Odysseus

The Making of a Hero

The Odyssey an epic poem by Homer (translated by Robert Fitzgerald) has many various themes woven throughout the story. One of my personal favorites is: falling into temptation will take you farther back than your starting point. You can see this theme portrayed as Odysseus struggles to find his home but when tempted stays to long with Circe. Or as they are almost home to Ithika and Odysseus’s crew opens the sack of winds. Also when they land on the island of the sun god and though they were told not to, eat some of his cattle.
“As we were men we could not help consenting.
So day by day we lingered, feasting long on roasts and wine, until a year grew fat. but when the passing months and wheeling seasons brought the long summery days, the pause of summer, my ship mates one day summoned me and said:
‘Captain, shake off this trance, and think of home- if home indeed awaits us, if we shall ever see your own well-timbered hall on Ithika.’” (Homer 179)
This section from book 10 shows that although Odyssues and his crew had taken what they needed upon the invitation of Circe; they found themselves unable to leave. This makes the crew uneasy to the point of questioning whether or not they will ever see their home again. While Odysseus is enchanted by Circe he is unable to take control and his giving in to Circe gives her total power over him.
He brought along so many presents, plunder
Out of Troy, that’s it. How about ourselves-
His shipmates all the way?...
I say we ought to crack that bag,
There’s gold and silver, plenty, in that bag!
Temptation had its way with my companions,
And they untied the bag.
Then every wind roused into hurricane; the ships went pitching
West with many cries: our land was lost (Homer 166)
This to me is one of the saddest parts of the Odyssey because they were almost home almost to the end of the journey but envy overcame them to the point that they lost sight of right and wrong. In opening the bag they not only lost their chance of going home but also became thieves who would; had there been any, steal from their leader. In my opinion this is the worst side of humans that for metal interest we would willingly steal even if we do not need it. This almost makes Odysseus lose hope, one of the last things he has.
“Now, that day tranquil cattle with broad brows were grazing near, and soon the men drew up around their chosen beasts in ceremony… when the bones were burnt and tripes shared, they spited the carved meat.

Just then my slumber left me in a rush, my eyes opened, and I went down the seaward path. No sooner had I caught sight of our black hull, than savory odors of burnt fat eddied around me;…

Grief took hold of me and I cried aloud…” (Homer 221)
I believe that Odysseus not watching over his men as well as the men eating the sun gods cattle are both forms of temptation fulfilled in both have consequences. His men eat the cattle and by doing so cursed the voyage so that none of them will ever see home again, save Odysseus who never let the meat touch his lips. This in a way foreshadows the doom of Odysseus’s crew, for if he leaves them for just a moment they fall into temptation. If you compare this to the power that Circe had over him it is a wonder that they left her island.
All of these sections from the Odyssey deal with giving in and letting the worst side of you take control, with Circe lust takes the mind of Odysseus, with the sack of winds greed and envy have their way, and the sun gods cattle are eaten out of starvation and desire. I find that in everyday life I give in to small temptations, I would prefer to read a book than do my homework, and so end up staying up late into the night doing my homework rather than sleeping. In my mind the dishes can always be done later that is until later is now because we have no forks knives or plates that are clean. I wonder how many times in everyday life consciously and unconsciously we eat the cookie when we are dieting or just give in to temptation at all. This epic poem by Homer puts temptation on a large scale and shows that the farther you let the temptation take you the father you are from where you want to be; you may even have moved father away than where you started.

Work Cited
Homer. The Odyssey. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998.

Cited: Homer. The Odyssey. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998.