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 by
not telling Polyphemus his name. If Odysseus is as wise as he is made out to
be, then he wouldn’t have jeopardized the lives of himself, his crew members,
Telemachus, and many more people. You’d think Odysseus learned his lesson,
right? (nope). In the last book, Athena told both sides to stop fighting, but
Odysseus, being Odysseus, continued to kill more people (or at least he tried
to).
By now, I just don’t see
Odysseus as a mighty hero. He causes all of his misfortunes and is always
crying about it. Maybe if he was wise, then he would have made the right
decision. What’s is your opinion on Odysseus?
I mean knew what was going to happen from Book 5, when the Sparta general said that Odysseus will be mad and he will want to kill everyone so yeah he likes killing people :/
ReplyDeleteIf he had "kept his cool and not blinded Polyphemus," then he and his men would have all been eaten. The blinding wasn't a rash stupid decision (like other things Odysseus definitely does - revealing his name, attempted mass murder of 2 generations of his people) but it was a calculated attempt to escape.
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan of Odysseus by any means, but I do think that blinding the cyclopes was a justified action because he was desperate. Now revealing his identity and many other rash decisions has caused me to agree that the situation could have potentially been avoided.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a big Odysseus fan. I get that he had a tough journey and wanted to do whatever it took to get back to his home and family, but I think in some cases his actions were unjustifiable. For example, I can see the reasoning behind him blinding Polyphemus but he didn't have to obnoxiously tease him and endanger his crew afterwards. On a more serious note, I understand Odysseus wanting the suitors out of his house, but does that really justify him killing over 100 people? In my opinion no, which is why I don't really see Odysseus as a hero.
ReplyDeleteI think it's revealing that Athena has to wipe everyone's mind in order to stop a revenge cycle. Perhaps this cycle shows how prevalent revenge cycles/family feuds were in Greek culture.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Odysseus blinding Polyphemus was fine; he was defending himself. However, I do agree that the taunting afterwards wasn't called for and was extremely reckless. Poseidon's response wasn't too great either. In fact, many of the acts of revenge are pretty crazy and out of hand. Although we may be repulsed by them today, these acts of revenge could've been what was acceptable or common in ancient Greece.
Yes, we really can pin the WHOLE journey on this one moment, where Odysseus can't resist getting credit for the great scheme to trick Polyphemus--he declares his identity, erasing the whole point of his "Noman" trick, and it's this moment that causes the curse that delays his return home and creates the whole situation with the suitors. If he'd not boasted and declared his name, the crew and him could have gotten home long before any suitors got any ideas about making moves on Penelope. There would be nothing for Odysseus to avenge.
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