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The Punishment Of Odysseus In Homer's The Odyssey

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In the epic poem written by Homer, The Odyssey, the king of Ithaca named Odysseus sails home from the war at Troy. Along the way, he and his men encounter a lot of tedious obstacles. They go to Ismarus as well as discover the island of the Lotus, and the Lotus eaters who live on the island. Odysseus and his men also find a cyclops named Polyphemus, which they find out is the son of Poseidon. The land of Hades, or the land of the dead, is another place they travel to. Throughout all of the places they went, Odysseus expects his men to follow him whether he is doing right or wrong. Odysseus’ men have clear tension with Odysseus, and almost never agree with him. After 20 years, Odysseus finally sees his home again. He soon discovered that he was not welcome, and the suitors of Ithaca are trying to replace him. Odysseus’ wife still believes he is alive, and will not give her hand to marriage to any of them. While those who are loyal to Odysseus are rewarded, those who are unloyal receive severe punishment. Because Odysseus’ men are unloyal to him, they face …show more content…

Penelope states, “So every day I wove the great loom,/but every night by torchlight I unwove it;/and so for three years I deceived the Achaeans (19.1332-1334). Penelope tells the suitors that she wouldn’t marry one of them until she finished her weave because she still believed Odysseus would return. She tries to stall as much as she could, and in the end it was just enough. Odysseus is able to kill all of the suitors with the help from his son, Telemachus. Both Telemachus and Penelope stay loyal to Odysseus after being separated from him for 20 years. Odysseus is also loyal to his wife. While he was being held sexual prisoner by Circe, he never gave his heart to her. His romance was still with Penelope. Since Odysseus and his family were all loyal to each other, they were able to live the rest of their lives together in

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