the odyssey

Odysseus tells the Phaeacians his story. From Troy, the winds sweep him and his men to Ismarus, city of the Cicones. The men plunder the land and, carried away by greed, stay until the reinforced ranks of the Cicones turn on them and attack. Odysseus and his crew finally escape, having lost six men per ship. A storm sent by Zeus sweeps them along for nine days before bringing them to the land of the Lotus-eaters, where the natives give some of Odysseus’s men the fruit of the lotus. As soon as they eat this fruit, they lose all thoughts of home and long for nothing more than to stay there eating more fruit. Only by dragging his men back to the ship and locking them up can Odysseus get them off the island. Odysseus and his men then sail through the y night to the land of the Cyclopes, a rough and uncivilized race of one-eyed giant. After making a meal of wild goats captured on an island offshore, they cross to the mainland. There they immediately come upon a cave full of sheep and crates of milk and cheese. The men advise Odysseus to snatch some of the food and hurry off, but, to his and his crew’s detriment, he decides to linger. The cyclops is the son of Poseidon. Polyphemus makes a show of hospitality at first, but he soon turns hostile. He devours two of Odysseus’s men on the spot and imprisons Odysseus and the rest in his cave for future meals.

My response to this is that while he is telling this story he is probably going through the emotions he felt in all of these encounters. Dragging his men back to the ship? That would of made me very angry tired and frustrated. All I would want to do is go home and this speed bump would frustrate me greatly. Then with the cyclops that had to be very scary. I would not know what to do but he is brave and can take care of the situation. He is not afraid and if he was it didn't show in him very well. These two encounters show home much Odysseus wants to make it home and reach home.