From our class discussion last week, a topic came up that I thought was very interesting. It was that the Odyssey has a series of revenge cycles. Throughout the book, almost every character has wanted to take revenge on someone. The most notable of these is Odysseus’ mass murder of the suitors. They ransacked his house and tried to court his wife, so it makes sense that he would be looking to get back at them. Another example of revenge in the Odyssey is when Odysseus decides to blind Polyphemus after he killed Odysseus’ crew members. This incident set off Poseidon’s rage and he trapped Odysseus on Calypso's island for 7 years. The cycles of revenge continue to the very end of the book when the suitors’ fathers want to murder Odysseus. I think that all of these revenge cycles were set off by one incident: Odysseus blinding Polyphemus. If he had kept his cool and not blinded Polyphemus, then everything would have been fine. He had another chance to save himself and crew, simply...