Scylla's Role In The Odyssey

Scylla and Charybdis were extremely difficult for Odysseus to overcome, mainly because he was used to using manpower and wisdom to escape from dangerous situations. Furthermore, Odysseus knew he could not use his strength to conquer Scylla and Charybdis, instead he had to try and choose the lesser of two evils even though he knew he would lose men either way. It was a great pain for Odysseus when he had to leave his men behind. He heard their “voices come down to [him] in anguish, calling [his] name for the last time” and Odysseus had to fight the urge to turn back and try to save his men from their inevitable peril (Homer 838). To summarize, during Odysseus’s travels he met his second most difficult obstacle, Scylla and Charybdis who compelled Odysseus not to use his intelligence and

In the end both women serve the purpose of being secondary characters to Odysseus: without him they would not be important to the story. The epic poem is ultimately about Odysseus’s journey home, and both women represent different aspects of that journey. Homer brings more so into focus the idea that women have the competence to be more than just housewives, but this ability is dangerous and negative. Calypso, whose behavior continuously strays away from what is expected, symbolizes a form of darkness and evil while Penelope is seen as a virtuous character representing the model wife. The complex way that Homer describes female characters in ‘The Odyssey’ is not necessarily to show that women are capable of more than is expected of them, but rather to serve as a warning of the independent, authoritative woman all while praising the domestic

During Odysseus’ journey back home to Ithaca, him and his crew encountered many evils and troubles. Almost every one of these took at least one of his men. Scylla is an example of this. This monster took six of Odysseus’ men while on the journey home. Nearly ever was it Odysseus’ fault. His men caused most of the problems that haunted them back to Ithaca.

Odysseus was warned of the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis. When he approaches the Sirens, he has his men tie him to the mass so he will not be lured to their tempting singing. When he reaches the location of the deadly whirlpool, Charybdis, and the concealed deadly trap across from Charybdis, Scylla: a six headed monster that catches men in her mouth and eats them; Odysseus sacrifices a few of his men for the majority of the other men. He sacrifices for the better good. Hiding his knowledge of these obstacles and sacrificing his men, takes a full amount of determination for his objective to get home; it shows his vast amount of unconditional willingness and sacrifice. Perseverance takes time and sacrifice. His time and knowledge lead him through another dangerous obstacle.

Women play an influential role in The Odyssey. Women appear throughout the story, as goddesses, wives, princesses, or servants. The nymph Calypso enslaves Odysseus for many years. Odysseus desires to reach home and his wife Penelope. It is the goddess Athena who sets the action of The Odyssey rolling; she also guides and orchestrates everything to Odysseus’ good. Women in The Odyssey are divided into two classes: seductresses and helpmeets. By doing so, Homer demonstrates that women have the power to either hinder of help men. Only one woman is able to successfully combine elements of both classes: Penelope. She serves as a role model of virtue and craftiness. All the other women are compared to and contrasted with Penelope.

Scylla was a monster with six heads and charybdis was also a monster that created a whirlpool with its mouth to trap ships and eat them. Odysseus would have to go in a straight line between the two monsters. Odysseus was being heroic here because he didn't tells his men so they wouldn't panic, and he faced to to monsters, and even though he lost six men he didn't get his whole ship wrecked and was able to get the rest of this men out of there

When he passes the cliffs of Scylla, the six headed monster, he must choose to hug the cliff and know that Scylla will take six of his best men, or go over the whirlpool Charybdis and risk losing all his men. " Hug the cliff of Scylla, better to lose six men than to lose them all", Circe tells him (917). Odysseus makes a hard decision and takes her advice, and as a result of obeying the goddess, he loses six men, just as the witch Circe told him, but the rest of his crew passes and continues their journey. A final example of this is when Odysseus returns home to his palace in Ithaca disguised as a beggar, and he sees that his house has been overrun by hundreds of suitors, taking advantage of his wealth and his wife, Penelope.

In the Shadow of Men In our society today, women are often seen as weaker and not filled with as much potential as men, however, female advocates, also in our lives today, are working towards changing the image of women in order to show that they can be just as strong, powerful, and capable as men. Throughout the story of The Odyssey, Odysseus encounters a variety of female characters who provide insight about troubling situations he endures during his journey. Most, if not, all of these women use their wisdom and power of influence to convince Odysseus to either perform a task beneficial for them or assist him in his own quest. One of these characters is a beautiful goddess named Circe, who uses the influencing abilities of seduction in order

Both Krakauer and Odysseus face guilt on their journeys. In some instances, both men experience guilt and cope with their guilt in similar ways, but in other ways, each man responds differently.

Scylla is the embodiment of evil in its true form. This evil does not beguile. This evil strikes! In the Odyssey, where most characters' ghastly actions are hidden by a beautiful facade, Scylla delivers exactly what is expected. For instance, the Sirens lure men in with their beautiful voices only to kill them, or Kalypso, a beautiful nymph, saves Odysseus only to enslave him.

With a voice “no louder than any suckling pup,” even Scylla exploits another of Odysseus’ human weaknesses: fear (Homer, Odyssey, p. 274, 12.94). To some sailors, the sound might draw them in if they are curious. She lurks in a cave, so the yelping might sound like an injured animal. By having this trait, Scylla is clearly trying

Women are portrayed as seductresses. Odysseus and his crew arrive on the island of Circe, lured in by the sound of her voice. Homer describes her as "Low she sang/ in her beguiling voice,

After the encounters with the Sirens, Odysseus had to face a terrifying creature that he feared of. Circe warned Odysseus about the dangers of Scylla. He is informed that she will snag six of his men and tells him that it is much better than loosing everyone. “Nobody would feel good seeing her, not even a god who crossed her path. She has a dozen feet all deformed, six enormously long necks, with a horrible head on each of them and three rows of teeth packed closed together, full of murky death” (Steele and Alwa, 489). Odysseus knew that in order for his survival and to be able to get to the island, he had to sacrifice his men and escape this monster. “Monsters such as the Sphinx are often represented as female, as if to imply that women are on the borderline between human and “other” than human”(Steele and Alwa, 41). Odysseus also had to deal with his love affair with the witch goddess, Circe. She lived with nymphs on a mythical island. She changed all of Odysseus’s men into animals when he showed up to see her. Hermes helped Odysseus remove the men from the spell. “Many men appear to have felt that they could truly not love women who were not educated well enough to read, write, or engage in informed dialogue with their husbands”(Steele and Alwa, 43). The love between Odysseus and Circe failed due to her lack of ability to engage with men, by

The event that I am referring to in the Odyssey is when Odysseus must choose between an immortal monster by the name of Scylla that will kill six of Odysseus’ men and the whirlpool Charybdis that is almost certain to destroy the entire ship. Before he actually encounters these two mythical beings, he is warned of them by the goddess Circe who suggests, “No, hug Scylla’s crag—sail on past her—top speed! / Better by far to lose six men and keep your ship / than lose your entire crew” (12.119-121). In other words, she suggests that he is

When Odysseus is in trouble he always shows that he is depending on the gods by praying to them. The fact that the gods usually listen to him shows that he is well liked by the gods. In order to be a Greek hero you had to be liked by the gods since religion was such a big part in their lives. Odysseus, with the help of the gods, can survive adventures that kill most other men. Odysseus travels to the island of the Cyclopians. The Cyclopians are giants that have one eye, they don't fear the gods because they believe that they are better than the gods and they eat people. They represent the opposite of what Greek men should be. Odysseus and his men meet Polyphemus the Cyclops. Polyphemus being a Cyclops eats some of Odysseus' men. Odysseus with the help of the gods figures out a plan to escape and he does. Scylla is a ferocious monster with six heads that kills most men that pass by her island. She kills six of Odysseus' men. Odysseus prevents her from killing himself and more men. There is another ferocious monster named Charybdis. Charybdis sucks in water from the sea and creates a whirlpool that kills any ship that passes by. Odysseus passes by her. His crew is killed and his ship is destroyed in the whirlpool but Odysseus alone survives. There is an island that Odysseus passes by with monsters called Sirens on it. The Sirens sing beautiful songs that lure ships toward them. The ships then crash into the island and the people are killed.