Odysseus Reflection

After assisting Telemachus, Athena ventures to the Island where Calypso lives to free Odysseus. Odysseus is then given a boat by Calypso to return to home. On the way home, he lands on a strange place which is unknown to him. Athena, cognizant of Odysseus' arrival, travels to the palace of Alcinous disguised as one of Nausicaa's friends. Athena enters the palace and gives Nausicaa advice to venture to river so she would clean herself up to make her presentable to men. In doing this, Athena has sent Nausicaa to meet up with Odysseus at the river. It was then Odysseus' turn to be disguised.

While Odyesseus was gone his son Telemachus has grown into a man and his wife Penelope is overwhelmed by suitors who think Odysseus is dead. These suitors have been living in Odysseus’ home eating his food trying to overrun his palace. While Poseidon is away from Olympus, Penelope convinces the other gods to help Odysseus return home. In disguise in Ithaca, she convinces Telemachus to look for his father. Telemachus goes to Pylos and finds out that Odysseus is being held prisoner by Calypso. Zeus orders that Odysseus be allowed to go home so he leaves on a raft.

Athene asks her father, Zeus, king of the gods, to force Kalpyso to release him. Odysseus leaves the island on a makeshift raft. Poseidon creates a storm, causing Odysseus to wash ashore in the land of Phaiakians. Athene the makes the princess of the Phaiakians, Nausikaa to develop feelings for Odysseus. She takes him home to meet her parents, the King and Queen of Phaiakia, and Odysseus ends up

First off, Oedipus and his family had really rough times. Oedipus’ sons killed each other for the throne, his daughter killed herself, he killed himself, so it was a very weird family. To start off, Eteocles Oedipus’ son he was heroic because he saved his family and country from the enemies who tried to kill the people of Thebes. Eteocles of course saves them from the ruthless and ferocious Argive army. “Against our seven gates in a yawning ring the famished spears came onward in the night; but before his jaws were sated with our blood, or pine fire took the garland of our towers, he was thrown back, and as he turned, great Thebes no tender victim for his noisy power rose like a dragon behind him, shouting war.” This shows that the priest and chorus were talking about the war and how Thebes won at the end of the battle and Eteocles died with honor fighting for his country men and family. He was brave because he went into war against his own brother and he was not afraid that in the end of the battle he would probably kill his brother. “For God hates utterly The bray of bragging tongues; and when he beheld their

After twenty long years away from his family, Odysseus still has motivation to return to Ithaca. Odysseus could have stayed with the princess of the Phaeacians, but instead he wants to go home to his family. Odysseus’ wife, Penelope and their son, Telemachus motivate Odysseus. Alkinoos offers Odysseus his daughter’s hand in marriage: “My daughter should be yours and you my son-in-law, if you remained. A home, lands, riches you should have from me if you could be content here” (Homer 120). Odysseus refuses the king’s offer: “O Father Zeus, let all this be fulfilled as spoken by Alkinoos! Earth of harvests remember him! Return me to my homeland” (120). Odysseus knows that his family has been waiting for him for years. The motivation to see his family and homeland help Odysseus win his battles and continue his journey home.

Next, they reached a place called Aiaia. Odysseus and his men decided to separate into two groups to explore the island. The group without Odysseus found the hut where Circe, "A terrible goddess" lived (115). All of the men, except Eurylochos, entered the house, "For he expected a trap" (117). Circe gave the men some wine, "But she put dangerous drugs in the mess, to make them wholly forget their native land. When they had swallowed it, she gave them a tap of her wand at once and herded them into pens; for they now had pigs? heads and grunts and bristles" (117). She had turned them into pigs. At this place the goddess, Circe, who lived there turned half of the men into pigs. Eurylochos went and told Odysseus, who vowed to go save the men.

First, Odysseus men came to Circe island and some of his men went off to hunt for food. To begin, One of his men come back and told Odysseus that everyone else was turned into an animal by a witch and one of them is the pig the men who stayed back were trying so hard to kill. Second, when Odysseus went back to his men he almost died from falling from the mountain that Circe house was on. Third, Odysseus boat was almost destroyed from the sand and erosion that happened to it, but that did not stop him, he fixed up his boat and went back to his journey. Finally, Odysseus did not back down from a witch that could have easily harmed him but he was not scared he wanted to keep his men safe.

Ten years after Odysseus destroyed Troy, Odysseus has still not returned to his home Ithaca. Odysseus sets sail on a makeshift raft, but the sea god Poseidon whose curse Odysseus got earlier in his adventures by blinding the Cyclops Polyphemus, who father Poseidon creates a storm. Odysseus’ men had more losses at the land of the Kikones and then were nearly tempted to stay on the island of the Lotus Eaters. Next, the Cyclops Polyphemus ate many of Odysseus' men before a clever plan allowed his soldiers to escape. The wind god Ailos then gave Odysseus a bag of winds to help him return to Ithaca, but the crew opened the bag and went to the land of the giant who was a man-eating Laistrygonians, where they again barely escaped.

After many heroic deeds and much danger and peril Odysseus journeys to the underworld and back, escaped the sirens, evades Charybdis and Scyylla, and loses all of his men. His men eat the sungod’s cattle even after promising Odysseus that they wouldn’t, so Zeus kills all of his men by striking their ship with a bolt of lighting (Odyssey 11-13:1-452).

In Poseidon's rage over Odysseus' blinding Polyphemus, he has continued a prolonged punishment from the hubris received. The gods and goddesses sometimes need to intervene on Poseidon's wrath through deception. Athena, Odysseus' and Telemachus' guardian goddess, intervened at the island Phaeacia after Poseidon left. When he left, Athena don a invisibility cloth over Odysseus that changed his physical appearances. Odysseus run into the princess and hand-maidens of Phaenica near the ocean. Nausicca, princess of Phaenica, is persuaded through a dream by Athena disguised as a ship captain’s daughter, Dymas, on the prospect of marriage. According to Bolton, her’s efforts to aid Odysseus come from the motivational hope to marry him. She is told to ask King Alcinous for a wagon with a few mules. Before arriving to the Palace of Alcinous and receiving a lecture on xenia, a hospitality custom created to applease travelers thought as a immortal being that would test the host on giving housing, food, and clothing

Growing up without his father Odysseus, the only knowledge Telemachus knows of him are only the stories told him by his consorts. With all the suitors roaming freely through the great halls of his father 's palace, chasing after his mother Penelope 's hand in marriage, Prince Telemachus is left hopeless to stop them. Athena uses her great skills of strategy and wisdom to quickly find a way to inspire our hero Telemachus to journey to find his father. She shapes shifts into Odysseus ' old friend Mentes, and predicts that Odysseus is still alive and that he will soon return to Ithaca. “Take my words to heart. At daybreak summon the islands lords to full assembly, give your orders to all and call the gods to witness sail in quest of news of your long- lost father," Athena declared (B1:L315-325).

“In order to satisfy your request to go back to Ithaca, your homeland, you must pass through the Underworld, or the land of the dead, and meet Tiresias, a wise man,” I, Angel, instruct to Odysseus.

Odysseus relates how, following the Trojan War, his men suffered more losses at the hands of the Kikones, then were nearly tempted to stay on the island of the drug- addled Lotus Eaters. Next, the

Circe, a powerful sorceress, shows her strength by being in control. Whenever Circe turns Odysseus’s men into pigs she shows her strength by overpowering them. Odysseus’s men underestimate Circe for the powerful sorceress she is because she is a woman. Because they do so, they are turned into pigs.

            Odysseus is no god.  He is man, and with that comes the mistakes and errors in all of us.  In many situations Odysseus' mortal side is seen.  An example of the power of Odysseus coinciding with his human flaws is his battle with Polyphemous the Cyclops (son of Poseidon).  After escaping the lure of the lotus-eaters and their island, Odysseus and his men find themselves on another island, rich with food and shelter.  After feasting, the men grab a large container of potent wine and go off exploring the new island.  Later in their search they stumble across a large cave filled with food.  Curious where the owner's whereabouts are the men encourage Odysseus to steal the food.  Odysseus (showing his hospitable and genuine character) decides to instead wait for the