In book 9 of The Odyssey, Polyphemus does not partake in the concept of xenia. After Polyphemus had finished milking his animals, he caught a glimpse of Odysseus and his men who in turn asked for “a guest gift, the sort that hosts give strangers” (9.301-302). Odysseus demanded for such a thing to portray a brave leader in the eyes of his men since “the hearts inside [them] shook” when Polyphemus entered his home (9.288). The terse response that Polyphemus received led him to eat two men because he was not expecting such an insolent answer. Odysseus continues to advise Polyphemus to “ respect the gods…[or] Zeus will avenge their rights!” (9.303-305). This does not influence Polyphemus’s idea of xenia because he and his fellow cyclopes do not…
In book nine Odysseus has to confront Polythemus, the Cyclops who is Poseidon’s son. Odysseus and his men where trapped within Polythemus’s cave, which had wine and other luxuries in it. But the Cyclops is intent on eating every last one of them and saving Odysseus, or “Nohbdy,” as Odysseus presented himself to the Cyclops, for last. Odysseus later blinds Polythemus with a burning stick, leaving him aggrieved and in pain. Writhing in pain, he opens the rock, letting Odysseus’s crew escape. This is just a primal form of the myth, but by injuring Polythemus Odysseys is released, illustrating the productive side of violence.…
Maggie Jiang Mr. Lunn Pre-AP English 9 December 2016 Sympathy for A Cyclops "Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about” (Mass). Every being on this world has their own struggles, their own hardships, that they must face. However, few receive the sympathy they deserve. No one thinks about feeling sympathy for a horrific monster. Polyphemus the cyclops from Homer’s poem, The Odyssey is an atrocious creature who deserves sympathy. Although he was cruel to Odysseus's men, sympathy is definitely felt for Polyphemus when the cyclops is robbed of everything he had. Polyphemus’s loss of his only friends, his sheep, causes readers to experience sympathy. While Polyphemus was not kind to Odysseus’s men, he was very fond…
Level 1: What do the gods decide on when Poseidon is away for the fate of Odysseus?…
In book 9 when Odysseus impales a burning wooden staff into Polyphemus’ eye then informs the raging cyclops that his name is nobody is an ideal instance in which directly exemplifies Odysseus’ intelligence significantly benefitting him where using his somatic fortitude would not. Before stabbing Polyphemus in the eye, Odysseus gets him drunk first to ensure he would not have enough coordination to attempt to kill him and his remaining crew members. The triumphant plan of intoxicating Polyphemus before impaling him so that his coordination will be disoriented rather than actually fighting him portrays why Odysseus is often times looked at as an respectable character. In attempt to get the cyclops tipsy, Odysseus says, “Three bowls I brimmed and three he drank to the last drop” (9.405). Then, Polyphemus asks Odysseus…
In the story Odyssey by Homer Odysseus action against the wooers and the people that were involved were justified. The wooers technically exiled there king. Then the wooers wanted to get rid of everything and everyone who were loyal to Odysseus and they wanted to cover up that Odysseus was actually gone.…
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…
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…
The passage I chose starts out the day after Odysseus leaves and Polyphemus is left in torment in his cave. "As soon as young Dawn with her rose-red fingers shone once more the rams went rumbling out of the cave towards the pasture, the ewes kept bleating round the pens, un milked, their udders about to burst"(9 488-491). Polyphemus's animals represent his loss, they have milk to give bu Polyphemus can not help them because he can not see. His rams run away from him, this shows that Odysseus has taken more than just Polyphemus's sight.…
The particular tale describing his encounter with the Cyclops, then, presents Polyphemus as an example of a severely threatening force that tests Odysseus and forces him to utilize his heroic traits in order to overcome an intimidating obstacle. Odysseus' well-executed escape from Polyphemus' cave in the guise of a sheep is an example of two of Odysseus’ often epithetically referenced characteristics, namely his cunning and his industriousness. An audience could be expected to be impressed by this display of heroic guile and…
Odysseus was clever after he tricked the cyclops, Polyphemus, to drink Odysseus’ wine. This caused the cyclops to become drunken and fall asleep. This allowed Odysseus to stab and blind Polyphemus. This was a both, clever and smart decision because if Odysseus killed Polyphemus, Odysseus and his men would be trapped by the massive boulder that Polyphemus put to block intruders from entering and exiting his cave. The Odyssey describes the sabotage as a bloody and gory event, “... straight-forward, lifted it, rammed it deep into his crater eye,’ ( Homer Pt. 1). The steps of the hero’s journey show similar insight, “ The hero's progress through a series of tests… obstacles that make them stronger,” ( Campbell 3). In the Odyssey the tests were an example of the fight with Polyphemus.…
Rather than helping his guests, he “clutche[s] at [Odysseus’s] companions and [catches] two in his hands like squirming puppies to beat their brains out, spattering the floor” (XI.313-315). If Odysseus had failed to formulate a genius escape plan, the entirety of his men would be digested. Given the fact that the idea of feeding Odysseus and his men just a morsel does not even come close to Polyphemos’s dull brain, and that he does not even think twice about gorily devouring a couple of Odysseus’s helpless men, it is obvious that the idea of Polyphemos owning qualities such as hospitality or helpfulness would not come near the mind of a sane man, much the same as the idea of feeding Odysseus and his poor men never ventures within proximity of Polyphemos’s lack of a brain. This Cyclops openly displays the untamed, savage-like behavior he is meant to own, so his lack of qualities expected from hosts could be predicted from anybody. To recapitulate, Polyphemos the Cyclops lacks the abilities to be a great host similar to Eumaios so much that his decisions when honorable guests enter his stony abode are to gore and eat them in front of their traumatized…
The events in the Odyssey occurred because of character choice, as shown with Odysseus’ ignorance. In The Odyssey Odysseus’ ignorance causes him to stay in the Cyclops, Polyphemus’ cave and then Odysseus continues to unknowingly insult Polyphemus. Odysseus says to Polyphemus, “Have care for the gods, courtesy; Zeus will avenge the unoffending guest” (1049). So Odysseus stays in the Cyclops’ cave and then tells the Cyclops that he has to be hospitable it just makes the Cyclops angry when Odysseus stupidly says this. After leaving the Cyclops’ island Odysseus and his remaining men start their journey home, on their way there they stop at an island, on that island are the cattle of the sun god and Odysseus has been warned not to eat the cattle. Odysseus tells the rest of the story, “Now, that day tranquil cattle with broad brows were grazing near, and soon the men drew up around their chosen beasts in ceremony” (1073). Odysseus’ men are not supposed to kill the sun god’s cattle because if they do then they will be killed, but after a few months they run out of food and decide to kill the sun god’s cattle which causes their death. When Odysseus and his men pass this mysterious island, Odysseus is stupid and decides to send some men to explore the island. Odysseus says “They fell in, soon enough, with lotus eaters who showed us no will to do us harm, only offering the sweet Lotus flowers to our friends, but those…
Odysseus and his men land on a Cyclopes island, Polyphemus. Polyphemus gets mad at Odysseus and his men so Polyphemus eats 6 of Odysseus’ men. Odysseus uses his strength and his cleverness to blind the Cyclopes. “So with our brand we bored that great eye socket while blood ran out around the red-hot bar” (Homer 666). After they blinded Polyphemus, they used his rams to escape from Poly’s cave. This makes Odysseus an epic hero.…
In Book 9 of The Odyssey, Ody travels to the Island of Cyclops’s and finds himself in a cave filled with cheese and milk. Soon after he and his men devour the cheese, the resident of the cave reveals himself to Ody, a gigantic one-eyed cyclops named Polyphemus. Relying on xenia, Ody tells the cyclops, “we’re at your knees in hopes of a warm welcome, even a guest-gift, the sort that hosts…