The Odyssey is an integral part of the ancient Greek epic, and its authorship is usually attributed to Homer. The poem narrates Odysseus’s adventures after returning from the Troyan war. The hero faces many dangers during a long journey and returns home after 20 years. On the way, he loses his people, some of whom die a terrible and painful death. This paper aims to present plot twists, where Odysseus is at odds with his crew, and analyze who was more often right – Odysseus or his men.
Ismarus Island
After rescued from Calypso’s island, Odysseus finds himself at a feast with King Alcinoy, where he reveals his identity. Alkinoy’s guests are not very friendly, and Odysseus decides to appease them with a story about his journeys. The first story is about the arrival on the island of Ismarus, which belonged to the Cicones. Here the reader first encounters the inconsistency of the decisions and desires of Odysseus and his crew. Taken by surprise, the locals were unable to resist the sailors who plundered the island. Hence, Odysseus ordered his people to leave the land quickly, but they refused.
Odysseus recalls, “Then I said we must run away. Those fools / refused to listen. They were drinking wine / excessively and killing sheep and cattle / along the beach. The Cicones called out / to neighbors on the mainland, who were strong / and numerous, and skilled at horseback fighting” (Odyssey 9: 44-49). The decision to stay led to a battle between Odysseus’ men and Cicones, in which many people die. Describing the fight, Odysseus says that his men fought bravely, but then began to lose. He says, “But when the sun turned round / and dipped, the hour when oxen are released, / the Cicones began to overpower / us Greeks. Six well-armed members of my crew / died from each ship” (Odyssey 9: 56-60). Therefore, in the presented case, as the ship captain, Odysseus was more discerning about the enemy’s forces, and the crew should have listened to him.
The Island of Lotus-Eaters
The next episode is the arrival of Odysseus ships to the island of lotus-eaters. Odysseus’ men got acquainted with the locals, who treated them with lotus fruits, after which the sailors forgot their homes and the purpose of their journey. Odysseus says, “The scouts encountered humans, Lotus-Eaters, / who did not hurt them. They just shared with them / their sweet delicious fruit “(Odyssey 9: 91-93). Not so simple-minded to be trapped, Odysseus rescued his crew by forcibly leading his men to the ships. He recalls, “They wanted only to stay there, / feeding on lotus with the Lotus-Eaters./ They had forgotten home. I dragged them back / in tears, forced them on board the hollow ships, / pushed them below the decks, and tied them up” (Odyssey 9: 95-99). Unfortunately, this time, Odysseus was again wiser than his crew.
Cyclopes Islands
Even the most cunning and wise people sometimes make mistakes, which happened to Odysseus when his ships arrived on the Cyclopes Island. The sailors were fascinated by the lands this big ‘maverick’ men inhabited. After the battle with the Cicones and the lotus intoxication, the travelers exhausted both their strength and supplies. Therefore, they looked greedily at the Cyclopes Island’s rich pastures, where the vine grew, and goats grazed, walking on their own. Having landed on a distant shore of the island, Odysseus ordered his men to wait while he went scouting, choosing a small group to accompany him.
The scouts docked on the other side of the island, disembarking near the mountain. On top of this mountain was built a house in which the Cyclops Polyphemus lived. Odysseus and men found there cheese and wine in abundance. Frightened by the Cyclopes, the sailors started begging Odysseus to return to the ship. Still, a curiosity was stronger than him, and Odysseus ordered everyone to stay and wait for the Cyclops’ arrival. Odysseus later regretted his decision, “My crew begged, ‘Let us grab / some cheese and quickly drive the kids and lambs / out of their pens and down to our swift ships, / and sail away across the salty water!’ / That would have been the better choice” (Odyssey 9: 223-227). After entering the cave and encountering the Cyclops, who returned from the pastures, the men realized they were trapped.
Ignoring Odysseus’s call for hospitality, the Cyclops devoured six crew members. Despite the fear, Odysseus implemented a plan that helped everyone to escape. Together with his companions, he sharpened and burned an enormous club made of olive wood, and, having drunk the Cyclops with the delicious sweet wine, the men gouged out the Cyclops’ only eye. The Cyclops flew into a rage with severe pain and began to call for help from his fellows. But since the tricky Odysseus introduced himself to the Cyclops as Noman, the other Cyclops only laughed at Polyphemus’ cries that ‘Noman’ is killing him.
However, despite his blindness, the Cyclops could still harm travelers, as he sat at the exit of the cave and checked everyone who left it. Therefore, Odysseus came up with the idea of tying sheep with long wool in pairs of three, tying two people from his team to the sides of medium sheep. Therefore, Polyphemus was unable to detect the sailors leaving the cave. Odysseus says, “Though their master / was weak and worn with pain, he felt the back / of each ram as he lined them up — but missed / the men tied up beneath their woolly bellies” (Odyssey 9: 440-443). Odysseus tied himself to the belly of the largest black ram and escaped death. He recalls, “Last of them all, the big ram went outside, / heavy with wool and me — the clever trickster” (Odyssey 9: 444-445). However, having already boarded the ship, the clever Odysseus made another mistake, which turned out to be fatal.
He teased the Cyclops, saying that the eye’s deprivation was a punishment from the gods for his refusal to show hospitality. The enraged Cyclops began throwing stones in the direction of the ship and nearly destroyed it. A big stone fell into the sea and caused waves that pulled the ship back to the shore. But the sailors escaped, and, having gone to sea at a farther distance, Odysseus again called to Polyphemus. The team began begging Odysseus to stop, “Please! / Calm down! Why are you being so insistent / and taunting this wild man? He hurled that stone / and drove our ship right back to land” (Odyssey 9: 493-497). But Odysseus again did not regard the advice and shouted, “Cyclops! If any mortal asks you how / your eye was mutilated and made blind, / say that Odysseus, the city-sacker, / Laertes’ son, who lives in Ithaca, / destroyed your sight” (Odyssey 9: 502-506).
To this, Polyphemus replied that he had heard a prophecy according to which Odysseus would deprive him of his sight, and this prophecy came true. Now he will ask his father, Poseidon, to punish Odysseus and not allow his ships to return home. Polyphemus asked Poseidon, “Grant that Odysseus, the city-sacker, / will never go back home. Or if it is / fated that he will see his family, / then let him get there late and with no honor, / in pain and lacking ships, and having caused / the death of all his men” (Odyssey 9: 530-535). Therefore, Odysseus’ hastiness led to the fact that Poseidon cursed him and his crew.
Aeolus’ Gifts
After listening to Polyphemus’s threats, Odysseus returned the ships waiting for him in a remote bay on the Cyclopes Island. After leaving the island, the crew landed on the shores where Aeolus lived, who had a talent for controlling the winds. Hearing about Odysseus’s troubles, he gave him a gift – a knot in which he tied the gusty winds. Aeolus also caused a tailwind for the ships and promised Odysseus that he would quickly reach his native Ithaca. Indeed, the ships, accompanied by the wind Zephyr, easily crossed the sea until Odysseus saw the fires that people burned on the Ithaca coast.
Suddenly, Odysseus fell asleep, while his crew decided to untie the sack with the gusty winds. Men said, “So hurry, / we should look in the bag, and see how much / is in there — how much silver, how much gold” (Odyssey 10: 43-45). However, they found only a storm in the sack, which carried the ships into the open sea. Odysseus decided to return to Aeolus and again ask him for help but was expelled from the island, as Aeolus thought that the gods cursed Odysseus. He said: “It is not right for me to help convey / a man so deeply hated by the gods./ You godforsaken thing, how dare you come here? / Get out!” (Odyssey 10: 73-76). Therefore, now the team’s curiosity and discontent played a cruel joke with Odysseus and forced him to follow the fate that forced him to continue wandering.
Laestrygonia and Circe’s Island
After the sailors left Aeolus’ citadel and boarded the ships, evil winds carried them to Laestrygonia, inhabited by giants. The giants destroyed most of Odysseus’s ships, which decided to enter a quiet bay, fenced off from the open sea. Only Odysseus’ ship managed to escape since he did not enter the bay, anticipating a trap. Then Odysseus and his team landed on the goddess Circe’s island, who turned Odysseus’s people into pigs.
However, on Hermes’ advice, Odysseus managed to take the oath from Circe that she would not harm the sailors, and she had to disenchant the travelers. After Odysseus and his people stayed on the sorceress island for a year, he asked her to let them go, and Circe agreed. However, she demanded that Odysseus descend into hell and talk with the prophet Tiresias, who will predict his future. Having fulfilled the sorceress’s request, Odysseus returned to her island, and Circe gave Odysseus a lot of useful advice on coping with the trials that awaited him.
Thus, the plot twists where Odysseus disagrees with his crew were presented. Admittedly, both the mistakes of Odysseus and his men caused tragic consequences. However, Odysseus’s unwillingness to listen to his people can be explained by the fact that he was their captain and king. Therefore, he did not consider himself equal to them, despite his loyal and friendly relations. Moreover, The Odyssey is a fictional story, and consequently, the ancient Greeks might have believed that the poem should only entertain the reader.
Work Cited
Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by Emili Wilson, W. W. Norton & Company, 2018.