In book nine, the whole reason Poseidon has it out for Odysseus starts to come together. The re-occurring theme to me is pride. If it were not for Odysseus' pride, he would not have been stuck on the island in the first place. Odysseus is cunning in the way he plays his cards with the Cyclops. He tricks him into believing his name is "nobody"; he devises a plan to escape the cave, which actually works. Odysseus calls the Cyclops an idiot because "my men were trussed up under their thick fleecy ribs" (9. 494), but the joke is on Odysseus. His pride creeps up, and as he makes his great escape, Odysseus says, "Cyclops-/ if any man on the face of the earth should ask you/ who blinded you, shamed you so- say Odysseus,/ raider of cities, he gouged out your eye,/ Laertes' son who makes his home in Ithaca!". Way to go Odysseus, you told him where you are from and exactly who you are. The Cyclops, son of Poseidon, tells his father of the awful act Odysseus committed; it is history from there.
I commented on Nate and Darby's posts.
I whole heartedly agree. Odysseus might as well have committed a crime and left his itinerary at the crime scene.
ReplyDeleteI agree that his pride got him into many situations that could have been avoided, but he is able to redeem himself later. He displays humility in many areas as well, and that helps his case as a leader.
ReplyDeleteOdysessus has many admirable characteristics yet this is one that strikes a cord with me of a arrogant man. His struggles stem from this major flaw inside of him.
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