The Odyssey: Book 9 Blog Assignment

Was Odysseus heroic in dealing with the cyclops?

Odysseus's encounter with the Cyclops Polyphemus represents a "trial of the rode" conflict during his heroic journey back to Ithaca. During this encounter, Odysseus and his man are trapped in a cave with the Cyclops Polyphemus due to their own foolishness. To escape, Odysseus uses trickery, deception and bravery.

He accomplishes this by tricking the Cyclops into intoxication; meanwhile, Odysseus and his men had sharpened and heated a stake in which to blind the Cyclops with. That night when the Cyclops had fallen asleep, Odysseus and his men stab the Cyclops’s eye. When the Cyclops calls for help, he claims that "nobody" did it; a clever name that Odysseus had given the Cyclops as opposed to his own name. Next morning, Odysseus and his men tie themselves to the underbellies of the Cyclops’s sheep which graze regularly. Polyphemus is blind and cannot see them escape.

Odysseus was heroic in dealing with the Cyclops. He displayed courage in piercing the Cyclops’s eye; cleverness in his ability to intoxicate and trick the Cyclops; and intelligence in fashioning the idea to tie the men to the bellies of the goats. All of these attributes are essential in defining a heroic character.

The Odyssey: Book 7 Blog Assignment

List two ways in which Book 7 links with the "Stages of the Hero's Journey":

1.  Meeting with the mentor/supernatural aid - During the first part of Book 7, Odysseus unknowingly encounters Athena, disguised as a small girl. She provides unseen, divine support for Odysseus by creating a wall mist; which, hides his prescence from the Phaeacians, who are generally resentful of foreigners.



2. Crossing the first threshold- From line 97, Odysseus's entrence into the palace of King Alcinous is described in depth as a crossing into a threshold . This passage is meant to represent his first steps into a long journey/adventure.

The Odyssey: Book 6 Blog Assignment

Book 6:

List 3 Epithets from the reading-

1. Bright-eyed godess (page 169)
2. Great Odysseus (page 172)
3. White-armed princess (page 174)

List 2 epic similes from the reading-

1. " And out he stalked as a mountain lion exultant in his power strides through wind and rain and his eyes blaze and he charges sheep or oxen or chases wild deer but his hunger drives him on to go for flocks, even to raid the best-defended homestead."

 This passage is an epic simile because of its expansive proprotion. It is used to describe the manner in which Odysseus wakes up after his deep sleep. He is describes as a powerful animal with his main goal in mind. This powerful simile adds to Odysseus's god-like appearence and character.


2. " ... Zeus's daughter Athena made him taller to all eyes, his build more massive now, and down from his brow she ran his curls like thick hyacinth clusters full of blooms. As a master craftsman washes gold over beaten silver -a man the god of fire and Queen Athena trained in every fine technique- and finishes off his latest effort, handsome work, so she lavishes splendor over his head and shoulders now."

 Once again, this passage is an epic simile because of its expansive proprotion. The passage is used to describe the process in which Athena makes Odysseus more desirable. As a result, Athena intends for Nausicaa to fall in love with him. This will make Odysseus's situation on the island much easier.