Theme Of Recklessness In The Odyssey
Odysseus and his crew in The Odyssey face many trials on their journey home after their victory at Troy. Although gods and monsters are external forces which impede their return, Odysseus and his men make matters worse for themselves by acting without caution and on their own selfish whims. In The Odyssey by Homer, internal forces of recklessness and temptation act stronger than external forces in preventing Odysseus and his crew from achieving nostos. Odysseus and his crew act with great recklessness, which leads to deaths and losses of progress in their journey home. One example of Odysseus’s recklessness comes from their encounter with the barbarous Cyclops, Polyphemus. Odysseus mentions upon their arrival on the Cyclops’ island that he
…show more content…
They find it full of hearty food, and make themselves welcome. The Cyclops soon returns, and is not pleased at the sight of strangers eating his food. However, instead of acting cautiously in the presence of the inhospitable giant, Odysseus boldly demands he show them xenia, and “‘[r]espect the gods,’” which infuriates Polyphemus (9.303). He tells Odysseus that he “’must be a fool…or come from nowhere, / telling [him] to fear the gods’” (9.308-309). Odysseus’s insolence enrages the monstrous savage, and he eats six of Odysseus’s crew members, preventing them from ever returning to Ithaca. Although Polyphemus was the murderer of the crew members, it was Odysseus’s recklessness which ruined the victim’s chances of returning home by getting them into the situation originally. Another demonstration of recklessness is when Odysseus and his men sail to Aeolus’s island. Aeolus gives Odysseus an enchanted bag of winds. Odysseus acts very secretive about it around his crew, and they eventually suspect that the bag contains a stash of treasure. They “loosed the sack and all the winds burst out” as Odysseus slept, causing wild gusts of wind to blow their ship back towards Aeolus’s island, “far from [their] own native land” (10.53-55). On this occasion, the …show more content…
They get into life-threatening situations, some die, and the rest find it difficult or impossible to escape the unnecessarily perilous situations in which they find
They find it full of hearty food, and make themselves welcome. The Cyclops soon returns, and is not pleased at the sight of strangers eating his food. However, instead of acting cautiously in the presence of the inhospitable giant, Odysseus boldly demands he show them xenia, and “‘[r]espect the gods,’” which infuriates Polyphemus (9.303). He tells Odysseus that he “’must be a fool…or come from nowhere, / telling [him] to fear the gods’” (9.308-309). Odysseus’s insolence enrages the monstrous savage, and he eats six of Odysseus’s crew members, preventing them from ever returning to Ithaca. Although Polyphemus was the murderer of the crew members, it was Odysseus’s recklessness which ruined the victim’s chances of returning home by getting them into the situation originally. Another demonstration of recklessness is when Odysseus and his men sail to Aeolus’s island. Aeolus gives Odysseus an enchanted bag of winds. Odysseus acts very secretive about it around his crew, and they eventually suspect that the bag contains a stash of treasure. They “loosed the sack and all the winds burst out” as Odysseus slept, causing wild gusts of wind to blow their ship back towards Aeolus’s island, “far from [their] own native land” (10.53-55). On this occasion, the …show more content…
They get into life-threatening situations, some die, and the rest find it difficult or impossible to escape the unnecessarily perilous situations in which they find