I chose to read the Odyssey because it is something I was
supposed to have read previously but never did. In the first half of the unit
it details the adventures of Odysseus as he and his men encounter the Cyclops Polyphemus
and Circe. I enjoyed the interactions with the Cyclops the most because it
showed Odysseus's cunningness. I must say though, he was quite foolish in not
listening to his men and simply stealing from the Cyclops while he was away.
His faith in others and his own ignorance prompted him to wait on the mighty
beast in hopes that he would receive them well.
The one thing that confused me was that Zeus listened to the
cyclops prayers and cursed Odysseus. I wouldn’t think that Zeus would favor the
cyclops in this instance because he had denounced the gods. He claimed that Cyclopes
were more powerful than the gods and he has no need to fear them. So why would
Zeus curse Odysseus when he had always been a firm believer in the Gods?
The storyline involving Circe was not as intriguing to me.
It was the stereotypical story of this time period in which the woman is a
trickster and seduces men to meet their ultimate demise. All of Odysseus’s men in
the one group were foolish enough to fall victim to her tricks, except for one,
and they were turned into pigs. In this story Odysseus didn’t have to use his
wit to outsmart the goddess. He relied entirely on the guidance from Hermes,
one of the Gods.
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