Analysis Of Homer s The Odyssey - 1418 Words

Homer’s epic Greek tale, The Odyssey, is the story of a hero’s nostos, following the ten years after the Trojan War saga. From these tales of wanderings of Odysseus, son of Laà «rtes, ruler of Ithaka, Homer reveals that to come home a warrior must strip their ‘war’s immortality’ skin and be reborn to understand the peaceful human existence in the cosmic universe. In retelling of his tale to the Phaià ¡kians, Odysseus recaptures the inward lost by means of descriptive heroic insight and over imagination of the external drama, skimming over his most fatal flaw - his ego. My argument in this essay is our hero’s ego and his continuous struggle with it causes the downfall for him and others . Odysseus’s need of recognition†¦show more content†¦A clear example of Odysseus folly and greatness is incapsulated in the tale of coming to the land of Kyklopes, chapter IX of The Odyssey. In his flashbacks, Odysseus begins with the renderi ng of the tale of how he and his men came to this seemingly paradise isle, guided in the foggy night by a god. The land was gifted with fertile soil and meats of wild game for these hungry men who were lost on sea, nine days prior. â€Å"..Heaven gave us game a-plenty†¦ so there all day, until the sun went down, we made feast on meat galore and wine.† As Dawn rose from her slumber, they carry on into the mainland to find the natives who resided there. It is on this journey Odysseus and his twelve strongest fighters enter the cave full of wonders of food. This temptation of food awakens the desire to the men’s stomach, thus making them linger in this spot. This desire of food is a continuous negative symbolism for Homer, a representation of human’s lack of self-control to temptation; an unfavourable foreshadowing of things to come. Enjoying this meal, Odysseus awaits for the meeting of the caveman, to see â€Å"†¦what he had to offer - no pretty sight, it turn out, for my friends’ It is here we meet Kyklopes Polypheums, the son of Poseidon. Homer introduces the Kyklopes as an animalistic, uncivilized one eye race of giants; they are however a ‘blessed’ and a ‘cursed’ race. Everything they need is given