Odysseus

[Jewls]

okay i have never done this before but i need help i'm attmepting to write a paper on odysseus' decisions delaying his arrival home and how he looses focus and stuff but im having a hard time finding evidence in the text anyone want to give ideas, quotes, suggestions to look in which books be my guest

[hellsapoppin]

''loses focus''

One of the first stops he and his men make is in the island of lotus eaters. He is in need of re-supplying his food stocks and smartly sends three of his men to test the local cuisine. They eat the lotus leafs and become very apathetic and refuse to return home. Odysseus then orders them back on board his vessel and quickly exits lest anyone else comes under the influence of the drugs.

I recall the repeated use of the term ''resourceful Odysseus'' from my reading as a college freshman and this certainly illustrates just that.

Part of the reason why it took him so long to return home was the fact that he and his men spent three years with Circe who was a demi-goddess. She cast a spell on crew members and would have done the same to Odysseus except that he was rescued by Hermes. Further peril awaited the crew and they escaped death several more times.

Despite his warnings, several crew members killed sacred cattle and they were killed by the gods for their evils. Safety came thereafter when Odysseus met demi-goddess Calypso with whom he lived for another 7 years.

More peril followed before he finally made it home.

It seemed to me that it was not the fact that he lost focus on his venture home but that Fate took him to perilous places. Only his daring, his resourcefulness, and a little help from the gods got him through his hazardous ventures.

[JBI]

I think you are mixing Homer's hero with Dante's take, and later Tennyson's. In Dante and Tennyson, Odysseus is always seeking more adventure, and eventually leaves, abandoning wife and son, in order to pursue more adventures until death.

[hellsapoppin]

this is the translation I referred to:


http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41BQ7JBJJ1L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg



I did not read Tennyson's or Dante's versions of this tale.