The Odyssey
...erly, back to the ship where they had to have their arms and legs bound together. The basis for this episode is quite simple. It reflects the struggle that humans may face with intoxication and drugs. From the island of the Lotus Eaters, the Greeks landed on an island where sheep and goats were in abundance. They came upon a giant cave and soon learned that the sheep herder was an enormous Cyclops named Polyphemus. The giant made a quick meal of some men and vowed to eat all of the trespassers, saving Odysseus for last. The giant asked Odysseus’ name, but the wily king told him his name was “Nobody” (Konchalovsky). When the Cyclops slept the men planned to kill the monster but instead gouged out his eye. Polyphemus leapt up and tried to trample on the men who only managed to escape by grasping onto the underbellies of the giant sheep. Polyphemus called for the aide of his brothers but they mistook him for being foolish since he was shouting “Nobody had blinded him” (Konchalovsky). Once safely on the ship, Odysseus announced his real name. Now Polyphemus prayed to his father, the sea god Poseidon, to avenge him by wrecking havoc on Odysseus’ journey. In the encounter with the Cyclops, Homer is illustrating a man’s encounter with single-minded people. Although the odds of attacking the giant are against Odysseus and his men, he is able to defeat the uncivilized monster with sheer wits. The archetype is to use one’s brainpower in order to escape difficult situations. At the same time, however, Odysseus pride gets in the way when he tells Polyphemus his real name. We will see our hero suffer much more at the hands of Poseidon because of this. Odysseus’ next visit is to the home of Aeolus, the god of the winds. Aeolus blesses Odysseus and his crew with a magical bag containing all the winds and a steady westerly wind that will blow them straight home to Ithaca. With Ithaca in sight, Odysseus finally rests. The crew, however, could not hold their curiosity. Having mistaken the magical bag for treasures, they greedily cut open the contents, unleashing a hurricane that blew all of the ships back into the unknown. Odysseus led his fleet back to Aeolia, where he was refused further assistance by the god, certain that his fate was to remain a wanderer (SparkNote book 10). There are several lessons that can be undisclosed here. First, a man may find that there are indeed good people in the world that will give aide expecting nothing in return. Second, greed reveals itself again, and the consequences for their sin is being blown off course, which will lead to the destruction of many of their shipmates (see next paragraph). A third and perhaps overall lesson is found in this adventure. The archetype is that sometimes in life, there are no second chances for certain situations. Man only has one life to live, so he had better make the best of it. Brokenhearted, Odysseus and his men stopped on yet another mysterious island. Here they encountered the Laestrygonians, giants who gobbled down many of the crew’s men. The Greeks seemly made a narrow escape to their ships but the giants bombarded the ships with great boulders. Only Odysseus’ ship survived the attack (Odyssey 10). Although this episode is brief there are two simple archetypes hidden here. Plainly man must avoid big, unbeatable problems whenever possible, otherwise he will be overwhelmed. Once again, there are consequences for greed. Because the impatient crew opened Aeolus’ bag, their punishment is death. What was left of Odysseus’ crew sailed to the island of Aeaea. Some of the captain’s crew scouted the island yet never returned. Odysseus went to retrieve his men when he was suddenly approached by Hermes. He informed Odysseus that the witch goddess Circe turned his men into swine and warned that she would do the same to him. Hermes then gave Odysseus an herb that would save him from Circe’s spell. Odysseus continued on towards Circe’s quarters and did as he was told. When Circe’s spell did not work, he leaped towards the goddess as if to kill her. Circe then offered to change his crew back into men only if he went to bed with her. Odysseus agreed. After a year of pleasure, his crew had to remind him of his duty to return home. The captain comes back to his senses and prepares to leave. Circe informs that to get home, he must first sail to the underworld and consult with the departed spirit of the blind prophet Tiresias (SparkNote book 11). Odysseus struggles here with what everyman struggles with: temptation. This is a great weakness for the Greek hero because he let an entire year go by in the palace of Circe. The same is true when a simple man is distracted with pleasures that cloud their priorities. It took great courage for his crew members to stand up to their leader and persuade him to leave. The wanderers now had their most frightening of all adventures: the journey to the land of Death. With sacrificial ram in hand, Odysseus headed into the fiery furnace in search of Tiresias, the man who must instruct Odysseus on his journey home. Odysseus met the spirits of many people he encountered in life. Finally he encountered Tiresias. The prophet warned Odysseus of the troubles he had yet to encounter but prophesized that Odysseus would die a happy death when the proper time came. Odysseus sailed back to Circe’s island to get directions and details for his quest home. The archetype Homer uses here is again very simple: the fear of death. Many times the hero could have given up and chose death but does not. Now what he sees firsthand what it is like to be dead, he realizes that he won’t gain satisfaction from it. It would be impossible for a man to see what it is like to be dead, but the fear of death lives within all men, even heroes. Back in Aeaea, Circe warns Odysseus about the Sirens, who with their sweet seductive songs lead sailors to the crashing rock on their shores. She also told him about the choice between sailing past Scylla, a six headed monster that feasts on man flesh and of Charybdis, a monster in the form of a giant whirlpool. She also repeats Tiresias’s warning not to eat the cattle of the Sun on the island of Thrinacia. So the crew sets off once again trying desperately to return home to Ithaca. Their wily captain orders his men to tie him to the mast of the ship and has them put wax in their ears. This was done to prevent his men from hearing the sweet song of the Sirens and allowed Odysseus to hear the song, but not being able to leap to his death. As the ship approached the Sirens, they called out to Odysseus in their charming song, praising the leader of all his glories at Troy. Odysseus begs his men to untie him but they hold true to their leader, disobeying his command to save his life. The choice now came for the passage between Scylla and Charybdis. Avoiding the monstrous whirlpool, the sailors chose to float past the cliffs. Although they carefully sailed close to edge of the cliff, Scylla hurled down and engulfed six shipmates. The shrinking crew now sailed to the nearby island of the Sun. The encounter with the Sirens may be a reflection of a human’s struggle with suicide. The Sirens attract Odysseus with songs of his past. Realizing his current state of misery, the Greek hero seems to choose to return to glory by giving up his life. His loyal warriors prevent this disaster because they love their master. The message here could be to surround oneself with people who have the best interest for you. Now the choice between Scylla and Charybdis can be dissected much simpler. This may represent a human’s choice between a rock and a hard place. The archetype here is to continue on life’s journey and the tough times will pass. Tired, hungry and weary, the Greek sailors harbored on the coast of Thrinacia, the island of the Sun. Odysseus had been warned by both Tiresias and Circe not to eat the cattle on that island but his heart sank when he saw his men sacrificing and feasting. Once back at sea, mighty Zeus shot down a devastating thunderbolt that blasted the ship into pieces. Only Odysseus survived King Zeus’s wrath. Floating helplessly on a shattered part of the ship, Odysseus eventually washed up on the island of Calypso. The reader sees once again Odysseus’ men giving into temptations. This time their weakness is their hunger. Unfortunately, there are times when mortals have to learn the hard way. There are no more second chances for Odysseus’ men, for when a mortal dares disobey a god, the inevitable punishment is death. The final two archetypes are found in Odysseus’ seven year hang about on the Calypso’s island. The first is entrapment. There is no coming or going from Calypso’s realm, therefore the wandering hero’s journey has apparently come to an end. His hopes of reuniting with his kingdom and his family are dimmed since he lacks supplies, a transport, and his strength. In reality, a man is isolated much like Odysseus when he is in prison, has lost all of his possessions, or has lost all reason for living. The man is surrounded by circumstances by which there is absolutely no escape. Escape, strangely enough, is the second archetype associated with Calypso. The nymph-goddess takes Odysseus as her husband and keeps him there in paradise for seven years. If not for the divine intervention of Athena, the Greek king would have spent the rest of his days there. Once Hermes visits Calypso and commands the release of Odysseus, the goddess counteracts by offering the hero immortality if he chose to stay. He is left with the option to abandon his past to begin a new life. Escape can take the form of many things, whether it is drugs, sex, friends, career, etc. Our hero is has an eternal choice to make. Odysseus refuses. When Odysseus has finished his tale, the king orders him sped to Ithaca. Athena casts a protective mist about him that keeps him from recognizing his homeland. The sailors put him down on the beach asleep. Finally the goddess reveals herself and dispels the mist. In joy Odysseus kisses the ground and Athena transforms him into an old man as a disguise. He goes off to find his faithful swineherd, as instructed by the goddess. Eumaeus the swineherd welcomes the bedraggled stranger in book fourteen. He throws his ...