ipl-logo

Odysseus Should Not Be Blamed In Homer's The Odyssey

170 Words1 Page

In Homer’s The Odyssey, the deaths of Odysseus’ men should not be blamed on Odysseus.
“The men open the bag, thinking it contains gold and silver, The bad winds escape and blow the ships back to Aeolus’ island.” The men blow them back to the island when they were almost home. They would have made it if Odysseus’ men weren’t greedy and tried to steal from Odysseus.
“So reassured, they all cried out together.” Odysseus’ men made the mistake of calling out. They expected to be treated well because of the law of hospitality, but instead Circe turned them into pigs.
“But those who ate this honeyed plant, the lotus, never cared to report. Odysseus’ men who went scouting ate the lotus flowers and Odysseus had to carry them, flailing, back to

Show More
Related

  • Odysseus: An Ineffective Leader In Homer's Odyssey

    1130 Words  | 5 Pages

    Only thinking for oneself is often favorable initially. However, this mindset can have a large effect on others as well. These consequences are often negative and harm all of those involved. The Odyssey, an epic poem by Homer, is based around the adventures of a hero named Odysseus and his crew. Odysseus spends 10 years away from home at war and spends just as long trying to get back.

    Read More

  • Odysseus's Leadership In The Odyssey By Homer

    806 Words  | 4 Pages

    Despite doing things only for himself sometimes, he cares for his men and protects them, as well as motivates them. When they encounter the lotus flowers, some of his men eat them and no longer want to go home. Odysseus doesn’t want to leave them behind to suffer, so he brings them back to this ship and ties them down, despite their protests (9. 211-215). By tying them down, he shows that he wants the best for them and that he is willing to protect them no matter what. He also warns the rest of the men about the lotus flowers as well, which proves that he does not want to see the rest of his men get

    Read More

  • Odysseus As A Leader In The Odyssey, By Homer

    649 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the stories in Homer’s, The Odyssey, Odysseus shows characteristics of a poor leader but sometimes lets us see moments where he is a good. In the stories Odysseus is faced with situations that show his true colors. Most of the time Odysseus is very brave and loyal to his crew mates. On the other hand at times he can show a lack of trust in his crew and let his pride outweigh his brain. He shows loyalty by never leaving any members of his crew behind.

    Read More

  • Odysseus: An Attractive Leader In Homer's Odyssey

    748 Words  | 3 Pages

    He reminds them of their experiences and provides their courage and confidence back. Odysseus manages his men’ inconvenience feelings; he follows through his responsibility as a leader. On the contrary, after showing an outstanding act of leadership, by the same token, Odysseus display a hubris and the incorrigible side of him that legitimize him deficient. When departing the land of the Cyclopes, he yelled back “ how do you like the beating.. you damned cannibal” to Polyphemus ( Homer 171 ll.

    Read More

  • Monologue From The Odyssey

    716 Words  | 3 Pages

    I looked out the window, expecting to see the runaway crew member but instead I saw a different man who I immediately recognized as Odysseus. My spirits rose because I knew he was smarter than the others. Once again I lured him into my palace and offered him food and wine, which he refused. He only wanted to get his men returned to their original forms and to continue his journey to Ithaca with them by his side. When I finally convinced him to drink my wine, he was not affected by it.

    Read More

  • Land Of The Lotus Eaters In Homer's The Odyssey

    823 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Examples Of Courage In Odysseus

    563 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Odysseus Decisions In Homer's Odyssey

    831 Words  | 4 Pages

    These stories prove that Odysseus made all of his own decisions and he is the one to blame for many of the deaths of his men. In conclusion, there are many more times in The Odyssey where Odysseus sacrificed more and more of his men because of his own choices and

    Read More

  • Why Is Odysseus Justified In His Own Actions

    266 Words  | 2 Pages

    The reason why is because of the way the wooers treated them while Odysseus was gone. Then when he gets home from the war he notices that all his belongings had been violated and taken from him. I do believe that everyone who was involved should have been punished. The wooers she had punished it was there plot on Odysseus to do this while he was away. They were all there taking his belongings and violating his things while he was

    Read More

  • How Does Odysseus Get Home

    738 Words  | 3 Pages

    Odysseus and his men leave Troy and arrive at the Land of the Lotus Eaters, there the men are convinced to eat the Lotus plant. This lotus plant acted as a type of drug and they wanted to stay on the island, and they forgot about their home and what their goals were. After they left and Odysseus and his

    Read More

  • The Destruction Of Odysseus In Homer's Odyssey

    1066 Words  | 5 Pages

    Odysseus and his men had travel to the island of the Lotus eaters when he drove “... them, all three wailing, to the ships, tied them down under their rowing benches, and called the rest: “ all hands a board; come, clear the beach and no one taste the Lotus or you lose your hope of home.” (Book 9, lines 48-52, textbook). Odysseus saved three of his man and brought them back to the ship, saving them from a long weary death. Odysseus also taught his remaining man a lesson and showed his men how clever he was in this dire situation. As Odysseus is fleeing from the Laestrygonians, he “...shouted rapid orders at my shipmates: ‘Put your backs in the oars- now row or die… my ship alone… we… escaped our death yet at heart for the dear companions we had lost.”

    Read More

  • Temptation And Pride In The Odyssey

    664 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Odysseus Lessons In Homer's Odyssey

    909 Words  | 4 Pages

    None of Odysseus’s men were really loyal to him because of their lack of obedience and honesty. In this episode the men learn that their disobedience causes them their lives when Helios the sun god realizes his scared cattle had been killed. Helios furious goes to Zeus and begs him to punish Odysseus’s men, or he will take the sun and go “down to the House of Death and blaze the sun among the dead” (Odyssey 12. 412). Zeus with no choice left but to punish Odysseus’s men whips up a storm and strikes his thunder bolt to destroy Odysseus’s ship soon after they leave the island. No one survives but Odysseus.

    Read More

  • Odysseus Use Of Justice In Homer's Odyssey

    1399 Words  | 6 Pages

    As the precise definition of justice cannot be definitively stated, the line separating just from unjust actions is incredibly obscure. Many factors may influence an individual’s perception of what constitutes justice, such as time period, culture, or personal morals. Thus, while an act may be considered righteous in one context, the same act may be ruled unjust in other contexts. For instance, when Odysseus finally returns home to Ithaca, as retribution for defiling his home and attempting to court his wife, Odysseus murders all of Penelope’s suitors. The extremely graphic depiction of his retribution had appeared almost superfluous, causing the morality of his actions to be brought into question.

    Read More

  • The Flawed Character Of Odysseus In Homer's Odyssey

    432 Words  | 2 Pages

    While Odysseus did have good intentions of bringing his men home, he continuously made poor and selfish decisions, and he was constantly putting his men in danger more often than

    Read More

More about Odysseus Should Not Be Blamed In Homer's The Odyssey

Open Document