus encouraging the Cyclops to pray for his men’s death and Odysseus’ journey home to be a long one. Odysseus blamed the gods for this yet he was the one who put his fate in the hands of Polyphemus. It can also be said that Odysseus could have controlled his fate another time. Odysseus was told not to eat the cattle of Helios so he make sure to tell his crew these strict orders.
After Odysseus and his men are on the boat, he calls out to Polyphemus, “Cyclops- if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so- say Odysseus raider of cities, he gouged out your eye, Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca”(IX). His pride from escaping the Cyclops’s lair gives him a rush which causes him to tell Polyphemus his name. By telling the Cyclops his name, Odysseus seals his fate for the rest of his journey home. Once Polyphemus learns the name of his attacker, “,,,[Polyphemus] prayed and the god of the sea-blue mane Poseidon heard his prayer”(IX). Polyphemus is able to curse Odysseus’ journey home, because he knows his name. Once he curses Odysseus, the man’s way home becomes distorted, drawn-out, and difficult. Because Odysseus lets his pride get the better of him, his simple journey home becomes years of twists and
During book nine Odysseus angers Polyphemus by stabbing his eye and then bragging about it when Odysseus and his men escapes from the Cyclops. When Odysseus first lands on the island inhabited by the Cyclops', Odysseus and his men enter Polyphemus' cave and starts eating Polyphemus' food. Polyphemus decides to ignore social law, and he decides to trap the men, so he can have extra snacks. After multiple of Odysseus' men were eaten, he decides to blind the Cyclops to have a better chance to escape. Once they escape Odysseus teases Polyphemus by saying "O Cyclops!
The Cyclops, Polyphemus, traps Odysseus and his men inside his large cave by blocking the exit with an enormous boulder. Odysseus feels threatened, but decides to cause a scene that would glorify his identity. Odysseus taunts the Cyclops, unnecessarily, to prove authority over it. One particular phrase that he says is, "So, Cyclops, no weak coward it was whose crew you bent to devour there in your vaulted cave- you with your brute force. Your filthy crimes came down on your own head, you shameless cannibal, daring to eat your guest in your own house-
A key event that delays Odysseus immensely on his journey home is Poseidon’s revenge. While sailing home, Odysseus and his men come to encounter Polyphemus, Poseidon’s Cyclops son. Odysseus and his men try to steal food from Polyphemus while he is away tending to his flock (Homer 362). When Polyphemus returns to his cave, he finds Odysseus and his men, and traps them in his cave. While trapped in the cave, Polyphemus eats many of Odysseus’
First of all, Odysseus was very selfish during their journey back to Ithaca. For example,“We lit a fire, burnt an offering, and we took some cheese to eat; then sat in silence around the embers, waiting”(Homer 219-222). If Odysseus took the cheese and left, his men would not have had to dealt with Polyphemus. He put himself before his men because he wanted a gift from the cave owner. Odysseus was also selfish when he sailed near the lands of Sirens.“Steer wide; keep well to seaward; plug your oarsmen’s ears with beeswax kneaded soft”(Homer 669-671). Although Circe told Odysseus to steer clear of the area, Odysseus wanted to be known as the man who survived a Siren’s song. He put his own men in danger just because he wanted to become famous. Odysseus was also very arrogant to think that he could get past the Sirens.
In the short story “Cast of Amontillado”, by Edgar Allan Poe, the author emphasizes through the use of irony the idea that revenge can consume an individual. In the text it states that the main character, Montresor, had a desire for revenge. During the night of Carnival, Montresor lures Fortunato into these catacombs by telling him about a certain wine. Fortunato, being a wine enthusiast, takes the bait ultimately leading to detrimental outcomes. Through the use of irony, the reader fully comprehends the evil intentions of Montresor.
The role of hospitality is seen in many examples throughout the Odyssey. However, it is not always the same in every example that Odysseus encounters. When Odysseus comes across the Cyclops Polyphemus, the hospitality he receives is totally outside the norm of civilization, which is what he is used to. Instead, because of his ego, Odysseus receives a barbaric welcome instead of the hospitable welcome that he is accustomed to.
Odysseus thinks that his reasoning are final and his activities are constantly just and right, although he frequently allows his ego control his rational thinking, resulting harm to his group and messing with the gods’s plans. His men could have went back home Securely for it is the desire of Athena and the other heavenly gods who surround to her in Mount Olympus, however Odysseus takes it to himself to outrage and blind Polyphemus, the monstrous son of Poseidon, adored by his dad yet abhorred by the people, In this way distrusting their whole arrangement . Subsequent to being blinded by the heroine, Polyphemus tosses huge pieces of rocks at Odysseus's ship, nearly obliterating them at the same time. But instead of retreating for safety, Odysseus keeps on provoking Polyphemus and “[calls] out to the cyclopes again, with [his] men hanging all over [him] begging him not to”(Book 9, 491-492). His feeling of pride and presumption influences to disregard the requests of his people even in these critical circumstances . He will fulfill his own feeling of interest and pleasure without thinking of the result it would have on his crew. Despite the fact that he is bound to get away from all passings and assaults, his group isn’t so blessed. Their lives are in mortal peril since Odysseus considers them as child sheeps who should forfeit their lives for him when the circumstances comes, much the same as how mortals make conciliatory offerings of sheeps for the heavenly gods. He is willing to fulfill his own feeling of interest without thinking of his groups lives or their suppositions and is regularly infuriated when they negate his request. If they hurt his sense of pride and self-importance and pomposity , Odysseus will be overcome with outrage and
Alcohol and Tobacco damages the body , but marijuana helps? Marijuana should be legal in all 50 states for both Recreational and medical purposes. Marijuana isn’t legal everywhere in the U.S. , which is why it’s a huge political debate. First, can’t die from it , unlike any harmful drug. Second, it helps/ cures diseases. Lastly, it’s already legal in nine states.
5.) Adolescents have to find their identity. This can be a challenge for some adolescents, because of the environment surrounding them. Researches have suggested growing up in Western countries is more difficult. In Western countries children are expected to not act like children, but aren’t expected to act like men and women. People in the United States expect their children to be successful, by providing them with name-brand clothing and electronics. However, in non-Western countries children passes through stages. A ritual is preformed to recognize a child turning into an adult. When this happens children receive blessings and spiritual gifts. Most importantly, some children aren’t allowed to live with their mothers after puberty in non-Western countries. All children develop differently. Girls tend to need relationships to feel connected in the environment, while