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Temptation Of Odysseus Habits In Homer's The Odyssey

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Have you ever been on a diet and wanted the last piece of cake really bad that you finally gave in? That’s called a temptation. In Homer’s story, The Odyssey, there are many temptations that the characters have faced throughout their journey. The characters that I will be sharing with you are Odysseus's men. Although some temptations were resisted, but some were not. First I will start with the temptations that were resisted. On their long journey home, they were tempted by the sirens. Sirens are creatures that lure sailors to their death by singing. At first the temptation was not being resisted but Circe warned Odysseus and his men about the sirens. She gave Odysseus pieces of wax to put in the ears of his men so they would not be able to …show more content…

As you may know, these men are also soldiers. They have large appetites which can be crucial temptations. In book nine of The Odyssey, the men come to temptations that they cannot resist. Food. In the land of the Cyclops, the men come to a cave filled with cheese and wine. With their hunger, they could not resist but to try to steal it. Polyphemus, a cyclops was awakened by the men. He ate two of Odysseus’ men. Giving in to their temptation costed two lives. Another temptation that the men could not resist was when they were on the island of the sun’s cattle. The men gave into their hunger once again and killed some cattle to eat. The god of all gods, Zeus, was angered by this. He struck the men with a lightning bolt and killed them. The punishment of their temptation was death.

I think Homer thinks that temptation, whether resisted or not, still comes with a price. Gluttony, lust, and, jealousy are major deadly sins in ancient Greece. I don’t think the Greeks found anything less tempting than we do. When we’re on a diet, we may think that something that has a lot of calories sounds really good and we’ll either give in or not. Giving in or not, we are still

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