Odyssey
In Homer's epic The Odyssey, Odysseus lost his best men and friends while he was coming back from Troy. He lost them because the king of the seas; Poseidon hated him. When Odysseus started sailing for Troy he had 12 ships full of men, some which are his best friends under his command after 27 years he will get back to his homeland Ithaca as a lonely man. He went to Troy without having big problems but it is the return run that will be hard for our hero.After he has conquered Troy Odysseus gets ready for his return and a storm blew them off course to the land of lotus-eaters. In this country the people do nothing but eat lotus, a flower so fine to the taste that some of Odysseus' men, upon trying it, forgot their desire to go home and instead wanted to remain on the island and eat lotus. Odysseus dragged them away, and he and his men set sail again.Next they reached the land of the Cyclops, a gigantic race of primitive people. They found a fine island just off the shore; full of wild animals to eat, but Odysseus wanted to explore the mainland and meet some Cyclops, so he and his men went to the cave of a Cyclops just off the shore. While he and his men were looking around the cave, Polyphemus
Odysseus said his name was No man, despite Odysseus' pleas for hospitality, Polyphemus grabbed and ate two of Odysseus' men. the Cyclops, son of Poseidon, came home with his herd of sheep and trapped the men in the cave by pushing a huge rock in front of the door. Odysseus was upset when he heard this news, but accepted Circe's wisdom. Teiresias told Odysseus that he will come to an island that will have a herd that belongs to Sun God and if they ate the herd that they will die. Odysseus decided to see the Circe in order to make her free his men he gets help from Hermes; the messenger of the Gods and Odysseus frees his men by threatening Circe. As they exited the cave Odysseus' men rush to their ships and Odysseus makes the mistake of giving his real name to Polyphemus by saying, "I say, Cyclops! If ever anyone asks you who put out your ugly eye, tell him your blinder was Odysseus, the conqueror of Troy, the son of Laertes, whose address is in Ithaca!"(p110) which lead the Polyphemus' prayer to his father Poseidon to punish Odysseus for blinding him. After rowing for couple of days they reached to the Land of Laestrygonians where Odysseus lost all of his ships and the men in those ships but he managed to get away with his own ship and crew intact. Odysseus used his brain and decided to blind the Polyphemus so he would move the rock and the men would exit the cave by tying themselves under the sheep knowing Polyphemus would not hurt his sheep and let them go o!ut of the cave. At the Phaeacia he was given a ship to get back to his home. ------------------------------------------------------------------------**Bibliography**. When he arrived at Ithaca he did not do the stupidity of running back to his home knowing that suitors would kill him instead he took some help from Athena to disguise as a beggar and learned the situation after that he planned a revenge with Telemachos. Ironically when they arrived at that island men eat a piece of the herd which will cost their life afterwards. He then went to sleep, but the men could not kill him because that would leave them trapped in the cave behind the stone, which was too large for them to move. When he arrived at the Hades he saw his mother's soul and found out that she is dead because she couldn't stand waiting for him and committed suicide and he sacrificed the goat that he was suppose to get back to his home. Then they reached to the island where Circe lived, Odysseus sent half of his men to investigate and Circe turned all of them to the pigs but one who will ran back to the camp and tell Odysseus about it.
Common topics in this essay:
Polyphemus Cyclops,
Ogygia Calypso,
Troy Odysseus,
Circe Circe,
Odysseus Eurymachos,
Odyssey Odysseus,
Laestrygonians Odysseus,
Sirens IQ,
Sun God,
Sirens Odysseus,
reached land,
hear song,
song sirens,
odysseus lost,
trapped cave,
eat lotus,
homeland ithaca,
island eat,
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Acceptance Essays
