Reading Notes: Homer's Odyssey, Part A

Homer's Odyssey, retold by Tony Kline
mythfolklore

I have read parts of the Odyssey before but it was a while ago and I don't remember most of it. I liked how Odysseus is finally showing his cleverness. He was praised as the most clever and well spoken of the Greeks in the Iliad, however, there are not many opportunities for him to prove it.

The first challenge Odysseus and his crew come across is the Cyclops. When they are trapped in the Cyclops cave, he devises a plan to escape by blinding the monster while he sleeps. Furthermore, he has the sense to tell the Cyclops his name is "Nobody" so that the other Cyclopes in the area won't come to his aid when he says Nobody is killing him. Finally, Odysseus ties his men under the sheep so that they can leave the cave without the Cyclops feeling them.

However, once they escape, Odysseus' warrior side comes out and he can't help taunting the Cyclops from the perceived safety of his boat. Even blinded, though, the Cyclops nearly hits the boat with a large rock and curses Odysseus and asks Posiden to thwart his return to his homeland.

The next challenge Odysseus and his crew face is Circe. Since they are lost, they are forced to seek out other people in search of help. They leave themselves at Circe's mercy and she turns some of the crew into pigs, however. Hermes assists Odysseus so that she can't curse him and she is forced to swear an oath that she will not hurt them.

Odysseus and his crew stay on Circe's island for a year before setting sail again, only, they still aren't headed home. They are traveling for Hades in order to ask a ghost for directions.

Odysseus and the Cyclops: wikimedia

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