In today’s world, fate is considered to be a human-made construct that describes the succession of events in life that cannot be controlled; it is the opposite of free will. However, to the ancient Greeks, fate could absolutely be controlled. The humans often clashed with the Greek gods when trying to secure their destiny; humans believed they had free will, but the gods knew they had complete control over the people. This confrontation between humans and gods is seen throughout The Odyssey. The gods frequently alter situations the humans are in to change their outcomes while the people try to deal with their new situations and take back the control over their own lives. In Homer’s The Odyssey, the relationship between gods and humans manifests
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Poseidon punishes Odysseus by keeping him away from his homeland, Ithaca. “For his sake Poseidon, shaker of the earth, although he does not kill Odysseus, yet drives him back from the land of his fathers,” (I: 74-75). After the Trojan War ended, all Odysseus wanted was to return home to his family with his companions. However, the path he took led him to the land of the Cyclops, and he ended up having to kill Poseidon’s son to continue on his journey home. From Odysseus’ perspective, the cyclops was just another obstacle that he had to overcome to get home; Odysseus believed that he was destined to arrive at Ithaca to be reunited with his family and would overcome whatever he needed to get there. However, Poseidon easily changed Odysseus’ fate; Odysseus was swept away to Kalypso’s island and was stranded there. It is evident that the two are at odds over Odysseus’ fate; Odysseus is doing his best to return home, but Poseidon is doing whatever it takes to stop Odysseus from doing …show more content…
While the men were heading back to Ithaca, Zeus sent a massive storm to wreck their ship. Odysseus described this by stating, “Zeus… with thunder and lightning together crashed on our vessel… my men were thrown in the water… and the god took away their homecoming,” (XII: 415-419). This scene is significant because Zeus completely changed the companions’ fate. Instead of letting them sail back home safely and reunite with their families as they planned to, Zeus broke apart their ship and let the men drown. However, this scene is also significant because Odysseus was able to use his godlike strength to change the fate the gods planned for him. In this situation, Odysseus was completely powerless against the god; he narrowly survived and almost drowned multiple times. However, he used his strength to pull himself out of the water and hold onto a branch until he could hang onto a piece of the ship to survive. This shows how Odysseus was able to beat out the gods in this particular struggle over his fate; Zeus tried to punish everyone on the ship, but Odysseus was smarter and stronger, and therefore, saved himself from death. The particular words used in this quote from The Odyssey also show a separation between Odysseus and Zeus. Zeus is referred to as “the god” rather than his full name. This seems to have a negative connotation; it could even be considered degrading toward Zeus. Homer tries to create this
Poseidon punishes Odysseus by keeping him away from his homeland, Ithaca. “For his sake Poseidon, shaker of the earth, although he does not kill Odysseus, yet drives him back from the land of his fathers,” (I: 74-75). After the Trojan War ended, all Odysseus wanted was to return home to his family with his companions. However, the path he took led him to the land of the Cyclops, and he ended up having to kill Poseidon’s son to continue on his journey home. From Odysseus’ perspective, the cyclops was just another obstacle that he had to overcome to get home; Odysseus believed that he was destined to arrive at Ithaca to be reunited with his family and would overcome whatever he needed to get there. However, Poseidon easily changed Odysseus’ fate; Odysseus was swept away to Kalypso’s island and was stranded there. It is evident that the two are at odds over Odysseus’ fate; Odysseus is doing his best to return home, but Poseidon is doing whatever it takes to stop Odysseus from doing …show more content…
While the men were heading back to Ithaca, Zeus sent a massive storm to wreck their ship. Odysseus described this by stating, “Zeus… with thunder and lightning together crashed on our vessel… my men were thrown in the water… and the god took away their homecoming,” (XII: 415-419). This scene is significant because Zeus completely changed the companions’ fate. Instead of letting them sail back home safely and reunite with their families as they planned to, Zeus broke apart their ship and let the men drown. However, this scene is also significant because Odysseus was able to use his godlike strength to change the fate the gods planned for him. In this situation, Odysseus was completely powerless against the god; he narrowly survived and almost drowned multiple times. However, he used his strength to pull himself out of the water and hold onto a branch until he could hang onto a piece of the ship to survive. This shows how Odysseus was able to beat out the gods in this particular struggle over his fate; Zeus tried to punish everyone on the ship, but Odysseus was smarter and stronger, and therefore, saved himself from death. The particular words used in this quote from The Odyssey also show a separation between Odysseus and Zeus. Zeus is referred to as “the god” rather than his full name. This seems to have a negative connotation; it could even be considered degrading toward Zeus. Homer tries to create this