In book nine, Odysseus recalls his long adventure after the trojan war. What/who convinced him to tell his story?
Throughout the trojan war and thus far into the Odyssey, Odysseus has creatively gotten himself out of trouble, and has shown great quick decision making skills, which arguably has kept him alive. Why did Odysseus devise an intricate plan, instead of simply killing Polyphemus? What about hanging onto sheep - I mean, who would a thought of that!
At the end of the book, Odysseus calls out his true name to Polyphemus, and Polyphemus calls to Poseidon to revenge him. Was it a bad idea to call out his real name? Why do you think he did it?
To start, the Paeacians convinced him to tell his story. Odysseus telling his story is a way for the bard to make there be a plausible timeline, for the story of Odysseus is in a different time than the one involving Telemachus and company. If a story is being told, than the "current" timeline is continual.
ReplyDeleteOdysseus lives up to his wily and crafty reputation. He had several brilliant ideas and lies throughout this book, such as the destruction of his ship and the name "Nobody." Merely killing Polyphemus would be a very blunt approach -- not like Odysseus at all, but also ineffective. If you will recall from the book (which you may or may not have read) it specifically mentions why he did not. There was a huge boulder in front of the cave that none of the men would have been able to move. Not only this, but they did not want to anger Poseidon too much. And if that cyclops could survive having a scalding hot stake driven into his eye, I really doubt that they could have killed him.
As for revealing his true name to Polyphemus, it was quite obviously a really "bad idea." He probably did it because he is only an arrogant human. He was wanting to humble a cyclops, a creature greater than man, and he succeeded.
The songs of the trojan war prompt Odysseus to retell his story. When he is trapped in Polyphemus' cave he wants to immediately attack Polyphemus and kill him but he restrains himself because a huge boulder is blocking the cave entrance. Odysseus is forced to use his legendary cunning to trick the cyclops into drinking and eventually freeing Odysseus and his men. Odysseus than makes what is arguably his greatest mistake. He reveals himself to Polyphemus in a rare moment of foolishness and egomania. This costly mistake forever makes him the enemy of Poseiden. However, it may be that this didn't really matter. Poseiden, being one of the gods, is supposedly all knowing and all seeing so he surely would have known his son was blinded even without the prayer that Polyphemus' made to him. If this were true Poseiden would've exacted his revenge on Odysseus regardless of whether or not Odysseus revealed himself.
ReplyDeleteOdysseus recalls his story mainly to explain his origin and behavior to the Phaecians. He has lived off their hospitality for a day now without ever telling them his name, and he has wept every time the bard has sung of the Trojan war. I think Odysseus owes the Phaecians at least his name and some explanation of his background.
ReplyDeleteOdysseus didn’t kill Polyphemus because one: as was pointed out in the book, a huge boulder blocked the cave entrance and the Achaeans would be unable to escape the cavern if the Cyclops were dead, and two: Polyphemus very casually grabbed two Greeks, smashed their brains out and ate them whole. I think Odysseus is smart enough to realize his odds in a direct fight.
Odysseus keeping his name a secret and substituting it for “nobody” was essential to his plan because it prevented Polyphemus from being able to convince his fellow Cyclops from coming to his aid. Odysseus did make a fatal mistake by announcing his true name. He did this out of his arrogance for just beating a horrible brute with his wit, however, he did not realize the effect this would have on the rest of his life.
In this book, Odysseus makes a major decision that will effect his aspiration of returning home. After listening to all of the songs about the war, Odysseus finally felt the need to spill his past to everyone. He took this opportunity to vent out all of his background and what has prevented him so far to make his way back home.
ReplyDeleteAs Odysseus witnesses two of his comrades being thrown, smashed, and eaten by Polyphemus, Odysseus knows that even attempting to kill the Cyclops, he would be murdered as well. Also, Odysseus realizes that if he tries to kill the Cyclops, him and his comrades would never be able to escape because of the boulder blocking their freedom. Odysseus makes the smart decision to disguise his name with "Nobody" and blind the Cyclops. However, after Odysseus triumphantly escapes from the cave, he perhaps makes the biggest mistake that he could have made: he reveals his true identity to Polyphemus. It is unsure whether Odysseus realizes that this could determine his fate.
One of the main reasons Odysseus is convinced to tell his story, is because the Paeacians have been so open and nice to him, that he owes them somewhat of background information about himself, as Will said. I also think Odysseus devised a very clever plan, especially creating the name, “Nobody”. By doing this, Polyphemus’ Cyclops don’t believe him and think he is making everything up. This didn’t convince them to help Polyphemus as well. Being trapped in a cave, Odysseus' first instinct is to immediately kill Polyphemus. Because there is a huge boulder blocking the entrance of the cave, he can’t. In order to free his men, he tricks the Cyclops into drinking, which results in freeing him and his men. Then as soon as Odysseus shows himself to Polyphemus, things between him and Poseidon will change forever. Revealing his true identity, becomes one of the main reasons of Poseidon's resentment towards Odysseus.
ReplyDeleteIn book 9 Odysseus starts telling the reader his story. The Phaeacians convinced him to do this, but he was willing to tell his perilous tale.
ReplyDeleteOdysseus didn’t want to just kill Polyphemus. Maybe if he did the other Cyclops’ would know and they might try and kill Odysseus. Also as Jack said, Odysseus has brilliant ideas that seem to not get him into trouble, but out of it. I also think the way he comes up with these ideas and executes them in so much more interesting then just killing Polyphemus. As Parker said, the sheep idea was very creative and tricky. If I was one of Odysseus’ men I would feel pretty safe in his company. He always has ways to get out of the hardest things.
I think Odysseus called out his real name because he overcame the Cyclops. He was so excited and thinking that he was unstoppable he told Polyphemus his name. He didn’t know that Polyphemus was the son of Poseidon, nor did he know that Polyphemus was going to pray to his father to seek revenge on Odysseus. Overall this book was filled with great schemes and amazing action.
In book nine, the Phaeacians convince Odysseus to tell his long story of the Trojan War and his travels home. As well in this book, the story of how Odysseus escapes the giant cyclops, Polyphemus is told.
ReplyDeleteOdysseus and his men are captured by the son of Poseidon, Polyphemus, who is an enormous cyclops. Polyphemus snacks on a few of the men and the rest of the crew thinks there is no way out. However, Odysseus, obviously, comes up with a clever scheme. He drugs the giant with a gratuitous amount of wine and after doing so, he pierces a sharp stick through his eye, blinding the giant. The next day, Polyphemus, now blinded, rolls the boulder away from the entrance to the lair and unknowingly lets odysseus and his crew free. Just as Odysseus and his crew were boarding the ships Odysseus, stupidly, yells out his name and informs Polyphemus of his blinder. At that point, Odysseus was very proud of his accomplishment, and in his cockyness, he yelled out his name, which is possibly the stupidest thing he could have done, given the fact that Polyphemus is sone of Poseidon. Odysseus doesn't know it, but he just made his trip home that much harder.
In book 9 Odysseus starts tells his story to the reader. He takes this opportunity to tell everyone of his past.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Jack when he says that Odysseus is able to come up with these brilliant ideas that seem to never get in trouble and always work. Also they way that he executes his plans are brilliant and much more interesting. They were always incredibly clever and also very safe, so if I was one of his men, as Maggie says, I would feel very safe serving under him and would trust him completely.
I believe that Odysseus called out his real name to the Cyclops because he knew that he had bested him. He though that there was no way the Polyphemus could have killed him. However, he did not realize that Polyphemus was the son of Poseidon and he unknowingly made a very dangerous immortal enemy. I think that this book signals the beginning of the story for real, and hopefully it becomes much more interesting.
Odysseus is clearly a very sharp and cunning man, but I think he is a little cocky. He may be very powerful and smart, but not as powerful and smart as the gods, so telling Polyphemus who his name was a terrible idea. I think he did this out of sheer arrogance. Also, while he was telling the story he would often boast about his accomplishments, highlighting how conceited he is.
ReplyDeleteThe reason he didn't kill Polyphemus is that they could not have gotten out of the cave if Polyphemus didn't open it. They would have been trapped in there if Polyphemus were dead.