Preview

Cyclops Treatment In The Odyssey

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
357 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Cyclops Treatment In The Odyssey
The Cyclops’ treatment of Odysseus and his men was fully justified. He did what he had to do to protect himself and his home. With the way Odysseus and his men treated the Cyclops, it is understandable that he would lose it. The men came “to take some of the cheeses, come back again, and the next time/to drive the lambs and kids from their pens” (IX, 225-226). The men even had the audacity to say that because they were strangers he “might give us a guest present or otherwise/ some gift of grace, for such is the right of strangers” (IX, 266-267). The Cyclopes had to defend himself against this intruders, so he did what he had to do to try and protect his home, animals, and his ownself. There may be some people out there who would disagree,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Since the the dawn of time it has been a universal fact that to be a hero you need to be a team player. When Odysseus gets his shipmates killed it is a perfect example of Odysseus not being a team player. Odysseus is the only person survive from his expedition why because he did not properly protect his shipmates.Let me read this quote “Driven by hunger they ignore Odysseus’ warning and eat Helios’ cattle”. Odysseus’ could not properly feed his men and he could not control them. When you look at the cyclops cave situation you realize that Odysseus is not very clever or smart. One of Odysseus’ men say “ Take the cheeses, get them stowed, come back, thrown open all the pens, and make a run for it”? While doing that was clearly a better choice…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Initially, using his boundless bravery and extraordinary leadership instincts, Odysseus is able to spare several of his crew men’s lives from the monstrous Cyclops'. Although the Cyclops is a “mighty man” with great strength, Odysseus “[speaks] up in reply” to him because of his gallantry (Homer 152, 278-80). Odysseus knows that standing up for his men is the only way to protect them, he must be brave and demonstrates this by sacrificing himself to prevent the giant man-eating Cyclops from consuming his men. He “[drew] the sharp sword from [his] hip” and “[stabbed] him where the midriff holds the liver”, blinding the immense beast (154, 324-27). Odysseus’s bold decision to stab the Cyclops requires superior leadership, facing a giant individually…

    • 152 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    n The Odyssey , Odysseus comes back and reveals his identity. He comes back to find the suitors trying to take over his home. They tried to take his wife, Penelope. They also tried to take over his home. Lastly, they tried to kill his son. So, as expected, he reacted pretty negatively towards to the them and anyone involved with their plan. So, he did what he had to. Personally, I agree with Odysseus’ decision to punish them.…

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The author states: “So they spoke, (…) Cyclops, if any mortal man ever asks you who it was that inflicted upon your eye this shameful blinding, tell him that you were blinded by Odysseus (…) ”.(Book 9) All the obstacles overcome by Odysseus were really for the prize of coming home to glory and power of his kingdom. This is similar to the rise to power of Greece after the Dark Age in which they faced many difficulties. Greece often found itself in wars. (most among themselves) This included wars such as the Greco-Persian war, Peloponnesian war, and the Corinthian war. Greece overcame these conflicts and later reached success, becoming a global empire. Ancient Greeks also believed that everything in their life was being controlled by the Greek gods, so it was no wonder that they tried their best to honor and obey them. Odysseus did his best to obey Helios the sun god by not eating his sacred cattle. Odysseus states: “Let us mind, therefore, and not touch the cattle.” (Book 12) Even though in the end his men DID eat the cattle, Odysseus stayed obedient and was spared. In a…

    • 1301 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Heroes are characterized by their intelligence and resourcefulness, strength, bravery, and loyalty. Based on this description, Odysseus, the protagonist of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, is a hero. In the section “The Cyclops”, Odysseus represents these five characteristics in many forms. His bravery is shown when he approached the Cyclops, Polyphemus, while trapped in his cave, to yell about not obeying the gods’ rule of treating guests well, as he was not, to Odysseus and his men. A portion of what he told Polyphemus was, “We would entreat you, great sir, have a care for the gods’ courtesy; Zeus will avenge the unoffending guest.” While hollering at him, Odysseus was very much in danger of being eaten alive, being so close and yelling at…

    • 538 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Odysseus did not want to do anything to the Cyclops because he knew that he was the only one with the strength to move the giant stone. So the next morning he came up with a plan to stab the cyclops in the eye with a wooden stake, when he went to sleep odysseus heated up the stake and jabbed it into the cyclops’s eye. Now since the cyclops could not see the men grabbed onto some sheep and the cyclops lead them out of his cave without thinking anything of it. This event from the Odyssey is similar to what would happen in a real life situation if a soldier were to get captured. Odysseus represents the soldier and Polyphemus represents the enemies that have captured the soldier. This is a scary but very real thing that happens to many soldiers fighting in enemy territory, you venture into an unknown area seeking shelter when suddenly you run into the leader of the enemy force…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    odysseus was a warrior that fought for his land. he built it with his own strength and sweet. every thing he did was for his village and for the future of his family. he didn't like the idea of men coming to his home and disrespecting it.all those men were going crazy while he couldn't come home because poseidon was punishing him. they eat and drank all there food and treated bad the people of the village and the servants.also he didn't like that they didn't listen to what his wife was telling them, she wasn't going to marry no one because she knew he was going to come back.…

    • 561 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some of Odysseus' actions seemed to be a little over the top. The mighty man murdered hundreds of men who were just being stupid and not thinking. From chopping heads off, to slicing throats, to throwing arrows into the back of heads, Odysseus annihilated each and every suitor in the room. The minute that Odysseus told Telemachus to hide all of the suitors weapons, that inferred that Odysseus was ready to kill. He could have made the punishment less violent that he did.…

    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Every author has their own perspective on different myths. As we can see, there are three different versions of the myth regarding Cyclops Polyphemus, written by Homer, Theocritus, and Ovid, respectively. All three authors portrayed Cyclops Polyphemus in different ways, according to their own views. Homer portrayed Polyphemus as a violent monster, Theocritus portrayed him as a lovesick creature, and Ovid portrayed him as a mix of Homer and Theocritus's portrayal. In this essay, I will be doing an analysis of the similarities and differences on all three versions of Cyclops Polyphemus.…

    • 1183 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the story of the Odyssey Odysseus returns home after a long trip and finds out their are many people trying to win over his wife. Over the course of twenty years their were over 100 wooers living in his house. When Odysseus finally returns home Penelope has a test for the wooers which blows Odysseus cover. After that he kills all of the wooers and has anybody involved killed also. I think that Odysseus did the right thing. The reason is because if his people were loyal they would not let people win over his wife. Odysseus punishment was not harsh for the people involved either he would have done what the death sentence in some states He hung them for having connection to the wooers. Just the wooers living in his house justified his actions.…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In book 9, he claims that the Cyclopes are “louts”, and then says“A wineskin full I brought along… for in my bones I knew some towering brute would be upon us soon.” The above quote demonstrate that he knew the Cyclopes were dangerous and unreasonable, but regardless of the risks, he chose to meet the Cyclops. After the he and the crew escaped, only a handful voted that he get the prized ram as his meal, which proves that they felt his leadership was lacking. Their trust is continually lost as ships and crew members are lost, and the men finally decide to ignore him. They are not to blame however, after being put in danger so often, it was only logical that the men began thinking for themselves. To them, Odysseus had failed as a captain because he didn’t tell them all he knew, he purposefully kept information to himself. After learning of the three beasts, the Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis, he only tells them of the Sirens, believing that “They would have dropped their oars again, in panic, to roll for cover under the decking.” This was a tremendous mistake, the men had been loyal to Odysseus for nearly twenty years, and he didn’t trust them to fight to return home. Since the men didn’t know of the beasts, they assumed he recklessly led them towards their deaths, which was not far from the truth. Odysseus considered disobeying Circe and fighting Scylla, which led them…

    • 1412 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Odysseus got the Cyclopes drunk. He said “here is some liquor to wash down those men.” The effect to that cause is Odysseus gets him drunk so they can blind the Cyclopes permanently. Odysseus is confident or just desperate, either way in the end his plan worked and he becomes a little arrogant. The Cyclopes liked the taste of men so he would just grab two out of the group. “ He caught two men in his hands like squirming puppies to beat their brains out, splattering on the floor.” Odysseus had to put a end to it so he drove a long spike into the Cyclopes head. “ I drew it from the coals and my four fellows gave me a hand, lugging it near the Cyclopes as more than a natural force nerved them: straight forward they sprinted , lifted it, and rammed…

    • 181 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Greeks and the Cyclops are both highly significant people in the story of the Odyssey. However, their lifestyles and ways of living are greatly diverse. Not only are their personalities unique from each other, however, their habitats and the environments they live in, also differ. In the end, it is blatant to anyone that Homer is attempting to prove that the Greeks and Cyclops are greatly dissimilar people, and should not be taken as the same.…

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Odysseus Epic Hero

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages

    This is close to his only concrete character flaw, yet it easily overshadows any of his other traits. As CliffsNotes says, “He is confident that he represents virtue even when a modern audience might not be so sure” (Character Analysis Odysseus). His prideful arrogance follows him throughout the entire epic, yet it is most blatantly exhibited after he and his men’s escape from the Cyclopes’ cave. As if Odysseus simply can’t resist taking credit for his defeat of the monster, he declares, “Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye; / Laertes’ son, whose home’s on Ithaca!” (Homer 9.18-19). This was a rather unintelligent move, as he able to escape by cleverly tricking the Cyclops by saying his name was Nohbdy, and he only threw his disguise away because he wanted to be famed and known for defeating the monster. Odysseus’ pride is one of his most noticeable shortcomings, and similarly, one of his most…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Odyssey

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages

    One of Odysseus’s first encounters with trouble after he shouted to the Gods was the Cyclops. After the Cyclops killed several of Odysseus’s men, he finally came up with a plan of how to kill him. After the Cyclops is passed out, Odysseus plans to take a sharpened pike to its eye. As Odysseus describes, “ I drew it from the coals and my four fellows gave me a hand, lugging it near the Cyclops as more than natural force nerved them; straight…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays