herody Free Essays on Homers Odyssey - Heroic or Disloyal Men? :: Odyssey essays

The Men of The Odyssey Heroic or Disloyal?   In Homers The Iliad, Achilles shield is exposit in great depth. On one portion of the shield, there is fashioned a scene with a golden herd of straight-horn cattle. They are being led on a fruitful riverside by a group of four golden shepherds and nine hounds. Two lions approach the herd, and mutilate a mighty bull. The shepherds discount do nothing but watch, as they dare not approach the predators. This scene is crucial in understanding the behavior of Odysseus men in the subsequentness to this epic, (The Iliad, p. 227). In Homers The Odyssey, Odysseus narrates a portion of the epic concerning his journeys and trials during his long quest home for Ithaca. Throughout these adventures, his men play an important role in determining the fate of the entire crew of his ship. At some points, he portrays them as being heroic, while at others, they seem barbaric in nature and disloyal to their captain. These qualities of his men, a nd certainly others, are outstrip exemplified through the episodes involving the Cyclopes and the Cattle of the Sun God. Before comparing and contrasting the actions of the men during these two mini-stories, a ethical understanding of the inhabitants of the two lands is necessary. The Island of the Sun God, Helios, is referred to as the worlds delight, as it provides habitation for this gods limitless flocks of cattle. Conversely, the Island of the Cyclopes inhabits primitive one-eyed, half-man, and half-bestial beings, (p. 218). While Helios island is described as noble, almost as golden as the sun itself, the land of the Cyclopes is illustrated as a land filled with wild vegetation, and neglected by its undemocratic and uncivilized people. This depiction of these people being poor gardeners coincides with previous evidence from this epic, and others, that this type of lifestyle being lived by the Cyclopes was looked down upon by the author, and by the gods, in particularly. The other land, therefore, is obviously blessed and considered to be holy to the gods. Soon after landing on the Cyclopes Island, Odysseus takes a team of his best men with him to explore the new wilderness. They then discover the cave of Polyphemos, your everyday, average, sheep-herding Cyclopes. Odysseus men suggest taking the vision-impaired beasts cheese and flocks and making a run low for it, but the raider of cities insists on awaiting his homecoming in an attempt to see the caveman and what he has to offer.