Odysseus makes both good and bad decisions along his journey from Troy to his native island of Ithaca. Book 9 of Homer's Odyssey provides examples of both Odysseus' good and bad decisions.
One of his good decisions was to bring along some wine when he visited the land of the Cyclopes. He used this wine to get the Cyclops Polyphemus drunk and then escape from the Cyclops' cave. Of course, Odysseus never would have been...
Odysseus makes both good and bad decisions along his journey from Troy to his native island of Ithaca. Book 9 of Homer's Odyssey provides examples of both Odysseus' good and bad decisions.
One of his good decisions was to bring along some wine when he visited the land of the Cyclopes. He used this wine to get the Cyclops Polyphemus drunk and then escape from the Cyclops' cave. Of course, Odysseus never would have been trapped in the Cyclops cave if his curiosity about the Cyclopes had not gotten the better of him.
Another of his bad decisions in the episode with the Cyclops was to reveal his name to the Cyclops. Initially, Odysseus had told Polyphemus that his name was "Nobody", which was a good decision.
"My name is Nobody. Nobody, my father, mother, and friends call me.” (Kline translation)
So, after Odysseus blinded the Cyclops, the Cyclops called for help from his neighbors, who did not help him because he said that "Nobody" was injuring him. On the other hand, when Odysseus finally escapes from Polyphemus' cave, he reveals his true name. This allows Polyphemus to pray to his divine father Poseidon and specify the name of the person who injured him. After this time, Poseidon persecuted Odysseus.
"Yet all the gods pitied him, except Poseidon, who continued his relentless anger against godlike Odysseus until he reached his own land at last." (Kline translation)
No comments:
Post a Comment