The Odyssey Essay
The Odyssey overall was a good book. It had a great plot, the story was much in depth, and it had a very good ending. But, there were 3 parts of The Odyssey that stood out to me the most. I believe that Odysseus is a good and strong leader because defeated Cyclops, escaping the Sirens, and defeating Antinous. Whether escaping a giant monster, or escaping a song of death, to defeating his enemy upon attempting to steal his wife, Odysseus is a good and brave leader throughout the majority of the book
The first part that stood out was that Odysseus saves his friends in the Cyclops’ cave.
He saves his friends from Cyclops’ cave by finding a way to escape without killing cyclops. Cyclops was too abominable to let them go, so they had to find a way to escape.
Cyclops has one eye, so they blinded him by immersing the stake deep into his eye to blind him. Only five people helped stab cyclops, because the others were appalled to do it. They couldn’t kill Cyclops, because they were in a cave with the entrance sealed off, and Cyclops was the only one who could move it. Quote: Lines 329-333, Page 692: I drew it from the coals and my four fellows gave me a hand, lugging it near the Cyclops as more than natural force nerved them; straight forward they sprinted, lifted it, and rammed it deep in his crater eye. In the quote stated above, Odysseus is driving the wooden stake into Cyclops’ eye. Cyclops at the moment was inept, making it easier to stab him. The quote proves
Odysseus’s escape from the Cyclops is one of great intelligence. A Cyclops is a giant one eyed monster. Homer said, “The booming voice and the very sight of the monster filled us with panic” (IX, 256). From the first moment Odysseus and his men set eyes on the Cyclops they know they are in trouble and will not be able to get out easily. The Cyclops, Polyphemus, eats two of Odysseus’ men from the start. As soon as this happens, Odysseus
His men also couldn't help him move the massive rock blocking the exit of the cave they are trapped in. He had to figure out a way to use the Cyclops's own strength against him. So, that is what he did. "Blinded, and sick with pain from his head wound,/ the master stroked each ram, then let it pass,/ but my men riding on the pectoral fleece/ the giant's blind hands blundering never found." (Homer, 9. 480-483). He snuck his men out on the bottoms of the Cyclops's rams so he wouldn't detect them escaping, a very clever plan. Everett was also a very clever man. He tricked the two men that he was chained to into believing a very detailed and believable story about a treasure of $1.2 million that they would split, which was actually all mad up so he could escape. He would have gone on his own but he was chained to the other two men, so he thought of a way to get them to go with him. It was a bad thing to do, but it was very clever. That is a few character traits that Everett and Odysseus share.
What happened was that he was trying to see if that Giants were "Friend or Foe". As it would turn out they were pretty mean and brutal, but he wanted to see what the Cyclops would do if they were ever in his cave, well they found out really quick. He locked the in his cave an everyday hey would eat 2 of his men in the Moring and at night. But finally, they escaped by using a hot wooden stick and jamming it into the Cyclops's only eye. Odysseus thought he was all mighty and humble, well think again he tried to get his whole crew killed by trash talking the Cyclops, "now who do you think would do that."
In Book 9, Odysseus does battle with a popular Greek Mythology creature the Cyclopes. Here Odysseus shows us how cunning he can be. While trapped Odysseus really fears that he will never see that homeland of Ithaca ever again. He is very mournful and we see just how much he misses home. He finally realizes how to escape from the Cyclops. He stabs the Cyclops in his only eye blinding him. He then tells the monster
To get out without being killed Odysseus comes up with a plan instead of trying to kill the Cyclops he says, “ I’ll make a gift that will please you.” Odysseus’ plan is to get the Cyclops drunk and then stab his eye to blind him, doing so Odysseus finds a way to get the giant to move the ginormous boulder as the cyclops look for Odysseus and his men but move the boulder at the same time. If Odysseus would have fought the Cyclops, he could have been killed or killed the cyclops causing them to be trapped in the cave.
Curiosity gets the best of them, Odysseus and one ship sail over to the Island of the Cyclops. Once again there curiosity gets them in danger, they wander into a cyclops cave and end up get trapped inside. The cyclops was seen as a big intimidating figure who was typically seen as a scary beast to many humans. “ We felt a pressure on our hearts, dread of that deep rumble and that mighty man.” This shows that even The Odysseus raider of cities was afraid of the one eyed beast. Odysseus and his men knew their fate if they ended up getting trapped in the cave with the hungry cyclops. Odysseus and his men then disguised themselves after they stabbed the cyclops in the eye impairing his vision. This is a push for Odysseus but of course he has to prove his superiority and tricks the cyclops into thinking his name is
Feeling confident, him and his men stop in Ismara and engage in battle with the Ciconians fell asleep and lost many men. They made a stop at the land of the Cyclopes. He leads his crew into a cyclops' cave not knowing who the home belonged to and waited for the owners to return. When the owner of the cave does return the he's very angry with the Odysseus and his crew for eating his food. They are trapped there for a couple days and come up with a plan to escape. they plunged a wooden stake into the eye of the Cyclopes and manage to escape. The Cyclops Polyphemus then calls for the help of his father Poseidon, god of the sea to avenge
He is an intelligent hero. He was smart he knew what to do against the monster when he would fight them. He knew what to do to not hear sirens so he knew what to put on there ears so that they wouldn't hear them. He got an idea to tell the Cyclops so that he could beat up the Cyclops. He was one of those that would know what to do on monsters and his crew would admire him because he would defeat the monsters and his crew would be happy to be with him in this kind of situations that they could not come up with ideas to help them beat the monsters and Odysseus would come out with something very quick.
The stories of mythology involve numerous tales about the Gods and their interactions with humans and creatures alike that led to the unforeseen creations. In the tales of the Earliest Heroes, the materials are taken from a number of sources that vary from Greek/Roman poets to the Odyssey itself, and are then woven together to create a more static tale. The classic tale of Odysseus and the Cyclops display some of the more prevalent roles in Greek mythology. An intriguing aspect is that the first part of the story told in the book goes back to the Odyssey, though a thousand years separate the beginning from the end. This demonstrates the degrees of the course of Greek literature. Evidently, the tale focuses on the craftiness and valor of Odysseus for being able to escape the Cyclops that he encounters on his way home from the Trojan War. His ability to do so pertains to not only his brute strength but also his clever insight and thinking.When none of the men that accompany Odysseus are able to conjure a plan to escape
Cyclops (Polyphemus, specifically) is a gigantic one eyed monster, considered the sons of Titans, Uranus, Gaea, and the other Cyclopes were his brothers.Polyphemus was considered a skilled metalsmith craftsman fashioning useful items like certain tools, kitchenware, tableware, jewellery, and weapons out of various metals and he was very strong, but also stubborn. One weakness would be his one eye, so the Cyclopes could be easily blinded. One short myth on Polyphemus is that,Odysseus and his men entered a cave that Polyphemus lived in but he wasn’t there at the time.So Odysseus and his men helped themselves to the food and drink they found there. Then Polyphemus, returned to the cave.Finding Odysseus and his men in the cave
He also does not show fear and shows the intelligence that his father has. The story did keep me guessing wondering if they could help out Odysseus and if they could save his kingdom. My favorite part in the book would have to be the when Odysseus goes through Scylla cave and at the end almost die to Charybdis, this would have to be my favorite part because Scylla is a cool character she is a six headed dog monster and when they survive Charybdis a giant mouth monster that makes whirlpools when he is opens his mouth is amazing to imagine what that would look like. Some scenes were written well and some not, one scene that I didn't understand was when Odysseus finds the Cyclops and takes out his eyes and steals his goats. The book got me exited and wanting
While Odysseus was in the Cyclops's cave, Odysseus saved his men and himself by forming a plan to safely get out. Odysseus and his men executed the plan and got out, but it shows tremendous courage to intensify his role and take on the weight of their lives on one’s shoulder.
Heubeck, Alfred, J.B. Hainsworth, et al. A commentary on Homer's Odyssey. 3 Vols. Oxford PA4167 .H4813 1988
“When I first saw him I was at a loss for words. I survived a treacherous war, and managed to escape the land of the lotus eaters, so I knew once we were trapped we had to get out”. Odysseus and his crew created an ingenious plan to kill the Cyclops. “We all had the same goal in mind so we followed through with a pure genius plan that all of us
Odysseus displays many virtues on his journey back home. He was known to be a virtuous man for his virtue of wisdom throughout his kingdom. During the story of the Odyssey, wisdom is used many times during his way back home. The Cyclops encounter displayed some of his wisdom. Hiding the specific details about who he was to help his men escape the cave. He did this in a way that was very careful and thought about consequences before acting upon them.