The Placement of Blame
Blame can always be placed several different ways, and the accused and accusers of situations battle this all the time in literature. In one text however, several arguments can be made for one side of this ever-present schism. In this particular book, more arguments can be made to assign blame to one side of the argument rather than the other. In Homer’s Odyssey, mortal men cause their own misfortune.
One way mortal men cause their own misfortune is by disobeying Odysseus, their leader. They, Odysseus’ crew, did this several times, but two instances significantly stand out in the argument of assigning blame. Before reaching Thrinakia, the island of Helios, Odysseus told his men of the warnings he had received about
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During his visit to the underworld, Odysseus was informed of one of his most formidable enemies: desire. Teiresias plainly told him that “if [he could] contain [his] own desire, and contain [his] companions… [they] might all make [their] way back to Ithaca” (Homer 171). When they finally saw the island, Odysseus did feel the desire to stop at the island, but tried to heed the warnings he received. His men however did not feel the same way he did. His me pestered him until he felt they had “[forced him] to it” but in reality he was just making an excuse to give in to his desires” (Homer 193). After indulging in his (and his crew’s) desires, he thought they would soon proceed off the island, however this was not the case. While exploring the island, his food deprived crew came upon the cattle of Helios, and being starving, began to cook and eat them, even sacrificing a part to the gods. Odysseus was walking back to their camp on his own when “the pleasant savor of cooking meat came drifting around [him], and [he] cried out [his] grief aloud to the gods immortal (Homer 194). Once he smelled the meat he knew that the horrific actions that were predicted would come true. All these things happened because Odysseus’ crew did not follow the instruction of their leader and instead followed their desires, but an even worse fate comes true when they disobey the gods themselves.
With the warnings he received from the gods and Teiresias the seer, Odysseus tried to
Odysseus was weary about it, but he was outnumbered, so, he agreed to stop at the island with only one rule they had to obey. They were not allowed to kill or touch the cattle on the island. The stay at the island was longer than Odysseus had planned, there were strong winds sent by Zeus that didn’t let them go bad out to sea, and forced them to stay in the island for a long time. One night Odysseus fell asleep. His men were starving, overcome by their hunger, they killed the cattle to eat. Once Odysseus found out, he cried out to the gods, “ O Father Zeus and gods in bliss forever, you made me sleep away this day of mischief! O cruel drowsing in the evil hour! Here they sat and a great work they contrived” (Homer 842). Odysseus failed at keeping his men from eating the cattle. The failure broke him down, but he still kept on going with his job, that later soon will led to his success. Odysseus succeeded many times along his journey, but there is always room to grow stronger. Odysseus failed once again at Helios’s Island. Once the winds, that were sent by Zeus, came to a stop, the men were able to carry on with the journey. But soon later, “with a
Loyalty and Betrayal You have been trapped in a Vietnamese camp for 3 months. They have tortured you every day trying to get you to reveal secrets about your government. You endure the pain, and with clenched teeth you keep saying no. When you are at the brink of death.
Odysseus makes some substantial mistakes, thus leading to the failure to his men. Odysseus shows extremely inadequate leadership qualities throughout the story. When Odysseus is on the journey to Ithaka, he neglects to let his crew know how long they will be staying on each island. He also neglects to let them know of the journey that lies ahead. This is very poor leadership in the eyes of his crew members. The crew relies on their leader to be honest with them when it comes to situations such as these. They expect Odysseus to make decisions for the well being of the crew. When Odysseus receives advice, even if it is helpful he tends to ignore it. He thinks he is the most intelligent human being, even more so than the gods. A prime example of this is when Odysseus receives advice from Kirke about Scylla. Kirke tells Odysseus not to fight Scylla, yet he chooses to anyway. Another example of Odysseus’s ignorance toward people is when Eurylochus tells him not to go onto Kirke’s island because he knows the crew would be turned into swine. Odysseus again chooses to ignore the intelligent advice given by the gods, and finds out that hard way that Eurylochus was correct. After all that Odysseus has done to the crew, it is true to
In book nine: the Cyclops fate is demonstrated; these are the times you see that the gods take action in Odysseus life. Odysseus is talking to the terrifying Cyclops; Odysseus is explaining to the Cyclops how fate has brought them to his island. Odysseus says on page 116 lines 159 thru 163. “We are Achemans…took the wrong route as Zeus I suppose instead that we should.” Odysseus says that he
The Odyssey by Homer is a great text that manipulates the skill of storytelling bringing out the meaning of being human, the spiritual and physical homecoming. It is an archetypal epic expedition essential for understanding ourselves and other modern texts following the same pattern. The text brings out the ancient Greek beliefs and customs that are essential in studying Western Literature through the evaluation of different characters, and the themes manifested are essential in establishing a good foundation for any literature student. The themes therein such as leadership skills, folly, retaliation, mythology, death, ogres, temptation seduction, deceit, and warfare make the text an essential student companion in the quest of comprehending literature.
Homer’s The Odyssey is not just a tale of a man’s struggle on his journey home from the Trojan War, but of his struggle from the consequences of revenge. The Odyssey weaves in different characters’ tales of revenge from the gods and what impact revenge actually had on those characters. Revenge is an important underlying theme in The Odyssey because, in essence, it explains why Odysseus’ journey was so prolonged and treacherous. A few examples of revenge in the poem include Orestes’ revenge on Aegisthus, Zeus’ revenge on Odysseus and his men, and Poseidon’s revenge on Odysseus. These different examples of revenge in The Odyssey show the importance of the gods’ revenge in the epic journey of Odysseus.
Odysseus proves his selfishness by disregarding any advice given to him by others and doing what he thinks will have the best outcome for himself. His egocentric attitude continues to be portrayed as he puts his health and well-being before his men. Aeolus, ruler of the winds, presents Odysseus with a bag of wind to guide him and his crew home, but instead of putting his pride aside and letting his men know what it is, he lets their imagination take over to where they assume it is filled with treasure that he is selfishly taking for himself. Although he was not actually taking treasure, it is selfish of him to keep this information from his men knowing they will open it. He puts all the blame on them when he says, ‘My coward comrades did me in’ (10.71). Odysseus could have easily prevented this, but he was too stubborn. Along their way home, the crew docks on Helios’ island where they are advised not to eat the cattle, but while Odysseus was away attempting to call on the gods, they sacrificed the best cows. A good leader would have explained to them consequences, but he was only worried about his own personal agenda. Because of this, Zeus punishes them when he says, ‘As for those sinners, I’ll soon strike their ship/with blazing lightning’ (12.394-395). These instances cause his
B. After the escape from Scylla and Charybdis, the remainder of Odysseus’s men go hungry on the island of Helios. They remember Odysseus’s warning about not eating Helios’s cattle but proceed anyway because of their need for food. Even though they give offerings to the cattle they still eat them and Zeus punishes them with a lightning bolt destroying all the men besides Odysseus. Instead of listening to Odysseus’s orders and obeying Helios’s command, his men act in a selfish manner and consume the food.
In Homer’s Epic, The Odyssey Odysseus the leader of Ithaca goes through very long troublesome and painful journey after fighting in the Trojan War. Throughout the whole epic, learning and experiencing his long expedition, the reader can decide who is to blame. Many Greek people would
When they landed on the island of Hyperion, bad winds prevented them from leaving. Food soon became low, and when Odysseus was asleep, the crew killed the cows of Hyperion against the god's warnings. Hyperion was enraged to see this and had all of Odysseus' men killed in a great storm. After the storm all Odysseus had left was his own strength and the favor of Athena. Odysseus learned that the gods must be respected in order for any man to succeed.
How all Odysseus’s problems start was at the Cyclops Island when he yelled his name to the Cyclops that prayed to the god Poseidon and had Odysseus curse. Only after Odysseus angers the Cyclops that is a demigod does he have to pay. Granted the Cyclops in the cave did eat two of his men, but gods only the offenses others have done to them and nothing more. Next at the Witch’s island Odysseus saves his men and stays with the witch for a year despite his crew’s wishes, that creates a shred of distrust between them. Eventually that causes a domino effect after Hades and the monster where Odysseus hides behind his men; when they land on the sun god’s island. The men go behind Odysseus’s back when he is asleep and kill the flocks that were on that island. From this the Sun god pleads to Zeus for vengeance. Zeus creates a storm that kills his men. In this sense the gods are a reactive force, to the one action Odysseus made on the Cyclops
Hi brother. I hope you are doing well. I myself have been having some troubling ideas. We have discussed this before, but I would like to bring to your attention that Odysseus is not worthy of your assistance, or any of the God’s assistance. When we look back, we see that Odysseus was so proud of himself when he stabbed the Cyclops’s eye, which put him and his crew in dangerous situations.
Does a man have free will? Can he control his own fate, or is it influenced, or perhaps even preordained, by an immortal power? Time and time again this question has been asked and explored in literary pieces that involve an element of a supernatural being, a higher power that mortal man cannot compare to. Among those who incorporate this existential reflection into their own written world is Homer, an ancient Greek poet, creator of the Odyssey. Throughout his epic, Homer demonstrates the simultaneous action of both fate and responsibility and the precarious balance that exists between the two in dictating the road of Odysseus, with the gods neither claiming sovereignty nor letting man run his own course unobstructed. Often, the will of
So when the Cicones gather an army from inland to ward off the Greek invaders, Odysseus loses many men and rather than acknowledge his error in judgment, he shifts the blame of the defeat to his crew. Convincing himself that he is not at fault for having been defeated, but rather his selfish crew who refused to leave, he justifies his actions, “Then I urged them to cut and run, set sail, but would they listen? Not those mutinous; there was too much wine to swill, too many sheep to slaughter”(9.50-52). Odysseus knows that if he stays on the island, the Cicones will rally an army and come to kill Odysseus and his men. Despite this, he stays and reassures himself that the major defeat was by Zeus’ hand, “Zeus presented us with disaster us, me and my comrades doomed to suffer”(9.61-62). Homer teaches us that no matter how many great accolades one holds, they are destined to fail if they cannot own up to their mistakes and actions.
This quote reveals that one of Odysseus’s men has just accidently killed himself, under the watch of Odysseus. In fact, under Odysseus’s watch, the men were permitted to be constantly drunk and stay at Circe’s for a full year. Odysseus had no concern for the families he and his men had yet to return to, and had no urgency to get the crew in a safer place and off the island of Aeaea. It took a death to snap some sense into him. This is not a one time issue. In a later story, Odysseus and his men have landed on the island of Thrinakia, land of Helios’ holy cows. Circe has prophesied that if any of Odysseus’s crew touches the cows, that they will all be killed. Odysseus allows them to go onto the island, and simply tells them to not touch the cows, without a reason. Within weeks, Odysseus’s men kill and eat the cows, and within days, all are dead. This blatant mistake made by Odysseus kills all of his crew, leaving him to feel guilty.