Essay On Odysseus In Homer's Odyssey

“He jumped up, and reached towards my men, seized a couple and dashed their heads against the floor as though they had been puppies.” Odysseus and his men laments over the death of their comrades that were tragically killed by the cyclops, Polyphemus. Odysseus, a clever hero, who just fought against Troy with other the other Greeks, is far from his homeland of Ithaca. Throughout “The Odyssey”, Odysseus and his men keep facing trouble over and over again, as they venture on in hopes to return to their home. Who should they blame for the problems that they face again and again? The simple answer to this is, themselves! Throughout their journey, they are faced with numerous difficulties, such as the time when they had sacked the city of Ismarus,
Before they sailed to encounter this unpleasant creature, a goddess named Circe described the monster and taught Odysseus how to survive them. Circe thoroughly explains:
Scylla, a repulsive monster that has six heads and scrawny necks, with triple rows of fangs that’s used to snatch bodies. No crew has ever passed Scylla without being harmed because she will seize men from their vessel unpredictably... Scylla is an intractable, ferocious and impossible to fight. Against her, there is no defense, and the best course f action is flight, for if you waste your time by the rock in putting on your armor, I am afraid she may dart out once more, make a grab with all six heads and snatch another six of your
After few hours of sailing, Odysseus and his men caught sight of Scylla. Odysseus did not tell his crew about the sea monsters in fear that it will panic his crew to the point where they would stop rowing and huddle below the decks. His crew was terrified by Scylla, but Odysseus encouraged them with his soothing words, explaining that this is not the worst situation that they have been in and should have hope. Suddenly, Scylla snatched couple of Odysseus men with unimaginable speed. The crew started to panic ran frantically. In hopes to kill Scylla, Odysseus tried to put his armor on which was a mistake. He had forgotten the words of Circe, who instructed Odysseus not to grab his armor because it would give Scylla the time to snatch more of Odysseus’ men. Scylla noticing that Odysseus was busy putting on his armor, snatched six of Odysseus’ strongest men. Somehow, Odysseus and his men escaped Scylla’s terror and they grieved for the men that had been seized by Scylla. If only Odysseus followed Circe’s advice, the men who were snatched would still be alive to see another