“Am I a good man, Clara?” This simple, powerful question comes from the television show Doctor Who, when the main character— the Doctor— is thinking about all of the pain he has inflicted. He has indirectly responsible for countless deaths, is a pain to some people for his recklessness, and is not always kind. This idea is explored throughout the show, and the characters come to the conclusion that he is a good man because he purposefully goes out of his way to help and save people. However, what if he did not have this quality? Would he still be a good man? In The Odyssey, by Homer and translated by Robert Fagles, the main character— Odysseus— does lack this trait. After voyaging home from war as a hero, he and his crew face countless …show more content…
However, his sheer disregard for his crew is one of his many concerning flaws. One such case of this disregard can be shown on the island of Aeaea, where Circe (a bewitching nymph) has just gotten the entirety of his crew drunk:
“But roused by the shouts and tread of marching men, he leapt up with a start at dawn but still so dazed he forgot to climb back down again by the long ladder— headfirst from the roof he plunged, his neck snapped from the backbone, his soul flew down to Death.“ (10.613-17)
This quote reveals that one of Odysseus’s men has just accidently killed himself, under the watch of Odysseus. In fact, under Odysseus’s watch, the men were permitted to be constantly drunk and stay at Circe’s for a full year. Odysseus had no concern for the families he and his men had yet to return to, and had no urgency to get the crew in a safer place and off the island of Aeaea. It took a death to snap some sense into him. This is not a one time issue. In a later story, Odysseus and his men have landed on the island of Thrinakia, land of Helios’ holy cows. Circe has prophesied that if any of Odysseus’s crew touches the cows, that they will all be killed. Odysseus allows them to go onto the island, and simply tells them to not touch the cows, without a reason. Within weeks, Odysseus’s men kill and eat the cows, and within days, all are dead. This blatant mistake made by Odysseus kills all of his crew, leaving him to feel guilty.
Odysseus’s desire is shown by his use of first-person narrating, claiming, “There I sacked the city,/killed the men, but as for the wives and plunder,/that rich haul we dragged away from the place—/we shared it round so no one, not on my account,/would go deprived of his fair share of spoils” (9. 45-49). Odysseus holds him and his men accountable for the sharing of the sacking, killing, and presumably raping of the loot and Cicones. Right after this raid and assault, Odysseus tells his men to leave, but they resist, and pay the price of their lives for their mistake: “Then I urged them to cut and run, set sail,/but would they listen? Not those mutinous fools;/there was too much wine to swill,/too many sheep to slaughter…the Cicones broke our lines and beat us down at last./Out of each ship, six men-at-arms were killed” (9. 50-52, 68-69). Odysseus understands what will become of him and his crewmembers if they stay too long and relish too much in what wasn’t
Odysseus is spoken to by Eurylochus when the ship is nearing an island and still does not realize what he has done to his crew even when Eurylochus says “‘your crew’s half-dead with labor, starved for sleep’” (12.305). Eurylochus’ words go straight through Odysseus, as he only responds with a plea that would put him on good terms with the gods, not what would keep his crew safe and sound. Odysseus does not realize what he has done to so many valuable lives, he only continues to think about himself. Next, Eurylochus continues to step on Odysseus, telling him how inconsiderate it is for him to keep them cooped up on the ship and not letting them off to rest on land (12.306). Still, Odysseus is absolutely clueless on what he has done wrong. The men are fighting against him, yet he stands there and takes it as he does not think what they are saying is correct. After Odysseus finally step onto the island, having already enforced to the crew that the cattle should be left unharmed, he comfortably sits back as they “slaughtered and skinned the cattle” (12.386). If he really worried about the consequences, he would have supervised his crew while on the island. Instead, he fell asleep and left his crew to do exactly what they were not supposed to. Though, when he woke up and saw what the crew had done, he was quick to pray
While Odysseus was trying to get him and his men back, he gets his men killed little by little. First by the lotus eaters then the cyclops and more later on. He lost most of his good men when he went against the cyclops. He couldn't put his men opinion ahead of his and he waited until the cyclops came back. By the time the cyclops came back it was too late because the cyclops started eating his men. The quotes "Why not take the cheeses, get them stowed, come back, throw open all the pens, and make a run for it?". And also "Yet I refused.", these quotes prove that Odysseus doesn't honor his men opinions.
In this situation, Odysseus put his men before himself because he refuses to eat or drink anything until Circe changes his men from pigs back to
Yet, it is true, each day I long for home, long for the sight of home” He was also tempted with a beautiful mortal Nausicaa who is princess of the was looking for a husband. Evidence of this can be found on page 741 line 570-571 “ I wish my husband could be fine as he and glad to stay forever on Scheria”. Odysseus is loyal to his god or gods. As he does what Tireces tells him and does not eat Helios cows an example of this can be found on page 761 line 1115-1120 “ But if you raid the beeves, i see destruction for ships and crew. Though you survive alone, bereft of all companions, lost for years, under strange sail shall you come home, to find you own house filled with trouble, insolent men eating your livestock as they court your lady “. Odysseus eats the antidot that Hermie’s gives him so he does not fall under Circe’s spell, evidence of this can be found on page 758 in the italicized text. Odysseus leaves the ship and rushes to Circe’s hall. “The god Hermes stops him to give him a plant that will act as an antidote to Circe’s power.” Odysseus also follows Circe’s instructions on what rights he must perform to bring out the dead, evidence of this can be found on page 760
The quote shows that when Odysseus solved problems to help himself, he also helped his crew. This is proven when he finds a way to escape the cyclopes; it not only saves him but his crew. Some evidence of this is in book nine lines 351-354, “Blinded, and sick with pain his head wound, the master stroked each ram, the let it pass, but my men riding on the pectoral fleece the giant’s blind hands blundering never found.”. Odysseus cared for his crew and even promised to give a proper burial to one when he saw them in the underworld. This shows that he cares for his crew and sometimes puts them ahead of
The Sirens are known for singing important wishes that want to be heard. Their songs draw people in. Circe, a nymph, advices Odysseus’ crew to stuff their ears with wax because it is forbidden to listen to this or else they would die. The only one who can listen is Odysseus and Circe orders the men to “…tie you hand and foot…” to the mast, preventing Odysseus from jumping overboard (12.56). He demonstrates self restraint as a captain. He stopped the ship from being steered into rocks having the whole crew die and wrecking the ship. Odysseus was not being selfish because he took one for the team listening to the songs. The songs sung could change Odysseus’ desire to go home and ruin the whole plan. Once passed the Sirens, they encounter another island, Helios. His men, specifically Eurylochus, suggest that it would be a good idea to rest up on the island for the night. Odysseus reluctantly agrees but warns “…keep your hands off all the herd or we will pay the price” (12.346). But if it was not important enough, Circe had also informed the crew. Odysseus was being a sensible captain, trying to protect his men from danger. His men had completely disregarded the warning, with no self control. Partly, this is Odysseus’ fault because being him the captain, he should have been able to keep control of the men and not be reckless and fall asleep. Helios is definitely incensed and asks Zeus for revenge on the men after they have sailed off. This demonstrates the early consequence plagued on the men. Either Odysseus never returns home or he does through plenty of struggle and the loss of the entire crew. And lo and behold, Zeus strikes the ship with a lighting bolt killing all but Odysseus. Odysseus’ courage act got them past the Sirens, but his lack of supervision resulted in the deaths of all his
As an unknown author once said, “Everyone has weaknesses, but great people know how to deal with it and change it into something powerful.” This indicates that everything comes down to how you take care of your less favorited characteristics. Heroes are always looked at as being perfect, however, they have weaknesses just like humans. In the book The Odyssey by Homer, the hero Odysseus has many human related problems with his attitude, like stubbornness, pride, and being egotistical, which results in putting himself in troublesome circumstances that could’ve been avoided in the first place.
Now Odysseus had only told his men about Circe's warning of the sirens, which quite highlights some empathy when he thinks about his men. He exploits his emotional intelligence as an ability to pave a way or a door out to safety. This quote quite remarks how much power words can really have, they can motivate you, they can hurt you. It's also in life, when you're taught to be a failure, you're gonna be thinking like a failure, and you are going to fail. Though if you put your mind to winning and think like a leader, a champion, a warrior, and a courageous hero.
The land of the Cyclops wasn’t the only place he was brought to by fate and a tad bit of curiosity; Odysseus goes to Circe’s, only to have almost all his men turned to swine by the devious nymph. Being the hero Odysseus is, he makes the journey to Circe’s castle to save them. Along the way, he meets Hermes, messenger of the gods, who tells him that the only way to save his comrades is too not fall for Circe’s spell, causing her to be amazed by his greatness; “You must be Odysseus, man of twists and turns” (10.366). Little did Odysseus know, Circe already knew of his arrival; “- Hermes the giant killer, god of golden wand, he always said you’d come, homeward bound from Troy in your swift black ship”
During his visit to the underworld, Odysseus was informed of one of his most formidable enemies: desire. Teiresias plainly told him that “if [he could] contain [his] own desire, and contain [his] companions… [they] might all make [their] way back to Ithaca” (Homer 171). When they finally saw the island, Odysseus did feel the desire to stop at the island, but tried to heed the warnings he received. His men however did not feel the same way he did. His me pestered him until he felt they had “[forced him] to it” but in reality he was just making an excuse to give in to his desires” (Homer 193). After indulging in his (and his crew’s) desires, he thought they would soon proceed off the island, however this was not the case. While exploring the island, his food deprived crew came upon the cattle of Helios, and being starving, began to cook and eat them, even sacrificing a part to the gods. Odysseus was walking back to their camp on his own when “the pleasant savor of cooking meat came drifting around [him], and [he] cried out [his] grief aloud to the gods immortal (Homer 194). Once he smelled the meat he knew that the horrific actions that were predicted would come true. All these things happened because Odysseus’ crew did not follow the instruction of their leader and instead followed their desires, but an even worse fate comes true when they disobey the gods themselves.
Odysseus makes some substantial mistakes, thus leading to the failure to his men. Odysseus shows extremely inadequate leadership qualities throughout the story. When Odysseus is on the journey to Ithaka, he neglects to let his crew know how long they will be staying on each island. He also neglects to let them know of the journey that lies ahead. This is very poor leadership in the eyes of his crew members. The crew relies on their leader to be honest with them when it comes to situations such as these. They expect Odysseus to make decisions for the well being of the crew. When Odysseus receives advice, even if it is helpful he tends to ignore it. He thinks he is the most intelligent human being, even more so than the gods. A prime example of this is when Odysseus receives advice from Kirke about Scylla. Kirke tells Odysseus not to fight Scylla, yet he chooses to anyway. Another example of Odysseus’s ignorance toward people is when Eurylochus tells him not to go onto Kirke’s island because he knows the crew would be turned into swine. Odysseus again chooses to ignore the intelligent advice given by the gods, and finds out that hard way that Eurylochus was correct. After all that Odysseus has done to the crew, it is true to
Near the end of this chapter when he has finished off all of the suitors, (mostly with the aid of Athena), Odysseus feels he has prevailed as the winner, righted the wrong. At one point he exclaims "these men the doom of the gods has brought low, and their own indecent acts. They'd no regard for any man who chanced come their way. And so thanks to their reckless work, they met their shameful fate."(435-438). The irony of this quote is the fact that he is
So when the Cicones gather an army from inland to ward off the Greek invaders, Odysseus loses many men and rather than acknowledge his error in judgment, he shifts the blame of the defeat to his crew. Convincing himself that he is not at fault for having been defeated, but rather his selfish crew who refused to leave, he justifies his actions, “Then I urged them to cut and run, set sail, but would they listen? Not those mutinous; there was too much wine to swill, too many sheep to slaughter”(9.50-52). Odysseus knows that if he stays on the island, the Cicones will rally an army and come to kill Odysseus and his men. Despite this, he stays and reassures himself that the major defeat was by Zeus’ hand, “Zeus presented us with disaster us, me and my comrades doomed to suffer”(9.61-62). Homer teaches us that no matter how many great accolades one holds, they are destined to fail if they cannot own up to their mistakes and actions.
Odysseus proves his selfishness by disregarding any advice given to him by others and doing what he thinks will have the best outcome for himself. His egocentric attitude continues to be portrayed as he puts his health and well-being before his men. Aeolus, ruler of the winds, presents Odysseus with a bag of wind to guide him and his crew home, but instead of putting his pride aside and letting his men know what it is, he lets their imagination take over to where they assume it is filled with treasure that he is selfishly taking for himself. Although he was not actually taking treasure, it is selfish of him to keep this information from his men knowing they will open it. He puts all the blame on them when he says, ‘My coward comrades did me in’ (10.71). Odysseus could have easily prevented this, but he was too stubborn. Along their way home, the crew docks on Helios’ island where they are advised not to eat the cattle, but while Odysseus was away attempting to call on the gods, they sacrificed the best cows. A good leader would have explained to them consequences, but he was only worried about his own personal agenda. Because of this, Zeus punishes them when he says, ‘As for those sinners, I’ll soon strike their ship/with blazing lightning’ (12.394-395). These instances cause his