A closer look at Violence, in “The odyssey” . The Odyssey was written by an unknown writer Homer, long ago. These series of small books tells the stories of the Great Odysseus and his journey back home to Ithaca years after the Trojan War. Odysseus faced very man battels throughout his voyage home, and felt defeated multiple times. While dealing with gods, goddess, and different monsters, Odysseus came across many events where he was forced to fight and deal with constant violence. Specifically in the 9th book of The Odyssey titled In the One-eyed Giants Cave, the amount of violence showed was extreme and is questionable to if it was unjust or not. Taking a closer look at the 9th book of The Odyssey Homer shows an extreme amount of violence
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The native people of the land gave the men their fruit which caused them to lose their train of thought, as well as craving more fruit and forgetting there original plans of heading home to Ithaca. This brought issues between Odysseus and his men when trying to move on to their next location. The men were so addicted to the fruit and Odysseus was forced to physically remove them from the island. Though Odysseus states the native people weren’t trying to hurt the men, “Lotus-eaters had no notion of killing my companions, not at all”(292.104 ), he did mention how difficult it was to remove them. “But I brought them back, back to the hollow ships and streaming tears—I forced them, hauled them under the rowing benches, lashed them fast..” (293. 110-113). Odysseus was forced to become physical with his crew men. Though in this situation the men didn’t physically fight the lotus eaters, they had to be physical with Odysseus. Odysseus takes the credit for getting the men back in the ship, but doesn’t mention how this is the second time in this book, his men have gotten in trouble and he has not tried to stop their actions. Making him a questionable …show more content…
The time spent on this land involved some of the most violence throughout the entire epic. When Odysseus and his men landed they went to a cave that was empty at the time. Soon after arriving, the Cyclopes Polyphemus, the son of Odysseus’s enemy Poseidon, came across the men. Immediately Polyphemus attacked, and killed two of his men. After killing the two men, he took the remaining men and Odysseus and locked them in the cave to save to eat later. As the time in the cave progressed, the violence became more extreme. Odysseus begins to get impatient with being locked up. One day he prepared a wooden sword and got Polyphemus very drunk and took advantage of him. After Polyphemus passed out from intoxication, Odysseus and his men attacked. They took a red hot staff and stabbed it through Polyphemus one and only eye, permanently blinding him. “Nobody’s killing me now by fraud and not by force.”(301. 455-456). The next day Odysseus and his men leave and move on to their next destination. Throughout Odysseus time in the land of the Cyclopes there was nothing but violence. From his men being killed immediately, to Odysseus attempting to kill Polyphemus. The actions Odysseus showed during his escape from the land can lead one to questioning his heroism. Though he was trying to escape and save his own life, he still went on the home land of Cyclopes, took their food then tried to
The native people of the land gave the men their fruit which caused them to lose their train of thought, as well as craving more fruit and forgetting there original plans of heading home to Ithaca. This brought issues between Odysseus and his men when trying to move on to their next location. The men were so addicted to the fruit and Odysseus was forced to physically remove them from the island. Though Odysseus states the native people weren’t trying to hurt the men, “Lotus-eaters had no notion of killing my companions, not at all”(292.104 ), he did mention how difficult it was to remove them. “But I brought them back, back to the hollow ships and streaming tears—I forced them, hauled them under the rowing benches, lashed them fast..” (293. 110-113). Odysseus was forced to become physical with his crew men. Though in this situation the men didn’t physically fight the lotus eaters, they had to be physical with Odysseus. Odysseus takes the credit for getting the men back in the ship, but doesn’t mention how this is the second time in this book, his men have gotten in trouble and he has not tried to stop their actions. Making him a questionable …show more content…
The time spent on this land involved some of the most violence throughout the entire epic. When Odysseus and his men landed they went to a cave that was empty at the time. Soon after arriving, the Cyclopes Polyphemus, the son of Odysseus’s enemy Poseidon, came across the men. Immediately Polyphemus attacked, and killed two of his men. After killing the two men, he took the remaining men and Odysseus and locked them in the cave to save to eat later. As the time in the cave progressed, the violence became more extreme. Odysseus begins to get impatient with being locked up. One day he prepared a wooden sword and got Polyphemus very drunk and took advantage of him. After Polyphemus passed out from intoxication, Odysseus and his men attacked. They took a red hot staff and stabbed it through Polyphemus one and only eye, permanently blinding him. “Nobody’s killing me now by fraud and not by force.”(301. 455-456). The next day Odysseus and his men leave and move on to their next destination. Throughout Odysseus time in the land of the Cyclopes there was nothing but violence. From his men being killed immediately, to Odysseus attempting to kill Polyphemus. The actions Odysseus showed during his escape from the land can lead one to questioning his heroism. Though he was trying to escape and save his own life, he still went on the home land of Cyclopes, took their food then tried to