The Land of the Cyclopes
“From there we sailed with heavy hearts, and
came to the land of the Cyclopes, a lawless, aggressive people, who never lift
their hands to plant or plough, but rely on the immortal gods. Wheat, barley,
and vines with their richly clustered grapes, grow there without ploughing or
sowing, and rain from Zeus makes them flourish.”
It is very
fascinating to me to see how the Cyclopes are described as people who are
barbarians and aggressive. This shows me that these people are not very prosperous
as the story explains. Not to mention
that they never go out of their way to plant or farm for different foods
instead of just eating what grows without the work. This really gives me the
idea of what kind of savages these people were and makes me reflex on humanity.
Luckily for Humanity it is different and we are creatures that always find ways
to make things easier with a better means to an end.
A Picture of the Cyclops Polyphemus
Prisoners of the
Cyclops
“Then I formed a
courageous plan to steal up to him, draw my sharp sword, and feeling for the
place where the midriff supports the liver, stab him there. But the next thought checked me.
Trapped in the cave we would certainly die, since we’d have no way to move the
great stone from the wide entrance. So, sighing, we waited for bright day.”
I love how right
when the hero of the story is making plans to kill the Cyclopes and escape
things get a lot more complicated then he thinks. He then has to figure a way
to move the great stone that acts as a door for the giant. This reminds me of
just plain life because nothing is ever as easy as you think it is. You may
think you have something planned and you believe you are going to accomplish a
goal but out of nowhere things get complicated. I just love how this part of
the story is relatable to real life and it complications.
The Cyclops defeated
“They heard his cry, and crowding in from every side they stood
by the cave mouth and asked what was wrong: “Polyphemus, what terrible pain is
this that makes you call through deathless night, and wake us? Is a mortal
stealing your flocks, or trying to kill you by violence or treachery?”
Out of the cave came mighty Polyphemus’ voice: “Nobody, my
friends, is trying to kill me by violence or treachery.”
To this they replied with winged words: “If you are alone, and
nobody does you violence, it’s an inescapable sickness that comes from Zeus:
pray to the Lord Poseidon, our father.”
Wow! This is probably my favorite part of this story, which is
where Odysseus instead of giving the Cyclops his real name gives him “Nobody”
as a name. There after the name given saves their lives because the Cyclops
doesn’t make any sense. These are the parts of stories I find most thrilling
due to the fact that things eventually fall into place is such clever ways.
This would be part of the main reason I enjoy reading classical stories because
of how unique and clever they may end up being.
Escape from the Cyclops
This section of the story shows me that Odysseus although clever
is somewhat stubborn and prideful. I say this because as he leaves in his boat
he yells at the Cyclops taunting him and provoking him to throw big rocks and
almost killing them. Even though his men kept urging him to stop he had to give
his name to the Cyclops to take credit for his blinding. This is a good
representation of just human kind in general. We as humans do things but always
like to take credit for doing things. Sometimes being prideful of our doings
can lead to negative outcomes.
The Curse of Polyphemus
Something
that stood out to me is that Odysseus showed a lot of leadership when getting
to Circe’s island. He hunted a stag and
brought to his men to eat. Even though they are lost and have almost been
killed he brings them food and word of encouragement. He never seems to lose
spirit and seems to always have hopes of getting home. The characteristic of optimism is something I feel
that all good leaders have. For that reason I believe Odysseus is a good leader
to his men.
Circe’s Magic
“I replied: “Eurylochus, by
all means stay here by the black ship’s hull, eating and drinking, but I, bound
by necessity, will go.”
The
words that came out of Odysseus mouth were pure words of courage. Even as his
fellow companion begged him to not go and just leave Odysseus felt the need to
go back to save the rest of his men. I feel like that is relatively similar to
out nobody gets left behind motto in war. Usually soldiers go out to rescue
their comrades even if they are surround or trapped by the enemy. I believe
that to be a true act of valor and honor.
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