Thursday, January 3, 2013

What motivates Odysseus to reveal his name and put his men in more danger?

In book 9 of Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus and his men make landfall on an island inhabited by the Kyklopês, a savage one-eyed giants who lives in a cave. Odysseus takes a small reconnaissance party to the island's interior to see whether they can source help or supplies. They discover the cave of Polyphêmos, which is full of cheeses, milk, and lambs. The men are thrilled to have found such a cache, and they want to take what they can carry and put back out to sea before the giant returns home:

My men came pressing round me, pleading: "Why nottake these cheeses, get them stowed, come back, throw open all the pens, and make a run for it? We’ll drive the kids and lambs aboard. We say put out again on good salt water!"

Odysseus is curious, however, and insists on staying to see the giant. Polyphêmos returns in the evening and rolls a huge stone across the mouth of the cave, blocking everyone inside it. When Odysseus introduces himself, he asks Polyphêmos to respect the sacred laws of hospitality, but Polyphêmos just laughs and says the Kyklopês respect nothing. He then proceeds to eat some of Odysseus's men. In the morning, he eats some more men and goes out to pasture his sheep, blocking the remaining men in the cave again. Odysseus thinks up a cunning escape plan, and that night when the giant returns, he gets Polyphêmos drunk and stabs him in the eye, blinding him.
The men escape back to their ships, with the giant lurching after them. As they're pulling away from the shore, Odysseus, giddy with a mixture of anger and relief, yells out:

O Kyklops! Would you feast on my companions?Puny, am I, in a Caveman’s hands? How do you like the beating that we gave you, you damned cannibal? Eater of guests under your roof! Zeus and the gods have paid you!

He is furious at the loss of his men and at the horrendous breach of hospitality the giant commits. It is important to understand here that in much of the ancient world, hospitality was a sacred duty, and failing to abide by its rules was taboo. Odysseus is equally horrified by the giant's crime of eating his men and by the fact that he did when Odysseus had claimed the guest-right of him.
Polyphêmos lobs boulders in the direction of Odysseus's voice, and Odysseus's crew are terrified that they may yet die at the giant's hands. Odysseus is high on adrenaline, though, proud that his escape plan worked and enraged that he needed an escape plan at all. His crew beg him to stop shouting at Polyphêmos, but:

I would not heed them in my glorying spirit,but let my anger flare and yelled: "Kyklops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laërtês’ son, whose home’s on Ithaka!"

Polyphêmos curses Odysseus and prays to his father, Poseidon, to destroy the man and his crew. In consequence, Odysseus spends the next ten years trying to reach home, all because of one moment of imprudence.

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