There are many obstacles in the Odyssey that Odysseus has to face on his way home; the Cyclops, Circe, the Suitors to name but a few. They all pose a different threat to Odysseus and his men. Some episodes cause Odysseus little trouble as he just loses some of his men, for example the Laestrygonians; during some events Odysseus' life is actually endangered, for example the Cyclops incident; and some of the other obstacles which face Odysseus are emotional as well as physical.
An emotional obstacle could be described as an obstacle that hurts Odysseus in a way that will make him depressed or irritated, for example when his men open the bag of winds Odysseus wants to commit suicide. During the course of this essay I will touch on a number of different elements from the books of the Odyssey that I have read related to this title. I will comment on what obstacles hurt Odysseus most and whether they are emotional or physical obstacles. Firstly on his way home from Troy, Odysseus goes to the land of the Cicones.Here, he and his men sack the town and divide the women and plunder they took between them.
Odysseus then told his men they needed to leave the island, but they didn't want to. They wanted to stay and celebrate the sacking of the town and the victory over Troy. The next morning the Cicones gathered a force and attacked the unaware Greeks. In this situation the Cicones were not really a very big obstacle to Odysseus as he managed to sack the town and could have left with out any losses. But it was Odysseus' men that were the biggest obstacle and caused some of the men to die: And then I said we must escape with all possible speed.
But my fools of men refused. ' This shows that Odysseus told the men that they should have left the island but they refused. This is a physical obstacle for Odysseus because if he had tried to lead his men away from the island then they would have rebelled against him, so therefore he was actually obstructed by his men. There is a reason for the men disobeying Odysseus though and this is because they had been fighting in Troy for ten years and wanted to have a break from fighting and working.
This would also have been an emotional obstacle for Odysseus for a number of reasons; he would have had to face the deaths of the men: 'We sailed on from Ismarus with heavy hearts, grieving for the loss of our dear companions. ' This would have played on Odysseus mind and he would have felt sad to have lost men, he would have been emotionally dejected. Here 'Heavy hearts' means that they were sad and were grieving the loss of the men. Odysseus probably would have thought that if the men had listened to him then the men would not have died.The men should have listened to Odysseus as he is a wise, old man who had experienced many more so he had and therefore had a better knowledge of life and war.
Odysseus and his men then set sail. They then came to the land of the Lotus-Eaters. Odysseus sent some of them to go and explore the area. They soon found the Lotus Eaters who offered them some lotus: 'Those who ate the honeyed fruit of the plant lost any wish to come back and bring us news. All they now wanted was to stay where they were with the Lotus-eaters, to browse on the lotus, and to forget all thoughts of return.This quote describes what happened when men ate the fruit.
This would have been a physical and emotional obstacle for Odysseus: the men not leaving the land was a physical obstacle. This is not the men's fault however as Odysseus sends them to go and explore the area. Therefore this obstacle is made more difficult to conquer by Odysseus as he sent the men to go and explore when he should have gone himself. Odysseus would also have been hurt emotionally by this situation as he had just lost men at the land of the Cicones.The way Odysseus dealt with the situation after the men had eaten the fruit meant that he would not be emotionally hurt as he saved the men. Odysseus arrived next at the land of the Cyclops.
This was a very big obstacle for Odysseus as not only did he lose a number of men, but his life was also in danger: 'We made out a cave close to the sea, with a high entrance overhung by laurels. ' This should been a clear sign of danger to Odysseus as not many normal sized men would need such a high entrance to their cave. But Odysseus still gathered some men and went into the cave.When the owner of the cave came in all the men's hearts sank as he said that he didn't believe in the gods. This meant that the group had no protection from Zeus and the Cyclops could do anything he pleased to them.
'He then picked up a huge stone, with which he closed the entrance. It was an almighty slab; twenty-two four wheeled wagons could not shift a massive stone from the entrance. ' This quote shows the true size and power of the Cyclops. This shows that this event was likely to be a huge obstacle. 'Reaching out towards my men seized a couple and dashed their heads against the floor as though they had been puppies.
This quote shows that the Cyclops was a wicked man who didn't care what he did to humans. This happened a few times and every time he did it, it would make the obstacle bigger as Odysseus would have fewer men to help him escape. The Cyclops event is only a big obstacle because Odysseus was greedy and wanted guest gifts and doesn't take all the hints that show that the inhabitant of the cave was a giant. This obstacle was difficult because of the way Odysseus handled the situation.
If he had listened to his men then he would not have been in danger and some of his men would not have died.All in all Odysseus dealt with the situation he put himself in very effectively and managed to escape with his and some men's lives as he and the men blinded the Cyclops and then tied themselves to the undersides of his sheep as they were leaving the cave. Odysseus shouted back to the Cyclops telling him his name this was stupid. The Cyclops threw large boulders at them this could have caused all the men to die and Poseidon cursed Odysseus.
This meant that Odysseus time away from home was prolonged. The next place Odysseus and his men came to was the island of Aeolia home of the god of the wind Aeolus.This wasn't really an obstacle as Aeolus gave Odysseus a bag of winds with all the winds accept the west wind. This meant he could sail home quickly. All was going well and they were close to their homeland, but Odysseus fell asleep as he had not slept for nine days and nights because he had been handling the ship constantly since they left Aeolus as he may not have trusted his men. They were within touching distance of Ithaca when: 'They undid the bag, the winds all rushed out, and in an instant the tempest was upon them, carrying them headlong out to sea, in tears, away from their native land.
'This is probably one of the most difficult things facing Odysseus. As he knew he was virtually home: 'When I awoke my spirit failed me. I debated within myself whether to jump overboard and drown or stay among the living and quietly endure. ' We can see that Odysseus is very distressed by what has happened as he had been travelling home for many years now from a war which he didn't want to take part in. He had stayed awake for nine days just to see his ship into port and then his men opened the bag of winds. Odysseus would not normally consider suicide even in the hardest times he has in the Odyssey.
Odysseus and his men then get washed back to Aeolus' island and Odysseus asks for help again and Aeolus tells him he must be cursed and to get off his island. This was a big obstacle for Odysseus as his men open the bag because they were greedy and thought Odysseus was keeping treasure from them. In fact this was not the case. This is clearly an emotional obstacle for Odysseus as he considers suicide because he is so sad.
The men had a lack of trust in Odysseus even though he gives them a fare share of treasure. If his men hadn't opened the bag then he could have returned home many years before he did.Odysseus then arrived at the land of the Laestrygonians. When they arrived Odysseus ships sailed into the cove, but Odysseus moored just outside. Odysseus then sent a party inland to explore the land; they came across giants who saw them.
They then began to attack the ships: 'Standing on the top of the cliffs they began pelting my flotilla with lumps of rock such as an ordinary man could barely lift; and the din that no rose from the ships, where the groans of dying men could be heard above the splintering of timbers, was appalling. ' This is another big obstacle for Odysseus, both emotional and physical.Odysseus lost all the ships in his fleet with the exception of his own. This was because the men sailed their ships into the cove and this made them sitting ducks. The fact that Odysseus moored outside the cove was most probably non intentional but it did save his life. This is both physical and emotional because the giants are physical, strong and a danger to Odysseus as he loses most of his men therefore this would hurt him.
You can see that Odysseus is emotionally damaged: 'And when we had disembarked, we lay on our backs for two days and nights, utterly exhausted and eating our hearts out with grief.This shows that Odysseus and his ever lessening number of companions were saddened by the events that happened. They then came to the island of Circe the witch. This is another big obstacle for Odysseus as his men get turned into animals and Odysseus manages to get them turned back but has to pay the price. Odysseus is lost on the island of Circe and he sees a wisp of smoke.
Smoke in the Odysseus is usually associated with danger therefore the reader can tell from the beginning of this passage that Circe was going to be an obstacle for Odysseus.Two examples of danger associated with smoke are when he went to the land of the Cyclops and the land of the Laestrygonians there was smoke and he got into trouble at these places. When Odysseus told the men that he saw smoke in the distance the men started to sob as they associated smoke with danger. The men went off and they came to Circes house. She invited them in, but Eurylochus stayed outside as he was suspicious.
He waited for the men to return but they did not as Circe had turned them into pigs. Odysseus then went off to save the men with the help of Hermes who gave him some moly.Odysseus then went to bed with Circe and she changed the men back into humans. Then Odysseus went back to the ship to get the men. All the men agreed except for Eurylochus who was still scared of what Circe might do: 'Only Eurylochus was against me and did his best to keep the whole company back.
' Odysseus has got over the first obstacle he was confronted with and now he had Eurylochus against him. He needed to control the men better and he nearly decides to make an example of Eurylochus by killing him: Now when Eurylochus said that, I considered drawing my long sword from my sturdy side and lopping his head off to roll in the dust, even though he was a close kinsman of mine. 'This shows Odysseus' anger with Eurylochus and if he had killed him then maybe the men would have listened to Odysseus as they may have had more respect and maybe fear for him as he would have killed his second in command. The next obstacle at Circe's island is the fact that he stayed there for a year. Odysseus' men had to tell Odysseus that it was time to leave. This is not like Odysseus, he is normally so determined to get himself and his men home.
Maybe he is saddened about the incident with the bag of winds and now doesn't have any hope of returning home or maybe he enjoyed her company. Therefore at the island of Circe Odysseus encounters three obstacles in total. Circe was the first and she was a physical obstacle as she was disobeying 'xenia' which is the Greek work for guest friendship. This is a law set down by the Gods to protect people travelling to other lands.
The next obstacle was Eurylochus who stood in Odysseus way and tried to prevent him and the men from having a good time because he was scared.The third obstacle is again Odysseus preventing himself getting home as he wanted to stay with Circe as he enjoyed spending time with a goddess, or maybe after the men opened the bag of winds he feels as if he is never going to return home because the men will always stand in his way. Eventually Odysseus managed to get home, ten Years after the end of the Trojan War. And now a much bigger obstacle faced Odysseus the Suitors of his wife. To regain his kingdom and his wife he would have to kill all 108 suitors without any of his men.
We can tell that this event is going to be hard for a number of reasons.Firstly there are many more suitors there is a one of Odysseus men to every 27 suitors. Secondly the suitors are very cocky and think the rule the palace so therefore they won't give it up that easily to a beggar and some of Odysseus servants: 'Odysseus whom, sitting there in the palace, he was insulting, and encouraging all his friends to do the same. ' This shows that the suitors just thought Odysseus was a beggar and were rude and insulting to him. The suitors were also very young and athletic and were Ithaca's youth.
We can see from this that the suitors are also arrogant.Odysseus first had to find out how many of his people were loyal to him. He asked the cowman and the swine man first if they were still loyal. They said they were loyal to Odysseus, so Odysseus told them who he was.
Odysseus now knew that he had three men as he had his son as well. After the competition had been set down for the suitors we get a feeling that they weren't as strong as they first thought as they could not string the bow so they came up with excuses to postpone the competition: 'Today is a public holiday in honour of the god. Is that a time for bending bows? 'Antinous said that the reason they could not string the bow was because they were breaking the laws of public holidays to gods. This gives us an idea that the suitors aren't such a tough force after all. But is still means that they will be tough. Odysseus then began the battle by killing Antinous the leader.
The suitors then promised Odysseus death, but Odysseus revealed his true identity to them. The suitors then tried to kill Odysseus but he had a good vantage point and could shoot the suitors with ease. Some time later all of the suitors were dead and Odysseus back in charge.The reason Odysseus managed to overcome this obstacle with ease is all down to the planning of the event and the help of his men: 'tell the women to lock the tight fitting door that leads to their rooms. ' 'bolting and barring the courtyard gate. ' Odysseus also instructed his men to lock away all of the weapons that were found in the palace so that the suitors could not use them to attack.
This had the threat of being a hugely difficult obstacle for Odysseus. But he planned what he was going to do down to the finest detail and he gathered his small number of men into a good position and then managed to overpower the aggressive suitors.This would have been a very physical obstacle for Odysseus, but there would not have been much of an emotional battle as he would have wanted to kill the suitors for what they had done to his wife in the last twenty years. This may seem like the end of Odysseus' problems, but he still has to convince his wife that he is actually Odysseus. Odysseus told Eurycleia to go upstairs and tell Penelope that he was home: 'Why do you make fun of my distress by waking me when I had closed my eyes, and was deep in a happy sleep, only to tell me this nonsense? 'This shows that Penelope doesn't believe that Odysseus is home as so many people had pretended to be Odysseus and that he had been away for a long time.
Odysseus would have to prove to her in some way that it was him. Penelope then decided to test Odysseus. He passed the test and she knew that the man before her was Odysseus. Penelope now knew that it was Odysseus and they were reunited.
Penelope is not a very hard obstacle for Odysseus to overcome she was just testing Odysseus it wasn't really an obstacle for him. There is one final obstacle, this is Poseidon.He curses Odysseus and his men and makes it almost impossible for Odysseus to get home on the sea all because of Odysseus stupidity when he told the Cyclops his real name. None of the difficultly in storms would have happened if he hadn't have told the Cyclops his name was Odysseus.
From this brief breakdown I can see that the main obstacles that prevent Odysseus from returning home are Odysseus' men. As they always cause something to happen, they opened the bag of winds which meant that it took Odysseus at least another nine years to return home.This had a knock on effect on Odysseus and made him want to kill himself and not want to leave Circe's island, which then meant that Odysseus was also a major obstacle preventing them returning home to Ithaca. The other obstacle which I think prevented Odysseus from returning home the most is Poseidon as he was always there wherever Odysseus went to prevent him from getting home. He caused most of the ship wreaks and storms which caused Odysseus a lot of grief.
But all in all I think the most daunting obstacle for Odysseus is his men as they are the centre of most problems that arise and most of the bad feelings that arise in Odysseus head.
