What Is Cosmic Irony In Odysseus

After Odysseus’ flea from the island of the Cyclopes he docks his vessel on the island of Aeolus, who is the God of Winds. Aeolus provides Odysseus with a sack of wind rapidly delivering him to his home. However, Odysseus’ crew assumes the sack of winds contains treasures and they rip the bag wide open, releasing the wind. Odysseus and his crew are thrusted back to the island of Circe and the God Circe transforms the men into pigs. When Odysseus begins to search for his men the God Hermes approaches and provides him with a herb that will deflect Circe’s altering abilities. Consequently, after Odysseus overcomes Circe, she offers him

Book IX presents an eager Odysseus wanting to “…find out about these [the Cyclopes] people, and learn what they are” (Od. 9.174) clearly demonstrating his curiosity. Despite numerous warnings from his men to leave, Odysseus uses his superiority to make the rash decision of exploring the Cyclopes land. Likewise in book X, after a warning from Eurylochos to leave and not bother with the goddess, Circe, Odysseus disregards what he has been told due to his curiosity and desire to approach Circe himself – “…only I shall go. For there is a strong compulsion upon me.” (10.272-273). There is a heavy emphasis on how Odysseus’ curiosity continually leads to decisions that would be considered irrational and near irresponsible because of the potential danger he is leading not only himself but also his companions into. At times, this damages is reduced through Odysseus’ cleverness which can be seen when he lies to Polythemus and tells him that their ships have been destroyed instead of revealing there location. He does this as he “…knew too much and was not deceived…” (9.281-282) and in doing so, protects himself and his

In the evidence that is stated in the quote is that all he really cared about was the Cyclops knew that he was stronger and smarter than him, and that he was better and that he wanted to claim responsibility for blinding the Cyclops leads to the summoning of the curse. For example, another quote that is shown and stated was, “Odysseus informs them of Circe’s warnings. First, they will encounter the Sirens. Circe has instructed Odysseus that he should be the only crew member to hear the alluring songs (Fitzgerald “Part 2” 7). This evidences that even though he knows the danger his men and him are going to go through, he still decides that he still needs to go through the sirens and

In literature, mankind is often seen as imperfect and flawed. From sacred texts like the Bible to classic books such as The Odyssey we can see the true flaws of humans. Specifically book twelve of The Odyssey shows the flawed nature of mankind and how it leads to mankind's downfall. Circe, the goddess that Odysseus encounters during his initially half hearted journey home, gives advice to Odysseus about the dangers ahead and what he should do in order to get past them. Despite the advice given to him by a goddess, Odysseus "cleared [his] mind of Circe's orders..." because they were "cramping [his] style..."

Three of Odysseus men ate the lotus plant which made them lose their wish to go back to Ithaca. Odysseus “Drove them, all three wailing to the ships, tied them down under their rowing benches” (1112).Even though they were fighting to get free and resisting to be tied down Odysseus still does not leave his men behind.He forces them to return to the ship so they could travel home. Another example of Odysseus being loyal to his men is when they reach island of Aeaea and Circe has turned his men into swine. Odysseus start climbing the mountain to reach Circe and asks her to release his men.While climbing up Hermes reaches him and asks him to eat a herb called Moly. The herb would make Odysseus being not affected by her magic. When Circe insist Odysseus to eat and drink in order to see his men he replies to her that in order for him to eat and drink she has to free his men so he could see his trusty comrades again. After Odysseus sees his mens he eats the food and does not turn into animal. Circe upon realizing that she has no power over him, she offers to take him as her lover and make him immortal(book

He tricks the Cyclops and stabs him in the eye with an olive tree,, and tells him that his name is Nohbdy. It was fate that brought him to Circe 's island, but in this case it was quite a good thing. He used his knowledge to save his men from her magic, and cleverly had her swear that he would not play any tricks. He is there for a couple of years and before leaving is told of the dangers awaiting him, and what he must do to make it home alive. He learns he must first go to the underworld and see Tiresias, who will give him instructions about returning home. Then Odysseus must get past the Sirens and Scylla. He follows Circe 's instructions and puts beeswax in the mens ' ears and has them tie him to the mast, so they will not be lured to there deaths by the Sirens. However he does not follow her orders to flee from Scylla. Instead he wished to try fight. This is an example of him using his free will instead of choosing the fate that possibly Circe has already prepared. In this instance it turns out for the worst and he loses all his men.

In the odyssey the main character odysseus is constantly being controlled by a powerful god and fate, which is the first key part of cosmic Irony. A key scene of the book where it is shown that fate controls Odysseus’s life is when, the Cyclopes is praying to his father after Odysseus escapes the cave after blinding him. As Odysseus and the Cyclopes exchange words the Cyclopes says,“All this, he warned me, would come to pass someday” (9.569) The author just illustrated evidence that Odysseus has a fate. The cyclopes explains that his fate; “that I’d be blinded here at the hands of Odysseus” (9.569-570) The cyclopes knows all of this from information given to him by his father Poseidon a long time ago. The quotes show that Odysseus has always had a fate that controls his life. It shows that Odysseus’s decisions have never mattered because his life is already plotted out. So by definition this proves the first key component to cosmic irony. Even when Odysseus is specifically trying to please the gods he can’t, “But my sacrifices failed to move the god” (9.617). Odysseus wants the gods on his side he thinks he can change their view of him with sacrifices but the

After the encounters with the Sirens, Odysseus had to face a terrifying creature that he feared of. Circe warned Odysseus about the dangers of Scylla. He is informed that she will snag six of his men and tells him that it is much better than loosing everyone. “Nobody would feel good seeing her, not even a god who crossed her path. She has a dozen feet all deformed, six enormously long necks, with a horrible head on each of them and three rows of teeth packed closed together, full of murky death” (Steele and Alwa, 489). Odysseus knew that in order for his survival and to be able to get to the island, he had to sacrifice his men and escape this monster. “Monsters such as the Sphinx are often represented as female, as if to imply that women are on the borderline between human and “other” than human”(Steele and Alwa, 41). Odysseus also had to deal with his love affair with the witch goddess, Circe. She lived with nymphs on a mythical island. She changed all of Odysseus’s men into animals when he showed up to see her. Hermes helped Odysseus remove the men from the spell. “Many men appear to have felt that they could truly not love women who were not educated well enough to read, write, or engage in informed dialogue with their husbands”(Steele and Alwa, 43). The love between Odysseus and Circe failed due to her lack of ability to engage with men, by

Calypso being the temptress that she is kept Odysseus on her island, Ogygia, for seven years. Eventually, after Zeus talked to Athena, Zeus told Calypso that she must set Odysseus free. Even with Zeus’ orders she did not want to let Odysseus go so Odysseus had to escape her dreadful island and return home on his own. Then after he left the island of Calypso, he ran in to Circe. Circe started to mess with all of Odysseus’ men and made it harder to get home. Both Calypso and Circe, made Odysseus’ journey home so much harder than it needed to be. Since Calypso trapped him on the island for seven years, his family and everybody at home was starting to believe he was dead. They had no hope that they would ever see him again. So they started to push themselves on Penelope. Also if Circe would have just left him alone and did not mess with any of his men and stayed out of the way, he could have made it home faster. Since both of the Goddess wanted him for their selves they both interfered with his journey in many different ways. Some ways was the same like giving him the gift of immortality and persuading with other stuff. Some ways was different like trapping him in a cage for seven years and turning his men into pigs so he could not leave as

In book nine: the Cyclops fate is demonstrated; these are the times you see that the gods take action in Odysseus life. Odysseus is talking to the terrifying Cyclops; Odysseus is explaining to the Cyclops how fate has brought them to his island. Odysseus says on page 116 lines 159 thru 163. “We are Achemans…took the wrong route as Zeus I suppose instead that we should.” Odysseus says that he

This time spent on Circe's island was a test of whether he could resist lust from a goddess, and he fails. At first it appears as though the only reason Odysseus sleeps with Circe is to regain his companions, but she easily persuades them to stay. What makes it worse is the fact that Odysseus is not even the first one ready to go. His men are the ones who urge him to leave: "What ails you now? It is time to think about our own country" (Book X, line 472). At a glance, it appears that Odysseus is merely succumbing to Circe's schemes for reasons related to their health and well being, if we read between the lines, we soon begin to realize that Odysseus is weak in the voracious hands of lust. Odysseus arrives on Calypso's island in her cave. At first, it seems like Odysseus doesn't seem much to mind her taking care of him, but over time it is plainly evident that he is unhappy with her. When Hermes arrives on Calypso's island to give her the message from Zeus to release Odysseus, he is bawling on the beach-- a daylong activity for him. Calypso is holding him with her by force; she has no companions to help him back to Ithaca, nor has she a ship to send him in. Athena pleads with Zeus to give Odysseus good fortune,

At this point, a brief summary of the events leading to Odysseus' underworld experience is in order. The hero and his crew make landfall on an island ruled by the Sorceress, Circe. According to several traditions, she is daughter to Helios, the sun god. When encountered by an advance party commanded by Eurylokhos, Circe transforms all the men into pigs by means of a powerful drug insinuated into food and drink. Eurylokhos escapes this fate and is able to warn Odysseus. Hermes then descends to instruct Odysseus in how to overcome the witch. It is curious that, instead of displaying his power to nullify Circe's magic, Hermes arms Odysseus with a sprig of a plant called moly. Evidently, the aura of herbalism was such that only more herbalism could compete. Having rendered the sorceress helpless, Odysseus is persuaded by her to remain on the island for a full year. At year's end, Circe advises the hero to journey to Hades in order that he may learn from the shade of the blind prophet, Tiresias, how a

Primarily, Hermes informs Odysseus of his men’s dire situation and Circe’s potential harm. Firstly, Homer uses imagery to depict that Odysseus’ men have been changed in form as Circe decided to turn them into pigs: “...Your men are all in there, in Circe’s palace, cooped like swine, hock by jowl in the sties,” (312-313). Here the reader can picture how squished the men are together and there is once again a hint at the potential risk Odysseus could be in because he could be turned into a swine like the rest of his men were. Finally, Hermes departs with fair warning by saying “but have her swear the binding oath of the blessed gods she’ll never plot some new intrigue to harm you” (331-333). This dialogue shows the potential harm Circe could cause if Odysseus doesn’t make her swear the oath and shows that the oath is a binding agreement of some sort between a god and an epic hero when an epic hero is in a risky

When Odysseus arrives at the island of the Cyclops, his first mistake occurs when he decides that he and men should stay in the cave and meet Polyphemus, even when his men advised him to take the goods and leave (IX.215-217). At this instance, Odysseus’s decision is influenced by his ego. He sees all the goods in the cave and the reason he stays is because he hopes that the Cyclops would give him a gift of hospitality. This is interesting because Odysseus does not know whether the Cyclops is civilized or a brute; however, Odysseus goes forward with his plan because he believes the Cyclops will listen to him since the gods are on his side. In this instance, Odysseus is calling himself powerful because he has the support of the gods especially Zeus, when he threatens the Cyclops that “Zeus avenges strangers and suppliants” (IX. 262). If his ego was not already high, Odysseus boosts it even more when he believes that he has outsmarted the Cyclops by not falling into the trap of telling the location of his ships (IX.273-277). At this point, Odysseus

Odysseus thinks that his reasoning are final and his activities are constantly just and right, although he frequently allows his ego control his rational thinking, resulting harm to his group and messing with the gods’s plans. His men could have went back home Securely for it is the desire of Athena and the other heavenly gods who surround to her in Mount Olympus, however Odysseus takes it to himself to outrage and blind Polyphemus, the monstrous son of Poseidon, adored by his dad yet abhorred by the people, In this way distrusting their whole arrangement . Subsequent to being blinded by the heroine, Polyphemus tosses huge pieces of rocks at Odysseus's ship, nearly obliterating them at the same time. But instead of retreating for safety, Odysseus keeps on provoking Polyphemus and “[calls] out to the cyclopes again, with [his] men hanging all over [him] begging him not to”(Book 9, 491-492). His feeling of pride and presumption influences to disregard the requests of his people even in these critical circumstances . He will fulfill his own feeling of interest and pleasure without thinking of the result it would have on his crew. Despite the fact that he is bound to get away from all passings and assaults, his group isn’t so blessed. Their lives are in mortal peril since Odysseus considers them as child sheeps who should forfeit their lives for him when the circumstances comes, much the same as how mortals make conciliatory offerings of sheeps for the heavenly gods. He is willing to fulfill his own feeling of interest without thinking of his groups lives or their suppositions and is regularly infuriated when they negate his request. If they hurt his sense of pride and self-importance and pomposity , Odysseus will be overcome with outrage and