Land of the Lotus Eaters In Book 9 of The Odyssey by Homer there is a section that describes people who eat and live by the Lotus flower, the Lotus Eaters. These are a peaceful people that Odysseus and his men fall upon in their journey. In the book they seem to fall under some sort of power from eating the flower and then Odysseus and his men never want to return home, giving up hope as well. Homer's The Odyssey isn't the only representation of these Lotus Eaters, Tennyson Tennyson wrote a poem called “The Lotus Eaters”, depicting more how Odysseus and his men felt while they were on the Lotus Eater’s Island. The emotional and spiritual traits of the characters in each piece differed but all focused on how the flower gave them a blissful feeling. Odysseus and his men in Book 9 started off …show more content…
The theme for Homer's The Odyssey Book 9 would be to stay in the real world and not to fall for bliss, or emotional wealth. The reason for this is that Odysseus and his men land on the island and get sucked right into it and fall under the Lotus Eaters spell. “But gave them lotus plants to eat, whose fruit, sweet as honey, made any man who tried it lose his desire ever to journey home” (Homer, Lines 121-123). They all fall under this bliss and had to physically be forced off of the island. The theme is different in Tennyson’s poem “The Lotus Eaters”, the theme is to let the bliss control, let death come. That’s how the men all felt, they seemed to be awaiting death. To take an easy way out and not have to worry about anything anymore, “surely, surely, slumber is more sweet than toil,” (Tennyson, Line 171). The Land of the Lotus Eaters leaned more towards a theme of good comes from seclusion. This is shown by how Bearden made sure to show that they are alone on the island with just the Lotus Eaters. He also depicts that the men are having a good time, nothing to show that they would want to
Notably, the song in the chorus describes how at home his love remains waiting silently for him. Likewise in The Odyssey, Penelope remains loyal to Odysseus through all the pandemonium from the suitors and nearly a 20 year absence from Odysseus. In one such instance with Penelope talking with Eurymachus, she describes the pride she has for herself and her marriage with Odysseus by saying ”'Eurymachus, all my excellence, my beauty and figure, were ruined by the immortals at that time when the Argives took ship for Ilion, and with them went my husband, Odysseus. If he were to come back to me and take care of my life, then my reputation would be more great and splendid(18.251-255).” Furthermore, the lyrics of the song constantly deal with the desire to return home; similarly, this is a common story development for Odysseus in The Odyssey.
The natives there gave Odysseus and his men an intoxicating fruit of the lotus. After Odysseus and his men eat the fruit, they forget all of their thoughts about home and decide to eat more of the fruit. The only way that Odysseus can get him and his men back home is by dragging his men back to the ship and lock them up, Odysseus decides to go along with it. When Odysseus went back to Ithaca, He made the wise choice to go and see his wife Penelope. Odysseus was so brave to go see his wife because he didn’t know if she was going to recognize him at all or want to be with him for the rest of her life.
Imagine being apart from your family for over ten years, fighting for your life in a war, and in the many battles and problems you will face on your way home from war. Would you be able to fight a cyclops, pass a dangerous whirlpool and have to face the fact that your crew betrayed you? In the novel The Odyssey written by Homer, Odysseus must do all of these things and more. He has been away from his wife, son and many other family members for over ten years now, fighting for his life on his journey home after fighting in the Trojan war.
“Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.” -Erich Fromm ‘The Odyssey’ by Homer, follows the story of Odysseus, a great Greek hero. It tells of his venture to Troy, to lead his army in the Trojan War, and his separation from loved ones and his kingdom for twenty years. However, the novel mainly focuses on the story of his homecoming and all he, and many others, had to endure while he was returning from abroad.
Whether in real life or in mythology there is going to be conflicts. Odysseus’ return and a veterans return would be unquestionably similar. They may not face the same conflicts such as fighting a cyclops, but there are still similarities that relate. Some of the hardships that happen when soldiers come home is worse than being at war. Many of the hardships Odysseus faced in the Odyssey can be likened to some of the hardships that soldiers may face when returning home from war.
Odysseus is tempted by the land of the Lotus-Eaters he desires all that he can benefit by raiding their home. Homer writes, “Then I sent out two picked men and a runner to learn what race of man that land sustained”(92-93). In line 94 Odysseus then learned that his decisions were made in vain, because Odysseus’ men “.. fell in soon enough, with the Lotus-Eaters,” Odysseus took his pride from defeating Troy and turned it into arrogance. This then created problem with Odysseus and his crew and their ability to get back home. One would think that Odysseus would not run into a conflict like he had already endured, but as stated in lines 458-459 Odysseus didn’t learn.
Odysseus and his crew members longed to return home, however this desire was in conflict with the many temptations that they faced. These are similar to the temptations that people today face. For example, on the island of the Lotus Eaters, Odysseus and his men were offered the Lotus
Throughout history, feasting has been a way to bring people together, to celebrate, and to entertain. In Homer’s play, The Odyssey, food serves multiple purposes. The opulent banquet that Telemachus attends in Sparta with Menelaus displays the hospitality and wealth of the Spartan royalty, and provides key information about the whereabouts of Odysseus. While this instance of feasting displays how eating can bring people together to celebrate, overindulging in the Odyssey is also portrayed negatively. As the play progresses, readers learn that excessive and unnecessary eating is one of the reasons that Odysseus does not quickly return home to Penelope, and additionally, it is the reason that many of the crewmen do not return at all.
The definition of a journey is extremely broad; it is simply to travel from one place to the next and consists of a start, a middle, and an end. A journey is able to be delightful or distressing; the possibilities are endless. Humans lives are one humongous journey. Furthermore, it is common for humans to write about these journeys and include them in literature. The Odyssey by Homer takes place after the Trojan War and tells the arduous and frustrating story of a demigod and his journey to return home.
We can depict this conclusion through the quote found in Chapter 9 ”Now, by the gods, as I drove my big hand spike deep in the embers, charring it again, and cheered my men along with battle talk to keep their courage up: no quitting now.” Odysseus and his men were very adamant about escaping and strategically injuring the cyclops, instead of crying aloud and yelling to the gods, courage rained down on them. The encouraging words that Homer uses instantly lifts the mood to triumphant environs. In retrospect, Homer uses diction and imagery to display distinct shifts in tone stimulating the reader's senses and evoking strong emotion in the reader. In this excerpt from “The Odyssey,” Homer’s brilliant diction shows the reader a valuable lesson, that things do not always go as you planned them to, making unintellegent assumptions will often hurt you in situations, but you can always turn a negative situation around by stabbing a cyclops in the eye
The Odyssey by the Greek poet Homer is mainly about Odysseus journey home after 20 years. It is an expedition with his men, some not making it home alive. Food Imagery and Temptation in The Odyssey by Smith explains a different view of the story. Saying how temptation is mostly show throughout Odysseus’s exploration. All kinds of food is show from beginning to end.
Upon the coastline of lotus eaters Odysseus sends out 2 men and a runner to see what is on the land. He later notices that the lotus flowers his men have been eating make them not want to leave the island. Odysseus first shows his men loyalty when he goes to get his men no matter how much of a fight they put up and he then ties them to the ship so they can’t escape. Odysseus says to his men, “I drove them, all three wailing, to the ships, / tied them down under their rowing benches, / and called the rest” (Homer 9. 48-50). While on Calypso’s Island, Calypso falls in love with Odysseus and wants him to stay even offering him immortality.
Odysseus starts to learn the importance of being modest through moments of despair. One can perceive a change in character midway through the journey, during his trip to Helio 's Island. Prior to the trip, the crew was deliberately told not harm Helios’s, cattle, for they will suffer the consequences. However, hunger grew in all their bodies leading them to eat the sun god’s cattle. In despair, Odysseus cries to Zeus explaining how he needs a god to save him from starvation.
Homer’s Odyssey is greatly concerned with nostos, the Greek word for homecoming. The tale follows Odysseus’ journey home to Ithaka, which is greatly affected by the choices made by the characters. Penelope and Odysseus in particular play a significant role in Odysseus’ quest for nostos. Odysseus uses deception and tricks in an attempt to assure his speedy homecoming, whilst Penelope does the same in order to avoid being forced to replace her husband. The couple occasionally thwart their own efforts, such as when Odysseus does not share with his men what the bag of winds contains and when Penelope is caught undoing her work on the shroud for Laertes.
Throughout the course of an exceptionally dangerous point in Odysseus’ return voyage he and his men find themselves caught in the territory of the Lotus Eaters, natives who have had their minds corrupted by a certain Lotus flower. Upon landing on the island, Odysseus sent three men to scout the area, all three of which became plagued by the flower. However, Odysseus “… drove [his men] to the ships, tied them down… [and] moved out again” (Homer 9.105-112). Odysseus cares about the safety of those three crew members, though they may have seemed insignificant due to the total size of his troupe. Rather than simply fleeing the island, he ventures out to ensure his men will return despite their stupefied state.