The Theme Of Loyalty And Xenia In Homer's Odyssey

Negative presentations of hospitality almost always hurts a character in some way. One of the first instances of this is when Odysseus meets Polyphemus of the Cyclops’ Island. Polyphemus does not immediately show hospitality upon meeting Odysseus and his crew, so Odysseus asks for it. “... beholden for your help, or any gifts you give as a custom to honor strangers… Zeus will avenge the unoffending guests… We cyclops care not a whistle for your thundering Zeus… where was it, now, you left your ship…” (Homer 902). Since Polyphemus refuses to give Odysseus hospitality, there is no chance of civility and this will not help Odysseus, only hurt him.

I believe that due to Zeus’s function as a god, his supremacy, and his power, Greeks along with other gods were frightened to discuss the problems with these affairs and therefore had to accept that Zeus could do as he pleased. Zeus’s main function is to carry out law and order, and initiate discipline when the rules are violated. He protects,

It could be said that he is not a hero because after he defeats Polyphemus, he yells to him, “If I could take your life I would and take your time away, and hurl you down to hell! The god of earthquake could not heal you there!”(479-481). By saying this, he was challenging a god and belittling Poseidon's power, which does not aline with Greek values. Still, this does not make Odysseus less of a hero. What he said was wrong, but he was punished and he changed his ways.

After defeating the Cyclops and heading back out into the sea he stood on his ship mocking the Cyclops. When escaping the cave he chose the wooliest ram for himself which shows selfishness. He also leads his men into their own fates. Circe had warned Odysseus about Scylla to not try and fight her even when she already has six of his men, but he did not listen to her advice and tried to fight her and lost three more of his men. Once back to Ithaca there were many suitors insulting him, his wife, son, house, and the gods and begging for Penelope’s hand in marriage.

This was foolhardy because Jim ran away from protection, potentially putting himself at risk of the pirates capturing. It was especially foolhardy because he ran after a fight when the honest hands might have needed him the most. When he said “bolt”, it suggested that he wasn’t thinking about his actions and that he just ran as soon as he had the thought. In conclusion, this action shows that Jim is foolhardy because he isn’t thinking about his actions and he is leaving the injured honest hands defenseless. As it has been shown, Jim is foolhardy because he ran out from under the bridge, goes off of the ship with the pirates, and runs out of the stockade.

Gilgamesh is unhappy with this and threatens to hit her gate, breaking the bolt. Siduri wasn’t phased by the threat and opted to speak to him from the terrace as opposed to coming back down, After Gilgamesh explains the reason for his journey and why he looks so defeated and sick Siduri offers him her advice. Before

Although, there are two sides to every argument, it is much more reasonable and clear to view Odysseus as unheroic. Through his careless acts and help from the gods, Odysseus is evidently not a hero. Odysseus is not a hero due to his irresponsible and illogical actions. As soon as Odysseus and his crew escape from the island of the Cyclopes, Odysseus foolishly shouts to Polyphemus, a Cyclops, that “if any mortal

His knowledge of the future still did not enable him to understand the full extent of his punishment. Furthermore, though he claims himself the enemy of those who submit to Zeus, he also argues that sympathizing with Zeus’s enemy—in this case himself—is “a load of toil and foolishness” (14). He believes that it is, and presumably was, unintelligent to align oneself in opposition to the king of the gods. Finally, although he lauds the benefit he gave specifically to the originally “Senseless” humans (16), he later seems unhappy that he chose humans, saying they are useless to him. In the middle of delineating all the good, admirable things he did for them, he laments that humans have “no invention / To rid me of this shame”

It is easy to understand that the beast’s actions were just followed by horrible feelings. First, the monster was abandoned and stricken mentally. Then, the people in the village threw rocks at the beast with rage. Along the feeling of self-consciousness, the creature had to deal with loneliness. Without love and responsibility, the monster killed Frankenstein’s best friend, Henry Clerval.

And at its climax, the chorus, representing his Theban people, disavowed King Oedipus and his contributions to Thebes saying it would have been better without him. These acts combined drive the humiliated Oedipus towards self-punishment, exile, and to his piteous, shameful fate. Sophocles in Oedipus the King puts the idea of truth and knowledge in the spotlight of Greek and modern audiences. Although Oedipus himself meets a collectively negative end, the power of truth is revealed through his misery. Some things are best left to the Gods rather than in the minds of men, it would have been to Oedipus’ ignorant bliss.

This statement just shows what little humanity people come too. “ ‘Cosmo was in no position to give orders, he was not in charge of the boat’ ”, says Sir Andrew (MailOnline). People in the boat wanted to row back to save others, but the greediness of the Gordon came over their hospitality. This act of bribery was given a lot of shame when the Gordons came back. Not having enough lifeboats caused people to do things they didn’t want to but thought they had no choice to do.