Odyssey IX-X: September 2008

Odyssey Books IX-X

And Ulysses answered, "King Alcinous, it is a good thing to hear a bard with such a divine voice as this man has. There is nothing better or more delightful than when a whole people make merry together, with the guests sitting orderly to listen, while the table is loaded with bread and meats, and the cup-bearer draws wine and fills his cup for every man. This is indeed as fair a sight as a man can see. Now, however, since you are inclined to ask the story of my sorrows, and rekindle my own sad memories in respect of them, I do not know how to begin, nor yet how to continue and conclude my tale, for the hand of heaven has been laid heavily upon me. "Firstly, then, I will tell you my name that you too may know it, and one day, if I outlive this time of sorrow, may become my there guests though I live so far away from all of you. I am Ulysses son of Laertes, reknowned among mankind for all manner of subtlety, so that my fame ascends to heaven. I live in Ithaca, where there is a high mountain called Neritum, covered with forests; and not far from it there is a group of islands very near to one another- Dulichium, Same, and the wooded island of Zacynthus. It lies squat on the horizon, all highest up in the sea towards the sunset, while the others lie away from it towards dawn. It is a rugged island, but it breeds brave men, and my eyes know none that they better love to look upon. The goddess Calypso kept me with her in her cave, and wanted me to marry her, as did also the cunning Aeaean goddess Circe; but they could neither of them persuade me, for there is nothing dearer to a man than his own country and his parents, and however splendid a home he may hav e in a foreign country, if it be far from father or mother, he does not care about it. Now, however, I will tell you of the many hazardous adventures which by Jove's will I met with on my return from Troy. "When I had set sail thence the wind took me first to Ismarus, which is the city of the Cicons. There I sacked the town and put the people to the sword. We took their wives and also much booty, which we divided equitably amongst us, so that none might have reason to complain. I then said that we had better make off at once, but my men very foolishly would not obey me, so they stayed there drinking much wine and killing great numbers of sheep and oxen on the sea shore. Meanwhile the Cicons cried out for help to other Cicons who lived inland. These were more in number, and stronger, and they were more skilled in the art of war, for they could fight, either from chariots or on foot as the occasion served; in the morning, therefore, they came as thick as leaves and bloom in summer, and the hand of heaven was against us, so that we were hard pressed. They set the battle in array near the ships, and the hosts aimed their bronze-shod spears at one another. So long as the day waxed and it was still morning, we held o ur own against them, though they were more in number than we; but as the sun went down, towards the time when men loose their oxen, the Cicons got the better of us, and we lost half a dozen men from every ship we had; so we got away with those that were left. "Thence we sailed onward with sorrow in our hearts, but glad to have escaped death though we had lost our comrades, nor did we leave till we had thrice invoked each one of the poor fellows who had perished by the hands of the Cicons. Then Jove raised the North wind against us till it blew a hurricane, so that land and sky were hidden in thick clouds, and night sprang forth out of the heavens. We let the ships run before the gale, but the force of the wind tore our sails to tatters, so we took them down for fear of shipwreck, and rowed our hardest towards the land. There we lay two days and two nights suffering much alike from toil and distress of mind, but on the morning of the third day we again raised our masts, set sail, and took our places, letting the wind and steersmen direct our ship. I should have got home at that time unharmed had not the North wind and the currents been against me as I was doubling Cape Malea, and set me off my course hard by the island of Cythera. "I was driven thence by foul winds for a space of nine days upon the sea, but on the tenth day we reached the land of the Lotus-eater, who live on a food that comes from a kind of flower. Here we landed to take in fresh water, and our crews got their mid-day meal on the shore near the ships. When they had eaten and drunk I sent two of my company to see what manner of men the people of the place might be, and they had a third man under them. They started at once, and went about among the Lotus-eaters, who did them no hurt, but gave them to eat of the lotus, which was so delicious that those who ate of it left off caring about home, and did not even want to go back and say what had happened to them, but were for staying and munching lotus with the Lotus-eater without thinking further of their return; nevertheless, though they wept bitterly I forced them back to the ships and made them fast under the benches. Then I told the rest to go on board at once, lest any of them should taste of the lotus and leave off wa nting to get home, so they took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars. "We sailed hence, always in much distress, till we came to the land of the lawless and inhuman Cyclopes. Now the Cyclopes neither plant nor plough, but trust in providence, and live on such wheat, barley, and grapes as grow wild without any kind of tillage, and their wild grapes yield them wine as the sun and the rain may grow them. They have no laws nor assemblies of the people, but live in caves on the tops of high mountains; each is lord and master in his family, and they take no account of their neighbours. "Now off their harbour there lies a wooded and fertile island not quite close to the land of the Cyclopes, but still not far. It is overrun with wild goats, that breed there in great numbers and are never disturbed by foot of man; for sportsmen- who as a rule will suffer so much hardship in forest or among mountain precipices- do not go there, nor yet again is it ever ploughed or fed down, but it lies a wilderness untilled and unsown from year to year, and has no living thing upon it but only goats. For the Cyclopes have no ships, nor yet shipwrights who could make ships for them; they cannot therefore go from city to city, or sail over the sea to one another's country as people who have ships can do; if they had had these they would have colonized the island, for it is a very good one, and would yield everything in due season. There are meadows that in some places come right down to the sea shore, well watered and full of luscious grass; grapes would do there excellently; there is level land for ploughing, a nd it would always yield heavily at harvest time, for the soil is deep. There is a good harbour where no cables are wanted, nor yet anchors, nor need a ship be moored, but all one has to do is to beach one's vessel and stay there till the wind becomes fair for putting out to sea again. At the head of the harbour there is a spring of clear water coming out of a cave, and there are poplars growing all round it. "Here we entered, but so dark was the night that some god must have brought us in, for there was nothing whatever to be seen. A thick mist hung all round our ships; the moon was hidden behind a mass of clouds so that no one could have seen the island if he had looked for it, nor were there any breakers to tell us we were close in shore before we found ourselves upon the land itself; when, however, we had beached the ships, we took down the sails, went ashore and camped upon the beach till daybreak. "When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, we admired the island and wandered all over it, while the nymphs Jove's daughters roused the wild goats that we might get some meat for our dinner. On this we fetched our spears and bows and arrows from the ships, and dividing ourselves into three bands began to shoot the goats. Heaven sent us excellent sport; I had twelve ships with me, and each ship got nine goats, while my own ship had ten; thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun we ate and drank our fill,- and we had plenty of wine left, for each one of us had taken many jars full when we sacked the city of the Cicons, and this had not yet run out. While we were feasting we kept turning our eyes towards the land of the Cyclopes, which was hard by, and saw the smoke of their stubble fires. We could almost fancy we heard their voices and the bleating of their sheep and goats, but when the sun went down and it came on dark, we camped down upon the beach, and next morning I called a& nbsp;council. "'Stay here, my brave fellows,' said I, 'all the rest of you, while I go with my ship and exploit these people myself: I want to see if they are uncivilized savages, or a hospitable and humane race.' "I went on board, bidding my men to do so also and loose the hawsers; so they took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars. When we got to the land, which was not far, there, on the face of a cliff near the sea, we saw a great cave overhung with laurels. It was a station for a great many sheep and goats, and outside there was a large yard, with a high wall round it made of stones built into the ground and of trees both pine and oak. This was the abode of a huge monster who was then away from home shepherding his flocks. He would have nothing to do with other people, but led the life of an outlaw. He was a horrid creature, not like a human being at all, but resembling rather some crag that stands out boldly against the sky on the top of a high mountain. "I told my men to draw the ship ashore, and stay where they were, all but the twelve best among them, who were to go along with myself. I also took a goatskin of sweet black wine which had been given me by Maron, Apollo son of Euanthes, who was priest of Apollo the patron god of Ismarus, and lived within the wooded precincts of the temple. When we were sacking the city we respected him, and spared his life, as also his wife and child; so he made me some presents of great value- seven talents of fine gold, and a bowl of silver, with twelve jars of sweet wine, unblended, and of the most exquisite flavour. Not a man nor maid in the house knew about it, but only himself, his wife, and one housekeeper: when he drank it he mixed twenty parts of water to one of wine, and yet the fragrance from the mixing-bowl was so exquisite that it was impossible to refrain from drinking. I filled a large skin with this wine, and took a wallet full of provisions with me, for my mind misgave me that I might have to deal with some s avage who would be of great strength, and would respect neither right nor law. "We soon reached his cave, but he was out shepherding, so we went inside and took stock of all that we could see. His cheese-racks were loaded with cheeses, and he had more lambs and kids than his pens could hold. They were kept in separate flocks; first there were the hoggets, then the oldest of the younger lambs and lastly the very young ones all kept apart from one another; as for his dairy, all the vessels, bowls, and milk pails into which he milked, were swimming with whey. When they saw all this, my men begged me to let them first steal some cheeses, and make off with them to the ship; they would then return, drive down the lambs and kids, put them on board and sail away with them. It would have been indeed better if we had done so but I would not listen to them, for I wanted to see the owner himself, in the hope that he might give me a present. When, however, we saw him my poor men found him ill to deal with. "We lit a fire, offered some of the cheeses in sacrifice, ate others of them, and then sat waiting till the Cyclops should come in with his sheep. When he came, he brought in with him a huge load of dry firewood to light the fire for his supper, and this he flung with such a noise on to the floor of his cave that we hid ourselves for fear at the far end of the cavern. Meanwhile he drove all the ewes inside, as well as the she-goats that he was going to milk, leaving the males, both rams and he-goats, outside in the yards. Then he rolled a huge stone to the mouth of the cave- so huge that two and twenty strong four-wheeled waggons would not be enough to draw it from its place against the doorway. When he had so done he sat down and milked his ewes and goats, all in due course, and then let each of them have her own young. He curdled half the milk and set it aside in wicker strainers, but the other half he poured into bowls that he might drink it for his supper. When he had got through with all his work, he lit the fire, and then caught sight of us, whereon he said: "'Strangers, who are you? Where do sail from? Are you traders, or do you sail the as rovers, with your hands against every man, and every man's hand against you?' "We were frightened out of our senses by his loud voice and monstrous form, but I managed to say, 'We are Achaeans on our way home from Troy, but by the will of Jove, and stress of weather, we have been driven far out of our course. We are the people of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, who has won infinite renown throughout the whole world, by sacking so great a city and killing so many people. We therefore humbly pray you to show us some hospitality, and otherwise make us such presents as visitors may reasonably expect. May your excellency fear the wrath of heaven, for we are your suppliants, and Jove takes all respectable travellers under his protection, for he is the avenger of all suppliants and foreigners in distress.' "To this he gave me but a pitiless answer, 'Stranger,' said he, 'you are a fool, or else you know nothing of this country. Talk to me, indeed, about fearing the gods or shunning their anger? We Cyclopes do not care about Jove or any of your blessed gods, for we are ever so much stronger than they. I shall not spare either yourself or your companions out of any regard for Jove, unless I am in the humour for doing so. And now tell me where you made your ship fast when you came on shore. Was it round the point, or is she lying straight off the land?' "He said this to draw me out, but I was too cunning to be caught in that way, so I answered with a lie; 'Neptune,' said I, 'sent my ship on to the rocks at the far end of your country, and wrecked it. We were driven on to them from the open sea, but I and those who are with me escaped the jaws of death.' "The cruel wretch vouchsafed me not one word of answer, but with a sudden clutch he gripped up two of my men at once and dashed them down upon the ground as though they had been puppies. Their brains were shed upon the ground, and the earth was wet with their blood. Then he tore them limb from limb and supped upon them. He gobbled them up like a lion in the wilderness, flesh, bones, marrow, and entrails, without leaving anything uneaten. As for us, we wept and lifted up our hands to heaven on seeing such a horrid sight, for we did not know what else to do; but when the Cyclops had filled his huge paunch, and had washed down his meal of human flesh with a drink of neat milk, he stretched himself full length upon the ground among his sheep, and went to sleep. I was at first inclined to seize my sword, draw it, and drive it into his vitals, but I reflected that if I did we should all certainly be lost, for we should never be able to shift the stone which the monster had put in front of the door. So we stayed sob bing and sighing where we were till morning came. "When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, he again lit his fire, milked his goats and ewes, all quite rightly, and then let each have her own young one; as soon as he had got through with all his work, he clutched up two more of my men, and began eating them for his morning's meal. Presently, with the utmost ease, he rolled the stone away from the door and drove out his sheep, but he at once put it back again- as easily as though he were merely clapping the lid on to a quiver full of arrows. As soon as he had done so he shouted, and cried 'Shoo, shoo,' after his sheep to drive them on to the mountain; so I was left to scheme some way of taking my revenge and covering myself with glory. "In the end I deemed it would be the best plan to do as follows. The Cyclops had a great club which was lying near one of the sheep pens; it was of green olive wood, and he had cut it intending to use it for a staff as soon as it should be dry. It was so huge that we could only compare it to the mast of a twenty-oared merchant vessel of large burden, and able to venture out into open sea. I went up to this club and cut off about six feet of it; I then gave this piece to the men and told them to fine it evenly off at one end, which they proceeded to do, and lastly I brought it to a point myself, charring the end in the fire to make it harder. When I had done this I hid it under dung, which was lying about all over the cave, and told the men to cast lots which of them should venture along with myself to lift it and bore it into the monster's eye while he was asleep. The lot fell upon the very four whom I should have chosen, and I myself made five. In the evening the wretch came back from shepherding, and drove& nbsp;his flocks into the cave- this time driving them all inside, and not leaving any in the yards; I suppose some fancy must have taken him, or a god must have prompted him to do so. As soon as he had put the stone back to its place against the door, he sat down, milked his ewes and his goats all quite rightly, and then let each have her own young one; when he had got through with all this work, he gripped up two more of my men, and made his supper off them. So I went up to him with an ivy-wood bowl of black wine in my hands: "'Look here, Cyclops,' said I, you have been eating a great deal of man's flesh, so take this and drink some wine, that you may see what kind of liquor we had on board my ship. I was bringing it to you as a drink-offering, in the hope that you would take compassion upon me and further me on my way home, whereas all you do is to go on ramping and raving most intolerably. You ought to be ashamed yourself; how can you expect people to come see you any more if you treat them in this way?' "He then took the cup and drank. He was so delighted with the taste of the wine that he begged me for another bowl full. 'Be so kind,' he said, 'as to give me some more, and tell me your name at once. I want to make you a present that you will be glad to have. We have wine even in this country, for our soil grows grapes and the sun ripens them, but this drinks like nectar and ambrosia all in one.' "I then gave him some more; three times did I fill the bowl for him, and three times did he drain it without thought or heed; then, when I saw that the wine had got into his head, I said to him as plausibly as I could: 'Cyclops, you ask my name and I will tell it you; give me, therefore, the present you promised me; my name is Noman; this is what my father and mother and my friends have always called me.' "But the cruel wretch said, 'Then I will eat all Noman's comrades before Noman himself, and will keep Noman for the last. This is the present that I will make him.' As he spoke he reeled, and fell sprawling face upwards on the ground. His great neck hung heavily backwards and a deep sleep took hold upon him. Presently he turned sick, and threw up both wine and the gobbets of human flesh on which he had been gorging, for he was very drunk. Then I thrust the beam of wood far into the embers to heat it, and encouraged my men lest any of them should turn faint-hearted. When the wood, green though it was, was about to blaze, I drew it out of the fire glowing with heat, and my men gathered round me, for heaven had filled their hearts with courage. We drove the sharp end of the beam into the monster's eye, and bearing upon it with all my weight I kept turning it round and round as though I were boring a hole in a ship's plank with an auger, which two men with a wheel and strap can keep on turning as long as they choose. Even thus did we bore the red hot beam into his eye, till the boiling blood bubbled all over it as we worked it round and round, so that the steam from the burn ing eyeball scalded his eyelids and eyebrows, and the roots of the eye sputtered in the fire. As a blacksmith plunges an axe or hatchet into cold water to temper it- for it is this that gives strength to the iron- and it makes a great hiss as he does so, even thus did the Cyclops' eye hiss round the beam of olive wood, and his hideous yells made the cave ring again. We ran away in a fright, but he plucked the beam all besmirched with gore from his eye, and hurled it from him in a frenzy of rage and pain, shouting as he did so to the other Cyclopes who lived on the bleak headlands near him; so they gathered from all quarters round his cave when they heard him crying, and asked what was the matter with him. "'What ails you, Polyphemus,' said they, 'that you make such a noise, breaking the stillness of the night, and preventing us from being able to sleep? Surely no man is carrying off your sheep? Surely no man is trying to kill you either by fraud or by force? "But Polyphemus shouted to them from inside the cave, 'Noman is killing me by fraud! Noman is killing me by force!' "'Then,' said they, 'if no man is attacking you, you must be ill; when Jove makes people ill, there is no help for it, and you had better pray to your father Neptune.' "Then they went away, and I laughed inwardly at the success of my clever stratagem, but the Cyclops, groaning and in an agony of pain, felt about with his hands till he found the stone and took it from the door; then he sat in the doorway and stretched his hands in front of it to catch anyone going out with the sheep, for he thought I might be foolish enough to attempt this. "As for myself I kept on puzzling to think how I could best save my own life and those of my companions; I schemed and schemed, as one who knows that his life depends upon it, for the danger was very great. In the end I deemed that this plan would be the best. The male sheep were well grown, and carried a heavy black fleece, so I bound them noiselessly in threes together, with some of the withies on which the wicked monster used to sleep. There was to be a man under the middle sheep, and the two on either side were to cover him, so that there were three sheep to each man. As for myself there was a ram finer than any of the others, so I caught hold of him by the back, esconced myself in the thick wool under his belly, and flung on patiently to his fleece, face upwards, keeping a firm hold on it all the time. "Thus, then, did we wait in great fear of mind till morning came, but when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, the male sheep hurried out to feed, while the ewes remained bleating about the pens waiting to be milked, for their udders were full to bursting; but their master in spite of all his pain felt the backs of all the sheep as they stood upright, without being sharp enough to find out that the men were underneath their bellies. As the ram was going out, last of all, heavy with its fleece and with the weight of my crafty self; Polyphemus laid hold of it and said: "'My good ram, what is it that makes you the last to leave my cave this morning? You are not wont to let the ewes go before you, but lead the mob with a run whether to flowery mead or bubbling fountain, and are the first to come home again at night; but now you lag last of all. Is it because you know your master has lost his eye, and are sorry because that wicked Noman and his horrid crew have got him down in his drink and blinded him? But I will have his life yet. If you could understand and talk, you would tell me where the wretch is hiding, and I would dash his brains upon the ground till they flew all over the cave. I should thus have some satisfaction for the harm a this no-good Noman has done me.' "As spoke he drove the ram outside, but when we were a little way out from the cave and yards, I first got from under the ram's belly, and then freed my comrades; as for the sheep, which were very fat, by constantly heading them in the right direction we managed to drive them down to the ship. The crew rejoiced greatly at seeing those of us who had escaped death, but wept for the others whom the Cyclops had killed. However, I made signs to them by nodding and frowning that they were to hush their crying, and told them to get all the sheep on board at once and put out to sea; so they went aboard, took their places, and smote the grey sea with their oars. Then, when I had got as far out as my voice would reach, I began to jeer at the Cyclops. "'Cyclops,' said I, 'you should have taken better measure of your man before eating up his comrades in your cave. You wretch, eat up your visitors in your own house? You might have known that your sin would find you out, and now Jove and the other gods have punished you.' "He got more and more furious as he heard me, so he tore the top from off a high mountain, and flung it just in front of my ship so that it was within a little of hitting the end of the rudder. The sea quaked as the rock fell into it, and the wash of the wave it raised carried us back towards the mainland, and forced us towards the shore. But I snatched up a long pole and kept the ship off, making signs to my men by nodding my head, that they must row for their lives, whereon they laid out with a will. When we had got twice as far as we were before, I was for jeering at the Cyclops again, but the men begged and prayed of me to hold my tongue. "'Do not,' they exclaimed, 'be mad enough to provoke this savage creature further; he has thrown one rock at us already which drove us back again to the mainland, and we made sure it had been the death of us; if he had then heard any further sound of voices he would have pounded our heads and our ship's timbers into a jelly with the rugged rocks he would have heaved at us, for he can throw them a long way.' "But I would not listen to them, and shouted out to him in my rage, 'Cyclops, if any one asks you who it was that put your eye out and spoiled your beauty, say it was the valiant warrior Ulysses, son of Laertes, who lives in Ithaca.' "On this he groaned, and cried out, 'Alas, alas, then the old prophecy about me is coming true. There was a prophet here, at one time, a man both brave and of great stature, Telemus son of Eurymus, who was an excellent seer, and did all the prophesying for the Cyclopes till he grew old; he told me that all this would happen to me some day, and said I should lose my sight by the hand of Ulysses. I have been all along expecting some one of imposing presence and superhuman strength, whereas he turns out to be a little insignificant weakling, who has managed to blind my eye by taking advantage of me in my drink; come here, then, Ulysses, that I may make you presents to show my hospitality, and urge Neptune to help you forward on your journey- for Neptune and I are father and son. He, if he so will, shall heal me, which no one else neither god nor man can do.' "Then I said, 'I wish I could be as sure of killing you outright and sending you down to the house of Hades, as I am that it will take more than Neptune to cure that eye of yours.' "On this he lifted up his hands to the firmament of heaven and prayed, saying, 'Hear me, great Neptune; if I am indeed your own true-begotten son, grant that Ulysses may never reach his home alive; or if he must get back to his friends at last, let him do so late and in sore plight after losing all his men [let him reach his home in another man's ship and find trouble in his house.'] "Thus did he pray, and Neptune heard his prayer. Then he picked up a rock much larger than the first, swung it aloft and hurled it with prodigious force. It fell just short of the ship, but was within a little of hitting the end of the rudder. The sea quaked as the rock fell into it, and the wash of the wave it raised drove us onwards on our way towards the shore of the island. "When at last we got to the island where we had left the rest of our ships, we found our comrades lamenting us, and anxiously awaiting our return. We ran our vessel upon the sands and got out of her on to the sea shore; we also landed the Cyclops' sheep, and divided them equitably amongst us so that none might have reason to complain. As for the ram, my companions agreed that I should have it as an extra share; so I sacrificed it on the sea shore, and burned its thigh bones to Jove, who is the lord of all. But he heeded not my sacrifice, and only thought how he might destroy my ships and my comrades. "Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun we feasted our fill on meat and drink, but when the sun went down and it came on dark, we camped upon the beach. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, I bade my men on board and loose the hawsers. Then they took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars; so we sailed on with sorrow in our hearts, but glad to have escaped death though we had lost our comrades.

BOOK X
Thence we went on to the Aeoli island where lives Aeolus son of Hippotas, dear to the immortal gods. It is an island that floats (as it were) upon the sea, iron bound with a wall that girds it. Now, Aeolus has six daughters and six lusty sons, so he made the sons marry the daughters, and they all live with their dear father and mother, feasting and enjoying every conceivable kind of luxury. All day long the atmosphere of the house is loaded with the savour of roasting meats till it groans again, yard and all; but by night they sleep on their well-made bedsteads, each with his own wife between the blankets. These were the people among whom we had now come. "Aeolus entertained me for a whole month asking me questions all the time about Troy, the Argive fleet, and the return of the Achaeans. I told him exactly how everything had happened, and when I said I must go, and asked him to further me on my way, he made no sort of difficulty, but set about doing so at once. Moreover, he flayed me a prime ox-hide to hold the ways of the roaring winds, which he shut up in the hide as in a sack- for Jove had made him captain over the winds, and he could stir or still each one of them according to his own pleasure. He put the sack in the ship and bound the mouth so tightly with a silver thread that not even a breath of a side-wind could blow from any quarter. The West wind which was fair for us did he alone let blow as it chose; but it all came to nothing, for we were lost through our own folly. "Nine days and nine nights did we sail, and on the tenth day our native land showed on the horizon. We got so close in that we could see the stubble fires burning, and I, being then dead beat, fell into a light sleep, for I had never let the rudder out of my own hands, that we might get home the faster. On this the men fell to talking among themselves, and said I was bringing back gold and silver in the sack that Aeolus had given me. 'Bless my heart,' would one turn to his neighbour, saying, 'how this man gets honoured and makes friends to whatever city or country he may go. See what fine prizes he is taking home from Troy, while we, who have travelled just as far as he has, come back with hands as empty as we set out with- and now Aeolus has given him ever so much more. Quick- let us see what it all is, and how much gold and silver there is in the sack he gave him.' "Thus they talked and evil counsels prevailed. They loosed the sack, whereupon the wind flew howling forth and raised a storm that carried us weeping out to sea and away from our own country. Then I awoke, and knew not whether to throw myself into the sea or to live on and make the best of it; but I bore it, covered myself up, and lay down in the ship, while the men lamented bitterly as the fierce winds bore our fleet back to the Aeolian island. "When we reached it we went ashore to take in water, and dined hard by the ships. Immediately after dinner I took a herald and one of my men and went straight to the house of Aeolus, where I found him feasting with his wife and family; so we sat down as suppliants on the threshold. They were astounded when they saw us and said, 'Ulysses, what brings you here? What god has been ill-treating you? We took great pains to further you on your way home to Ithaca, or wherever it was that you wanted to go to.' "Thus did they speak, but I answered sorrowfully, 'My men have undone me; they, and cruel sleep, have ruined me. My friends, mend me this mischief, for you can if you will.' "I spoke as movingly as I could, but they said nothing, till their father answered, 'Vilest of mankind, get you gone at once out of the island; him whom heaven hates will I in no wise help. Be off, for you come here as one abhorred of heaven. "And with these words he sent me sorrowing from his door. "Thence we sailed sadly on till the men were worn out with long and fruitless rowing, for there was no longer any wind to help them. Six days, night and day did we toil, and on the seventh day we reached the rocky stronghold of Lamus- Telepylus, the city of the Laestrygonians, where the shepherd who is driving in his sheep and goats [to be milked] salutes him who is driving out his flock [to feed] and this last answers the salute. In that country a man who could do without sleep might earn double wages, one as a herdsman of cattle, and another as a shepherd, for they work much the same by night as they do by day. "When we reached the harbour we found it land-locked under steep cliffs, with a narrow entrance between two headlands. My captains took all their ships inside, and made them fast close to one another, for there was never so much as a breath of wind inside, but it was always dead calm. I kept my own ship outside, and moored it to a rock at the very end of the point; then I climbed a high rock to reconnoitre, but could see no sign neither of man nor cattle, only some smoke rising from the ground. So I sent two of my company with an attendant to find out what sort of people the inhabitants were. "The men when they got on shore followed a level road by which the people draw their firewood from the mountains into the town, till presently they met a young woman who had come outside to fetch water, and who was daughter to a Laestrygonian named Antiphates. She was going to the fountain Artacia from which the people bring in their water, and when my men had come close up to her, they asked her who the king of that country might be, and over what kind of people he ruled; so she directed them to her father's house, but when they got there they found his wife to be a giantess as huge as a mountain, and they were horrified at the sight of her. "She at once called her husband Antiphates from the place of assembly, and forthwith he set about killing my men. He snatched up one of them, and began to make his dinner off him then and there, whereon the other two ran back to the ships as fast as ever they could. But Antiphates raised a hue and cry after them, and thousands of sturdy Laestrygonians sprang up from every quarter- ogres, not men. They threw vast rocks at us from the cliffs as though they had been mere stones, and I heard the horrid sound of the ships crunching up against one another, and the death cries of my men, as the Laestrygonians speared them like fishes and took them home to eat them. While they were thus killing my men within the harbour I drew my sword, cut the cable of my own ship, and told my men to row with alf their might if they too would not fare like the rest; so they laid out for their lives, and we were thankful enough when we got into open water out of reach of the rocks they hurled at us. As for the others there was not on e of them left. "Thence we sailed sadly on, glad to have escaped death, though we had lost our comrades, and came to the Aeaean island, where Circe lives a great and cunning goddess who is own sister to the magician Aeetes- for they are both children of the sun by Perse, who is daughter to Oceanus. We brought our ship into a safe harbour without a word, for some god guided us thither, and having landed we there for two days and two nights, worn out in body and mind. When the morning of the third day came I took my spear and my sword, and went away from the ship to reconnoitre, and see if I could discover signs of human handiwork, or hear the sound of voices. Climbing to the top of a high look-out I espied the smoke of Circe's house rising upwards amid a dense forest of trees, and when I saw this I doubted whether, having seen the smoke, I would not go on at once and find out more, but in the end I deemed it best to go back to the ship, give the men their dinners, and send some of them instead of going myself. "When I had nearly got back to the ship some god took pity upon my solitude, and sent a fine antlered stag right into the middle of my path. He was coming down his pasture in the forest to drink of the river, for the heat of the sun drove him, and as he passed I struck him in the middle of the back; the bronze point of the spear went clean through him, and he lay groaning in the dust until the life went out of him. Then I set my foot upon him, drew my spear from the wound, and laid it down; I also gathered rough grass and rushes and twisted them into a fathom or so of good stout rope, with which I bound the four feet of the noble creature together; having so done I hung him round my neck and walked back to the ship leaning upon my spear, for the stag was much too big for me to be able to carry him on my shoulder, steadying him with one hand. As I threw him down in front of the ship, I called the men and spoke cheeringly man by man to each of them. 'Look here my friends,' said I, 'we are not going to die so mu ch before our time after all, and at any rate we will not starve so long as we have got something to eat and drink on board.' On this they uncovered their heads upon the sea shore and admired the stag, for he was indeed a splendid fellow. Then, when they had feasted their eyes upon him sufficiently, they washed their hands and began to cook him for dinner. "Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun we stayed there eating and drinking our fill, but when the sun went down and it came on dark, we camped upon the sea shore. When the child of morning, fingered Dawn, appeared, I called a council and said, 'My friends, we are in very great difficulties; listen therefore to me. We have no idea where the sun either sets or rises, so that we do not even know East from West. I see no way out of it; nevertheless, we must try and find one. We are certainly on an island, for I went as high as I could this morning, and saw the sea reaching all round it to the horizon; it lies low, but towards the middle I saw smoke rising from out of a thick forest of trees.' "Their hearts sank as they heard me, for they remembered how they had been treated by the Laestrygonian Antiphates, and by the savage ogre Polyphemus. They wept bitterly in their dismay, but there was nothing to be got by crying, so I divided them into two companies and set a captain over each; I gave one company to Eurylochus, while I took command of the other myself. Then we cast lots in a helmet, and the lot fell upon Eurylochus; so he set out with his twenty-two men, and they wept, as also did we who were left behind. "When they reached Circe's house they found it built of cut stones, on a site that could be seen from far, in the middle of the forest. There were wild mountain wolves and lions prowling all round it- poor bewitched creatures whom she had tamed by her enchantments and drugged into subjection. They did not attack my men, but wagged their great tails, fawned upon them, and rubbed their noses lovingly against them. As hounds crowd round their master when they see him coming from dinner- for they know he will bring them something- even so did these wolves and lions with their great claws fawn upon my men, but the men were terribly frightened at seeing such strange creatures. Presently they reached the gates of the goddess's house, and as they stood there they could hear Circe within, singing most beautifully as she worked at her loom, making a web so fine, so soft, and of such dazzling colours as no one but a goddess could weave. On this Polites, whom I valued and trusted more than any other of my men, said, 'The re is some one inside working at a loom and singing most beautifully; the whole place resounds with it, let us call her and see whether she is woman or goddess.' "They called her and she came down, unfastened the door, and bade them enter. They, thinking no evil, followed her, all except Eurylochus, who suspected mischief and stayed outside. When she had got them into her house, she set them upon benches and seats and mixed them a mess with cheese, honey, meal, and Pramnian but she drugged it with wicked poisons to make them forget their homes, and when they had drunk she turned them into pigs by a stroke of her wand, and shut them up in her pigsties. They were like pigs-head, hair, and all, and they grunted just as pigs do; but their senses were the same as before, and they remembered everything. "Thus then were they shut up squealing, and Circe threw them some acorns and beech masts such as pigs eat, but Eurylochus hurried back to tell me about the sad fate of our comrades. He was so overcome with dismay that though he tried to speak he could find no words to do so; his eyes filled with tears and he could only sob and sigh, till at last we forced his story out of him, and he told us what had happened to the others. "'We went,' said he, as you told us, through the forest, and in the middle of it there was a fine house built with cut stones in a place that could be seen from far. There we found a woman, or else she was a goddess, working at her loom and singing sweetly; so the men shouted to her and called her, whereon she at once came down, opened the door, and invited us in. The others did not suspect any mischief so they followed her into the house, but I stayed where I was, for I thought there might be some treachery. From that moment I saw them no more, for not one of them ever came out, though I sat a long time watching for them.' "Then I took my sword of bronze and slung it over my shoulders; I also took my bow, and told Eurylochus to come back with me and show me the way. But he laid hold of me with both his hands and spoke piteously, saying, 'Sir, do not force me to go with you, but let me stay here, for I know you will not bring one of them back with you, nor even return alive yourself; let us rather see if we cannot escape at any rate with the few that are left us, for we may still save our lives.' "'Stay where you are, then, 'answered I, 'eating and drinking at the ship, but I must go, for I am most urgently bound to do so.' "With this I left the ship and went up inland. When I got through the charmed grove, and was near the great house of the enchantress Circe, I met Mercury with his golden wand, disguised as a young man in the hey-day of his youth and beauty with the down just coming upon his face. He came up to me and took my hand within his own, saying, 'My poor unhappy man, whither are you going over this mountain top, alone and without knowing the way? Your men are shut up in Circe's pigsties, like so many wild boars in their lairs. You surely do not fancy that you can set them free? I can tell you that you will never get back and will have to stay there with the rest of them. But never mind, I will protect you and get you out of your difficulty. Take this herb, which is one of great virtue, and keep it about you when you go to Circe's house, it will be a talisman to you against every kind of mischief. "'And I will tell you of all the wicked witchcraft that Circe will try to practise upon you. She will mix a mess for you to drink, and she will drug the meal with which she makes it, but she will not be able to charm you, for the virtue of the herb that I shall give you will prevent her spells from working. I will tell you all about it. When Circe strikes you with her wand, draw your sword and spring upon her as though you were goings to kill her. She will then be frightened and will desire you to go to bed with her; on this you must not point blank refuse her, for you want her to set your companions free, and to take good care also of yourself, but you make her swear solemnly by all the blessed that she will plot no further mischief against you, or else when she has got you naked she will unman you and make you fit for nothing.' "As he spoke he pulled the herb out of the ground an showed me what it was like. The root was black, while the flower was as white as milk; the gods call it Moly, and mortal men cannot uproot it, but the gods can do whatever they like. "Then Mercury went back to high Olympus passing over the wooded island; but I fared onward to the house of Circe, and my heart was clouded with care as I walked along. When I got to the gates I stood there and called the goddess, and as soon as she heard me she came down, opened the door, and asked me to come in; so I followed her- much troubled in my mind. She set me on a richly decorated seat inlaid with silver, there was a footstool also under my feet, and she mixed a mess in a golden goblet for me to drink; but she drugged it, for she meant me mischief. When she had given it me, and I had drunk it without its charming me, she struck she, struck me with her wand. 'There now,' she cried, 'be off to the pigsty, and make your lair with the rest of them.' "But I rushed at her with my sword drawn as though I would kill her, whereon she fell with a loud scream, clasped my knees, and spoke piteously, saying, 'Who and whence are you? from what place and people have you come? How can it be that my drugs have no power to charm you? Never yet was any man able to stand so much as a taste of the herb I gave you; you must be spell-proof; surely you can be none other than the bold hero Ulysses, who Mercury always said would come here some day with his ship while on his way home form Troy; so be it then; sheathe your sword and let us go to bed, that we may make friends and learn to trust each other.' "And I answered, 'Circe, how can you expect me to be friendly with you when you have just been turning all my men into pigs? And now that you have got me here myself, you mean me mischief when you ask me to go to bed with you, and will unman me and make me fit for nothing. I shall certainly not consent to go to bed with you unless you will first take your solemn oath to plot no further harm against me.' "So she swore at once as I had told her, and when she had completed her oath then I went to bed with her. "Meanwhile her four servants, who are her housemaids, set about their work. They are the children of the groves and fountains, and of the holy waters that run down into the sea. One of them spread a fair purple cloth over a seat, and laid a carpet underneath it. Another brought tables of silver up to the seats, and set them with baskets of gold. A third mixed some sweet wine with water in a silver bowl and put golden cups upon the tables, while the fourth she brought in water and set it to boil in a large cauldron over a good fire which she had lighted. When the water in the cauldron was boiling, she poured cold into it till it was just as I liked it, and then she set me in a bath and began washing me from the cauldron about the head and shoulders, to take the tire and stiffness out of my limbs. As soon as she had done washing me and anointing me with oil, she arrayed me in a good cloak and shirt and led me to a richly decorated seat inlaid with silver; there was a footstool also under my feet. A maid servant then brought me water in a beautiful golden ewer and poured it into a silver basin for me to wash my hands, and she drew a clean table beside me; an upper servant brought me bread and offered me many things of what there was in the house, and then Circe bade me eat, but I would not, and sat without heeding what was before me, still moody and suspicious. "When Circe saw me sitting there without eating, and in great grief, she came to me and said, 'Ulysses, why do you sit like that as though you were dumb, gnawing at your own heart, and refusing both meat and drink? Is it that you are still suspicious? You ought not to be, for I have already sworn solemnly that I will not hurt you.' "And I said, 'Circe, no man with any sense of what is right can think of either eating or drinking in your house until you have set his friends free and let him see them. If you want me to eat and drink, you must free my men and bring them to me that I may see them with my own eyes.' "When I had said this she went straight through the court with her wand in her hand and opened the pigsty doors. My men came out like so many prime hogs and stood looking at her, but she went about among them and anointed each with a second drug, whereon the bristles that the bad drug had given them fell off, and they became men again, younger than they were before, and much taller and better looking. They knew me at once, seized me each of them by the hand, and wept for joy till the whole house was filled with the sound of their hullabalooing, and Circe herself was so sorry for them that she came up to me and said, 'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, go back at once to the sea where you have left your ship, and first draw it on to the land. Then, hide all your ship's gear and property in some cave, and come back here with your men.' "I agreed to this, so I went back to the sea shore, and found the men at the ship weeping and wailing most piteously. When they saw me the silly blubbering fellows began frisking round me as calves break out and gambol round their mothers, when they see them coming home to be milked after they have been feeding all day, and the homestead resounds with their lowing. They seemed as glad to see me as though they had got back to their own rugged Ithaca, where they had been born and bred. 'Sir,' said the affectionate creatures, 'we are as glad to see you back as though we had got safe home to Ithaca; but tell us all about the fate of our comrades.' "I spoke comfortingly to them and said, 'We must draw our ship on to the land, and hide the ship's gear with all our property in some cave; then come with me all of you as fast as you can to Circe's house, where you will find your comrades eating and drinking in the midst of great abundance.' "On this the men would have come with me at once, but Eurylochus tried to hold them back and said, 'Alas, poor wretches that we are, what will become of us? Rush not on your ruin by going to the house of Circe, who will turn us all into pigs or wolves or lions, and we shall have to keep guard over her house. Remember how the Cyclops treated us when our comrades went inside his cave, and Ulysses with them. It was all through his sheer folly that those men lost their lives.' "When I heard him I was in two minds whether or no to draw the keen blade that hung by my sturdy thigh and cut his head off in spite of his being a near relation of my own; but the men interceded for him and said, 'Sir, if it may so be, let this fellow stay here and mind the ship, but take the rest of us with you to Circe's house.' "On this we all went inland, and Eurylochus was not left behind after all, but came on too, for he was frightened by the severe reprimand that I had given him. "Meanwhile Circe had been seeing that the men who had been left behind were washed and anointed with olive oil; she had also given them woollen cloaks and shirts, and when we came we found them all comfortably at dinner in her house. As soon as the men saw each other face to face and knew one another, they wept for joy and cried aloud till the whole palace rang again. Thereon Circe came up to me and said, 'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, tell your men to leave off crying; I know how much you have all of you suffered at sea, and how ill you have fared among cruel savages on the mainland, but that is over now, so stay here, and eat and drink till you are once more as strong and hearty as you were when you left Ithaca; for at present you are weakened both in body and mind; you keep all the time thinking of the hardships- you have suffered during your travels, so that you have no more cheerfulness left in you.' "Thus did she speak and we assented. We stayed with Circe for a whole twelvemonth feasting upon an untold quantity both of meat and wine. But when the year had passed in the waning of moons and the long days had come round, my men called me apart and said, 'Sir, it is time you began to think about going home, if so be you are to be spared to see your house and native country at all.' "Thus did they speak and I assented. Thereon through the livelong day to the going down of the sun we feasted our fill on meat and wine, but when the sun went down and it came on dark the men laid themselves down to sleep in the covered cloisters. I, however, after I had got into bed with Circe, besought her by her knees, and the goddess listened to what I had got to say. 'Circe,' said I, 'please to keep the promise you made me about furthering me on my homeward voyage. I want to get back and so do my men, they are always pestering me with their complaints as soon as ever your back is turned.' "And the goddess answered, 'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, you shall none of you stay here any longer if you do not want to, but there is another journey which you have got to take before you can sail homewards. You must go to the house of Hades and of dread Proserpine to consult the ghost of the blind Theban prophet Teiresias whose reason is still unshaken. To him alone has Proserpine left his understanding even in death, but the other ghosts flit about aimlessly.' "I was dismayed when I heard this. I sat up in bed and wept, and would gladly have lived no longer to see the light of the sun, but presently when I was tired of weeping and tossing myself about, I said, 'And who shall guide me upon this voyage- for the house of Hades is a port that no ship can reach.' "'You will want no guide,' she answered; 'raise you mast, set your white sails, sit quite still, and the North Wind will blow you there of itself. When your ship has traversed the waters of Oceanus, you will reach the fertile shore of Proserpine's country with its groves of tall poplars and willows that shed their fruit untimely; here beach your ship upon the shore of Oceanus, and go straight on to the dark abode of Hades. You will find it near the place where the rivers Pyriphlegethon and Cocytus (which is a branch of the river Styx) flow into Acheron, and you will see a rock near it, just where the two roaring rivers run into one another. "'When you have reached this spot, as I now tell you, dig a trench a cubit or so in length, breadth, and depth, and pour into it as a drink-offering to all the dead, first, honey mixed with milk, then wine, and in the third place water-sprinkling white barley meal over the whole. Moreover you must offer many prayers to the poor feeble ghosts, and promise them that when you get back to Ithaca you will sacrifice a barren heifer to them, the best you have, and will load the pyre with good things. More particularly you must promise that Teiresias shall have a black sheep all to himself, the finest in all your flocks. "'When you shall have thus besought the ghosts with your prayers, offer them a ram and a black ewe, bending their heads towards Erebus; but yourself turn away from them as though you would make towards the river. On this, many dead men's ghosts will come to you, and you must tell your men to skin the two sheep that you have just killed, and offer them as a burnt sacrifice with prayers to Hades and to Proserpine. Then draw your sword and sit there, so as to prevent any other poor ghost from coming near the split blood before Teiresias shall have answered your questions. The seer will presently come to you, and will tell you about your voyage- what stages you are to make, and how you are to sail the see so as to reach your home.' "It was day-break by the time she had done speaking, so she dressed me in my shirt and cloak. As for herself she threw a beautiful light gossamer fabric over her shoulders, fastening it with a golden girdle round her waist, and she covered her head with a mantle. Then I went about among the men everywhere all over the house, and spoke kindly to each of them man by man: 'You must not lie sleeping here any longer,' said I to them, 'we must be going, for Circe has told me all about it.' And this they did as I bade them. "Even so, however, I did not get them away without misadventure. We had with us a certain youth named Elpenor, not very remarkable for sense or courage, who had got drunk and was lying on the house-top away from the rest of the men, to sleep off his liquor in the cool. When he heard the noise of the men bustling about, he jumped up on a sudden and forgot all about coming down by the main staircase, so he tumbled right off the roof and broke his neck, and his soul went down to the house of Hades. "When I had got the men together I said to them, 'You think you are about to start home again, but Circe has explained to me that instead of this, we have got to go to the house of Hades and Proserpine to consult the ghost of the Theban prophet Teiresias.' "The men were broken-hearted as they heard me, and threw themselves on the ground groaning and tearing their hair, but they did not mend matters by crying. When we reached the sea shore, weeping and lamenting our fate, Circe brought the ram and the ewe, and we made them fast hard by the ship. She passed through the midst of us without our knowing it, for who can see the comings and goings of a god, if the god does not wish to be seen?

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Odyssey IX-X

1. Tsunami has been called also a seismic sea wave. It is the sea long wave produced when sea water suddenly moved by movement of the platform at the bottom of sea. Mostly it was produced with earthquake which is occurred at shallow the seismic center and is more than 6.3 magnitudes. However, it could be produced by the explosion of volcano at the seafloor, diastrophism, collapse of a glacier, landslide at the seafloor and unclear explosion. Also it is called the storm surge that occurred because of the low pressure system. However, people believed that it was produced when the god upset because of the sin. Even though, the reason, why tsunami produced, has been explained and proved by supporting scientific facts, there are some people believe that the natural disasters caused because of the sin. In the year 2005, there was the tsunami attack in Indonesia. The victim of the tsunami attacked asked themselves with the question that “if we love the world too much, we forget about Allah. Is Allah punishing us? Forgive us for our sins, O Allah. How long will we be punished? Have mercy on us.” Allah is the name of God in Islam. The victims were asked Allah’s mercy because they believed the tsunami attack was occurred because of Allah’s anger. Albert Mohler, JR, President Southern Baptist Technological Seminary, said “Well, this God who has created this incredible universe has disclosed himself in his written word, the Bible. He tells us that he loves us, he reveals himself as all powerful. And it's clear that in this incredible universe that is affected by sin, there are these natural laws that operate.” I understand that human being should not be committing a sin. Also natural disaster may be caused by the god’s anger. However, I strongly agree with Siri Hettige, Colombo-based sociologist. He said "This has nothing to do with spirits."

Cite

Alan Brant, “FIRST-PERSON: Tsunami victims ask, 'Is Allah punishing us?'”, Baptist Press, Jan 24, 2005, “http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpnews.asp?id=19982”

“Sri Lankan Monks Mark”, The Associated Press & CBS News, March 25, 2005, “Tsunami http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/25/world/main683235.shtml”

“Spiritual and Religious Leaders Discuss Tsunami Tragedy; Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys Searches for Missing Cellist”, CNN News, 07-JAN-05, “http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-18520598_ITM”

2. English anthropologist, E.Tyler, divided human nation into 3 steps which are barbaric, half civilized and civilized. The barbaric step is an economy of collection. The half civilized step is initial stage of agriculture and stock farming. The civilized step is the high quality life based on a written language. In the story of the Odyssey, Cyclopes seems to have more than barbaric step and they have modernized culture. They respect liberty, privacy and equality. In the story, it has not described that they have their written language. However, they respect each other’s private and they do not violate others even though they do not have any group leader, law and government. Also when the neighbor is in trouble, they are willing to help each other. They are foodstuff self sufficiency. They do a milking and the harvesting. They have a rule in the society and no one violate the rule. They also have character of barbaric. In the story, Cyclopes ate the crew of Odyssey. Odyssey expected that Cyclopes will treat them as a guest. Before Cyclopes began to eat the crew of Odyssey, they have a communication; even though it was not friendly conversation. Although Cyclopes knew that Odyssey’s people are also civilized people, Cyclopes caught people for food. May this could be the argument of the law of nature, which is food chain. However, it was not the necessary thing, ate people, to survive Cyclopes. Cyclopes violate other cultural creature. I agree that Cyclopes have more modernized culture and civilized than barbaric, the independent, cooperation, self sufficiency, respecting each other’s life and equality. However, they do not totally civilized culture. They seem to be a step of the half civilized.

3. The stereo types of the woman have two faces, dependant and independent and strong and weakness. The advantage of the man is power and the advantage of the woman is the beauty and attractiveness. Sometime, the beauty is strong weapon for woman who wants to be satisfied her desire. In the story of the Odyssey, Circe is the one who know how to make best use of her beauty. She temped male and convert them to pigs by her magic. When the woman is single, they are more independent and stronger than man. It seems to guard themselves from hurting their heart by man. However, when woman is falling love with man, they are willing to scarify themselves for man. They become weak and are depend on man. When the Odyssey decided to leave the Circe, she advised Odyssey future journey and she provided them ram and cow for their food.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Odyssey

1. With today’s technology we can foresee natural disasters but we cannot either stop it or control it. However, very often there is no warning of approaching tsunami. “Since earthquakes are often a cause of tsunami, any earthquake occurring near a body of water may generate a tsunami if it occurs at shallow depth, is of moderate or high magnitude, and the water volume and depth is sufficient” (NYT, 2001). The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami was not reported when approached from the east. Thousands of people were killed, many bodies were never found. A lot of people died as a result of the tsunami. For the survivals life will never be the same. They faced death; they lost everything, their homes, people they loved and belief in better life.

2. Cyclopes are giant with a single, round eye in the middle of their foreheads. They were very strong and stubborn with power. “…We Cyclopes do not care about Jove or any of your blessed gods, for we are even so much stronger than they…”. Even though, Cyclopes seem barbaric to us and they were introduced as a monsters (but only because they wanted to survived) they knew how to take care of themselves and their animals. They milked their sheeps, goats and they made cheese.

3. Circe is the goddess of the island of Aeaea. Many writers describe her as a “beautiful witch”. She was a woman with power. She could transform creatures from one to another. She had the power to foretell the future and was very famous for turning men into pigs. I can compare Circe to some of today’s celebrities, such as Paris Hilton or Madonna. These women can turn men into pigs with their sexy style and manners.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Odyssey

Greeks are believed that the reason of natural disasters is their excessive pride or arrogance. There is no other way back then to explain it differently. Today we have highly modernized technology that lets us to study natural disasters and the reason of its appearance. It is already proved that pollution can have planetary effects, and greenhouse gasses can affect the global climate with a potential increase in violent weather. With all the information we have, some people still think that the natural disaster is a punishment for all wrongs that we have done or that there is a massage behind that. Everything happens for a reason. Of Hurricane Katrina, Michael Marcavage, the director of Repent America, reportedly said that “this act of God destroyed a wicked city.”

Cyclopes is defiantly barbaric because they live in caves and eat people. However, they have some civilized practice. Cyclopes were producing the food by milking goats. He let the young animals stay with their moms. It seams that they live in some kind of communities or close to each other because when Cyclopes were hurt his neighbors came to help him.

Circe is a seductive woman that uses her beauty to attract men and take advantage of them. She seams be strong and confident. Circle invited the crew into feast and tern them all into pigs. However, she falls in love for Ulysses because he was not affected by her spells and terns into perfect wife.

Alex Samusevich

1. The logical explanation for a tsunami has to do with the movement of the tectonic plates under the ocean floor and the consequent formation of a large tidal wave that causes massive flooding and destruction. A hurricane is a tropical storm that forms from low pressure and high ocean temperatures that cause the moisture to rise rapidly and the subsequent condensation causes torrential rain and very strong winds. Many Hurricane Katrina victims blamed God for the disaster with one New Orleans resident saying, “God is punishing New Orleans.” Another agreed stating, “But who knows whether it is or not [the wrath of God]. I personally think it is…” (Taylor, Meredith. “Religion and Hurricane Katrina” WRDW 12 Augusta. Sept 7, 2005. .) Human beings feel they are always owed an explanation and often times there are none so they decide to blame it on the divine. Buddhist ideology is somewhat different. They believe that there is no good without evil and disasters are just part of the balance of the universe. “The life of the lion would not be preserved unless the ass is killed.” (Dhammika, S. “God, Buddhism, and the Tsunami” BuddhaNet’s Magazine Articles. 2006. http://www.buddhanet.net/tsunami.htm)
2. Usually in contemporary culture the word Cyclops triggers negative images of a monster or perhaps a freak in a circus. We believe them to be barbaric, ferocious, and uncivilized creatures that attack and kill everything they see. In book 9 of The Odyssey we are introduced to Polyphemus, son of Neptune (Poseidon), who is actually a somewhat civilized Cyclops who herds animals properly and is able to speak coherently. He treated his animals humanely, and allowed the mothers to stay with their young. The other Cyclops even came to his aide when they heard him screaming for help. They only departed after hearing him say “Noman is attacking me,” giving them the idea that he was just drunk from wine. Initially, the beginning of the first conversation between Ulysses and Polyphemus shows that he might offer some hospitality until he starts to bash Ulysses’ men into the ground, devouring them, and hence confirming our notion that the Cyclops is in fact a barbaric monster.

3. Circe is depicted as being a beautiful and enchanting goddess who uses her beauty to lure men into her home and then cast spells on them if they were of no interest to her. The stereotype associated with a beautiful woman is that she can have her way with most men and use them to get what she wants. That was the case until a man of equal or higher value (Ulysses) approached her aggressively and shifted the power in his direction. The reason for this seems to be because it is she who desired him for the simple fact that he did not desire her. She then goes from being an seductress and alpha-female who dominates all men and women around her to a loving and caring women who can almost been seen as a “wife” by preparing food for them and giving them care and sympathy for all their troubles.

Friday, September 19, 2008

bfilip Odyssy IX-X

1) Greeks are not the only group to believe in punishment for angering the gods or the God. In my research, I have found that persons including clergy from many religious or spiritual groups have blamed the recent tsunami on the expression of God’s wrath. Saudis have sighted tourist immoral activities including extramarital sex and homosexual sex. Anti- abortionists have sighted the high number of abortions as the cause for god’s wrath. Sri Lanka Buddhists wonder who angered the sea Gods.
Here in the United States Katrina has been blamed on Sin causing God’s wrath and even the Jews. Religious leaders have sighted Mardi gras revelry, drunkenness, excess abortions, homosexual acceptance, government corruption, the high number of murders in New Orleans, and occult practices.
Pat Robertson has been quoted from his 700 Club program as saying regarding Ellen Degeneres as host for the 2005 Emmy Awards "By choosing an avowed lesbian for this national event, these Hollywood elites have clearly invited God’s wrath. Is it any surprise that the Almighty chose to strike at Miss Degeneres' hometown?"
Louis Farrakhan, is quoted as saying "New Orleans is the first of the cities going to tumble down... unless America changes its course...It is the wickedness of the people of America and the government of America that is bringing the wrath of God down."
2) The Cyclopes are civilized in that the one encountered treated his livestock well. He cared for each one making sure they were all healthy and left the mothers be with their young. In our modern farms, many times they are separated permanently, thus not respecting the familial bonds. In addition, in the story, the neighbors come to the aid of the screaming Cyclopes. In our current society, many simply do not want to get involved. A perfect example is the elderly man who recently was struck by a car and was lying in the street, many people passed by without helping him.
3) Circe goes through a transition of behaviors in this story. She begins as what many men would call a witch or bitch who seduces a man and then “castrates” him taking away his manhood as she did with the crew. Later, in some ways, Circe is like the woman in the story of the taming of the shrew. She has great spunk and confidence, but is tamed by a man who does not succumb to her powers. She then becomes the nurturer and cares for Ulysses and his men for a year. In this way she could be said to be the perfect stereotype of a woman who cannot make up her mind and who men cannot figure out.

Odyssey IX-X

1) Hurricanes and tsunamis are natural phenomenon. A natural disaster like an hurricane is just a tropical cyclone with winds exceeding 74 miles per hour. High humidity and light wind are the food that nourish natural phenomenon. In the other hand a tsunami is a great sea wave produced by underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption. However, many people associated both with God’s punishment. Religious people believe that they are the whip that God use to punish them for their sins. Jerry Falwell talking about hurricane Katrina that “By not obeying the Law of God and accepting Jesus as their true savior, New Orleans brought this calamity upon itself. Their selfish devotion to the satanic hymns of jazz, their gluttony inspired by Paul Prudhomme and the slavish embrace of alchohol provoked the one true God. He was action in their best interest. Let us pray.”
http://cultureghost.blogspot.com/2005/08/religious-extremist-reaction-to.html

2) In chapter IX we find that the Cyclopes have some barbaric custom like to eat men and to live in caves. But at the same time, they have some civilize custom that can pass unnoticed for us. For example, they are shepherds, they live in a kind of community or at least they live near their family. Also, they look after one another, and they storage food to prevent scarcity. Reading how the Cyclops takes good care of his sheep because he needs them for survival, we can conclude that those barbaric creatures have some civilize practices like us.

3) Circe was a beautiful and seductive woman that easily could enchant any man and get everything she wanted. Seeing that Odysseus was the one that could resist her spell, Circe fell in love with him. The Circe before Odysseus can be stereotyped as a feminist for his independence, high self esteem and dominant character. But after fell in love with Odysseus, she can be stereotyped as the typical housewife.

maria cedeno

When natural disasters occur people tend to asked why? Why did it happen to them? Why not to any other country? In situations like these ones, we put on the side any kind of judgments and come together to help those in need. It is hard to come with a good explanation of why these kind of supernatural tragedies occur. The logical explanation for this is that Tsunamis are created by series of waves; these waves can be formed by forces of gravity. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, explosions and landslides are some of the causes that can generate Tsunamis. On the other hand there are those who believed that these supernatural tragedies happened in consequence of the human acts. Ananda Guruge, a Buddhist and a teacher in California attributes the mass death to the Buddhist doctrine of Karma law- not random chance. He believes that these regions had been suffering bad karma perhaps caused by oppression, unjust war and other negatives actions. He said “Those who died were paying the price of accumulated demerits. Those who survived have been rewarded by their past behavior in this and previous lifetime” Ariel Glucklich, a Prof. of theology and specialist in Hinduism believes that the Gods of Hinduism were not responsible for these Tsunami but do agree that Hinduism and Buddhism Karma links a persons fate to actions in their present and previous lives. He describes karma as a “non-divine mechanism”. He said, “People are responsible to what happens to them”. (www.religioustolerance.org).

Cyclopes do seem barbaric to us because they lived in caves, have no laws and each is master and lord of his cave. But all thought they were not civilized or had any kind of education they did practice some behaviors that are not easy to understand. They have respect and care for each other. When Cyclopes were hurt and cried out in pain everyone came to helped him. He separated his animals into group’s sheep, goats, and lambs and let the young ones to stay with their mom. He had respect toward his animals and would not sacrifice them. He was able to produce food from his animals and would milked his goats. He had a black fleece to sleep. These are some examples that show that Cyclopes are some civilized practices.

Circe is a very beautiful and seductive woman that uses these attributes to enforce her power or a least to get what she wants. She uses her beauty to foolish the guards and give them the poison so they could become pigs. She takes advantage of them because she knows that they will not resist and would not think that such a beautiful lady is going to do anything bad to them. She likes to see them like pigs because some how they are to her feet and this shows that she have the power. She is subdued by Ulysses because he was smart enough to find out hot to get close to her and yet not become a pig like everyone else. She thought he was spell-proof and that she could take him to bed but before this happened he made her promise that she would let her friends free and normal. She did promise and made it reality she knew that she couldn’t seduce him with her beauty. I think that in today’s society women are pressure to fit in this ideal body, have beautiful hair, flawless faces in order to get accepted by other people. All this ideas come from the media, movies, TV shows that often present women like that. Circe can probably be relate with the fact that if you are beautiful you could have what you want. (In my opinion not necessarily).

Thursday, September 18, 2008

When natural disasters occur people don’t often seem to react in asking why it happens at the moment. However, after a while people begin to question why these disasters would occur to them. There are many that seem to think that these natural disasters occur because of punishment that it is in some way of God punishing them for a wrong doing. No matter how much technology we may have, there are people that seem to feel that even though we have the knowledge of a disaster occurring, what produces it has a greater force than nature and science that is God. For example Shravastti Dhammikka believed that “the Sichuan earthquake might be the karmic outcome of China’s policy in Tibet.” (http://sdhammika.blogspot.com/2008/05/kamma-and-natural-disasters-i.html)It seems people seem to feel that there in some sort of force that is powerful enough to control these disasters. Even though technology may prove the opposite people sometimes feel that there are spiritual things stronger.

Cyclopes seem to be described as barbaric creatures. It is true they have unusual ways of dealing with situation or behavior. However, there are certain aspects that seem to show us that they are actually “more civilized.” For example before the Cyclopes was disturbed the men were able to observe how this “huge” monster took care of his cheap and seem to present some kind of respect toward animals. Not only is it respect they seem to all care for one another. For example when the Cyclopes were hurt everyone scattered to help. We could see that the Cyclopes seem to show even a more educated perspective than soldiers. For example when the soldiers invaded the Cyclopes’ property, they were anxious to steel and take everything, something that even the vicious Cyclopes didn’t do.

As we see in the Odyssey Circe seems to be a powerful seductress woman. She was one that could be stereotyped as a strong dominant woman. For example Circe knew what she was doing when she was enchanting those soldiers, because at the end of it all she knew she was getting what she wanted. Even when she attempted to trick Ulysses we were able to see this woman’s perseverance, and cleverness. However, at the end we discover another type of women that could be stereotyped as the submissive, quiet woman. Circe turned into the total opposite when she went under Ulysses conditions. Here we discover the calm and obedient women, which we could stereotype as the perfect wife.

odyssey

People often wonder why natural disasters occur in the world. The Greeks believed that it was a punishment towards them for insulting the gods but today’s society when natural disasters happen we have a logical and spiritual explanation of why it is happening. In today’s technology we can track a hurricane before it actually happens. For instance, we had warnings on the news of how big the storm was and where it was likely to hit even before Hurricane Ike occurred, so it gives us time to prepare for these natural disasters. But we cannot logically track all natural disasters because when Tsunami hit Asia in 2004 no one would have thought that it was going to be that huge and kill so many people. When Tsunami occurred, people thought the way the ancient Greek thought “Wars and earthquakes and floods are God's scourges, signs of his displeasure, his way of punishing us for our disobedience” (BNet.com, 2005). In the end, people relied on their faith to bring them back to peace.

Even though it may seem that Cyclops are more barbaric then us, their practices are actually more civilized in many ways. Like a farmer, the Cyclops milk she-goats whereas the farmer will milk a female cow so he will have food to survive. Cyclops would also go shepherding with his flock of sheep and would bring them back inside and separate his animals (sheep, goats, lambs) in different groups like a farmer would do.

Circe is a seductress that uses her beauty to lure men and take advantage of them. She then poisons the men she has lured and turned them into pigs which show her empowerment over them. But when she actually falls for someone like Ulysses she then is very vulnerable to love. Some stereotypes of women who Circe can relate to is that the beautiful girls are usually causing a lot of trouble.

odyssey

1)Tsunamis are huge tidal waves of mass destruction that are caused from underwater earthquakes. There was a huge tsunami that hit the Indian Ocean region in 2004. After the destruction, Islamic extremists started putting blame on people, especially women. One man said that “The Holy Koran says that if women are good, then a country is good”. These extremists blamed women for sinning and believed that it was a divine punishment. Many believed that they must follow Allah’s rules or another tsunami may hit again. Newspaper Article Link. In reality, tsunamis are natural disasters and there is no way to prevent them. Sometimes they just happen unexpectedly. However, hurricanes can be tracked once they are developing and we could prepare for them but there is still not much you can do to mitigate the amount of damage it will impose once it hits landfall. Global warming might be a part in the frequency and severity of recent tropical storms and hurricanes.

2)The Cyclopes looked to be a vicious being from the outside but it was actually a harmless creature. The Cyclopes was doing his routine activities such as nurturing his goats and ewe, minding his own business. Ulysses is actually the one who causes the Cyclopes to be barbaric, judging him from having only one eye and appearance. The Cyclopes wouldn’t need to defend himself against Ulysses if he did not attack him. Ulysses intended to harm the Cyclopes and did so by gouging its only eye.

3)Circe was a seductress because all the men would fall for pretty voice and her appearance. She uses her qualities to gain power over the men and eventually turns the men into pigs. She is able to subdue all the men but not Ulysses. It seemed that she was just playing around with the men and was waiting for the right one. She wanted a man that was not the typical one and that man was in Ulysses.

laura's

1) After doing some research on tsunamis and hurricanes, I noticed that the words “god” and “vengeance” was scattered all over the web. Natural disasters to some people, are found to be a form of reminder so “we” would not get off track and continue to sin. One of the web sites states “Frequently they will employ expressions (taken from actual articles on hurricane Katrina) such as: "nature's vengeance," "nature's fury," "wrath of nature," or "Neptune's vengeance".” (http://www.tfp.org/TFPForum/catholic_perspective/the_asian_tsunami.htm) Which I found surprising, because many people would refer to today as “modern day” due to the advancements made within technology. Researchers found through technology, that the tsunamis’ are formed from an earthquake and earthquakes are form by “Stress in the earth's outer layer cause a pushing effect against the sides of the fault. Due to this motion, rocks slip or collide against each other releasing energy. This released energy travels in waves through the earth's crust and causes the shaking that we feel during an earthquake.” (http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/01424/how_do_earthquakes_form.htm) We can acknowledge the many natural disasters as a form of vengeance/punishment or a chain reaction due to multiple elements interacting on the earth.

2) The Cyclopes can be compared to food in a sense. If a plate of food was presented to you in a very delicate and beautifully designed form, you would assume the dish to be some what tasteful. As when the plate is presented where it seems to have come out of a blender, you may consider that dish to be less delightful but as there are plates of food like tuna, some may have a different remark of the “blended like dish”. The Cyclopes are like tuna. Both of them may have you take a step backwards, but it is not until you get a taste of how it really is that you may really know what it is about. The Cyclopes seemed barbaric, but from the way the Cyclopes took care of this animals, lead to another conclusion of their behavior. The Cyclopes was able to produce food from the animals and was also very nice to let the animals stay with their young. These are very non-barbaric behaviors.

3) Some stereotypes of women may include sneaky, dangerous, seductive, weak, vulnerable to “love or men”, independent woman and etcetera. Circe is a woman that is seductive because she uses her beauty to her advantage but she is also a woman who can become weak. I think that she is the type that is very strong on her own but is vulnerable to love. Women who are very strong on their own, seems to fall for a man who makes her feel weak and when Ulysses was not affected by her powers, she felt weak. To me, Circe is just another woman who is caught in the game of a man.

ODYSSEY

1) Although Greeks did not believe in "sin", hubris was very common element in Greek tragedies. In Oedipus Rex, the Gods revealed Oedipus disturbing fate. Unsatisfied with his fate, Oedipus tried to change it however he ended up living the oracle. Natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina are said to happen for numerous spiritual and logical reason. One spiritual reason is that arose from whitnesses and evangelists is that " bad things happen to good people". They believe that people who die in natural disasters witnessed truth and hold on a heavenly rank. "God does not discriminate" is another spiritual belief and explanation to why natural disasters occur. Of course the logical explanation differs and have more scientific research and evidence to it. Meterologist believe that the burning of fossil fuels increase gases in the Ozone layer. These gases trap heat and sunlight which causes the temperature of the Earth's surface to increase. The increase of temperature creates changes in climate and causes hurricanes and twisters. Although the spiritual and logical explanations conflict they both agree that Natural disasters do not discriminate.

2) In the Odyssey IX, Cyclops was a horrifying mad eating monster. Although he was big, strong, ate humans alive, he along with the other Cyclops did were more civilized in some aspects. When Cyclop was first introduced he out herding and milking his sheep. The Cyclpos took good care of his sheep as he needed them for survival. Not only did the Cyclops respect each others territory they also looked after one another. When Ulysess and his men attacked the Cyclops eye his fellow Cyclops ran to his aid. They noticed that the cave was closed and his sheep was still there. In the Cyclops society they valued their animals and respected each others property and privacy something that the sailors did not do. They rudely entered the cave without permission and demanded appraisal therefore they were not treated well.

3) Circe was very seductive and used not only spell and poison but also beauty to weaken the guard of the gullable soldiers. Circe was only able to cast her spell when she through physical attraction. The men were foolish enough to trust that a pretty, young lady could do no harm. But Circe was also subdue by Ulysess and the godly herb. Because Circe was unable to distract him with her beauty she fell to his every wish. His resistance to her caused her to fall to his every command. Although she was more powerful, she lacked persistence and was overtaken by his courage. Ulysess however was warned of her spell and given the right tools to prevent her from casting her spell. Circe can be stereotyped as a dominant and independent during the introduction. However as we learn of how gullable she was she seemed more submissive and dependent.

1.people always tend to associate natural disaster with consequences of human actions; it is definite understandable that the lack of information about this disasters motivates humans to draw unproven conclusion with the purpose of explaining those events. The greeks in the contrary showed respect to the God's and related to those tragedies as disobedience to their laws. In today's technological society it could be of great use if the prediction of this event will come about in regards of the common goods and the preservation of the people and economic resources. Humanity have experience a lot of tragedies related as to natural disaster, part of that, I have experience myself when the George Hurricane hit the Dominican Republic, people's reaction could have been define as after-event reactions that solely aimed to fix back what happend.

2. It is interesting to find out the meaning of cyclops; all this time I have associated that word with a character in a video game that goes by that same name. In the story cyclops have a hostile attitude towards human beings, this is depicted when the cyclops said: "We Cyclopes do not care about Jove or any of your blessed gods, for we are ever so much stronger than they".
Cyclops showed civilization toward animals, however this was opposite for human beings.

3. There are several steriotipes of women nowdays; women can be associated with the right hand of the man or the perfect companion but not quite at the same level. In the case of this woman Circe we see a powerful woman who can control men and get away with what she wants.
In this particular situation this woman might be associated with a clever individual who has very subtle way of persuasion and control.

Odyssey

Tsunamis are caused by an underwater earthquake and earthquakes are the result of the earth’s plate structure shifting. Hurricanes and tsunamis are natural disasters and human beings have no control whatsoever to prevent such disasters, the most they can do is prepare for them. Most people believe in a supreme being or god, and from a Christian’s point of view, God is god and in much the same way that God allows evil people to commit evil acts, God allows the earth to demonstrate the consequences sin has had on creations and though people may question the acts of God, many amazing miracles result from those natural disasters and people reevaluate their priorities in life (Disappointment With God by Philip Yancey). Also, speaking from personal experience and being a survivor of 2004 Hurricane Ivan in Grenada, I lost most of the material stuff in my life and 90% of the country was in devastation. However, people from all over the country came together as one in time of need and were just thankful God spared their lives and gave them another chance to reconsider life as it is.

First impression of the Cyclops were that they definitely seem barbaric in the sense that they lived in caves, they had no laws, each is a master and lord of his family and they took no account of their neighbors and also they ate human flesh. However not all of their practices and way of life seem totally barbaric as a matter of fact they were civilized beings just as well. For example, they take care of their flocks like any civilize group of people would, and also when Ulysses blinded him, he spoke to his Ram with sincerity and of great concern when he noticed an unusual behavior from the animal. Also, when the Cyclops cried out in pain in the middle of the night, his neighbors all rushed over to see what was wrong with him, an act not barbaric at all.

Circe is a very attractive woman who uses her beauty to trap men. She uses her magic however to drug these men and turn them into animals simply because she has full control over them. There is a saying “some women has the face of an angel but the heart of the devil,” I think that describes the character of Circe. It’s a shame though that once Ulysses seems to gain control and have power over Circe, she gave into him so quickly because it just shows that once a man knows how to find his way around a woman, he can get whatever he wants and that’s the way most men think of women even today.

Odyssey

Often when natural disasters occur people seek to find a reason or an explanation for why this has happened. The ancient Greeks would look upon them as an act of punishment for angering the gods. In many contemporary societies there is still an emphasis on the spiritual causes of natural disasters. A prime example of this was the Tsunami that occurred in Asia in 2004. While there was a logistical scientific explanation for this occurrence, the local people sought a deeper understanding of what had occurred. “I’m not sure if God is punishing us for the state of the world or if God is challenging us to overcome,” one local professor commented (Washington Post, 2004). The people rallied together to overcome this disaster, relying on their faith to give them strength to preserve. Despite different explanations and different times, seeking deeper meaning has always been inherent in the human condition.

The character of the Cyclopes, while barbaric in nature, actually employs some more civilized practices in its everyday life. Similar to human sheep herdsmen the Cyclopes takes careful care of his flocks, taking them out every morning and bringing them back in every night. Every morning and night he also milks his ewes and goats then curdles the milk for later. The Cyclopes does so in order to keep his flock healthy and strong and to ensure that he will have food and drink. These practices challenge the perception that the Cyclopes are simply a barbaric, hedonistic creature, with no regard for civilization. While the majority of his actions are savage and have no resemblance of a civilized creature, the simple act of taking such careful care of his flocks suggests that the Cyclopes is a more complex creature than depicted.

Circe is firstly introduced to the reader as a seductress and temptress who lures men to her house then poisons them. She then turns the men into wild animals who will do as she wishes, such as guard her house. However, upon learning that it is Ulysses who has come to her house, as was foretold to her, her character changes and she immediately subdues to his wishes. She then advises Ulysses and his men to stay with her for a year until she has nursed them back to health. Throughout this time she takes care of them, feeding them, clothing them, and ensuring that they become strong again. Circe takes on the traditional stereotypical role of woman as a caregiver and nurse. It becomes her responsibility to ensure the health and well-being of these men and to do as they please. Circe takes on the role of the traditional ‘house-wife’ and all that is implied with that. Prior to caring for them Circe fits the stereotype of the deceitful, ill-intentioned woman who attempts to get what she wants through seduction and trickery. The two roles that Circe plays in the story demonstrate the main two ways in which women are portrayed and expected to behave.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Odyssey IX-X

1. Tsunami, Hurricanes or any natural disaster as something that no one wants to burry in mind. It is something that is something difficult to grasp. However, some say that the natural disasters that happen in our life are “checks and balances” that G-d creates for us in order to maintain balance. As G-d says “Do you not fear me? Says G-d: will you not tremble at My presence, which has placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?” (Jeremiah 5:22). G-d wants us to experience natural disasters. According to the Archbishop of Canterbury has stated that the Indian Ocean Tsunami is "a challenge to the faith.” They say that natural disasters happen because G-d wants to challenge their faith, or their believe in the afterlife. According to a Hurricane Katrina survivor, she says that disasters happen because than this kind of magnitude events remind us that we are all connected because we will in all likelihood unavoidably be impacted. Also there are those who referred to Hurricane Katrina as "Sodom and Gomorrah." Some people who were hurt by the Tsunami said that they were hurt because they “weren’t Christians” and therefore were being “punished.” There are many interpretations to why natural disasters occur, this kind of interpretations change from every person’s point of view and belief.

2. Cyclops does in fact sound like a monster, also because he has a big face and one eye in the middle, but even the people themselves were scared of him as one expressed "We were frightened out of our senses by his loud voice and monstrous form, but I managed to say, 'We are Achaeans on our way home from Troy, but by the will of Jove, and stress of weather, we have been driven far out of our course. Cyclops does not seem as civilized with human being as he said that Cyclopes do not care about “Joves or any of your blessed g-ds for we are even so much stronger than they.” He does not have a human like relationship however, he does treat his animals as it is explained that he “he again lit his fire, milked his goats and ewes, all quite rightly, and then let each have her own young one” but later on he goes to explain how had ended up eating two more men for his morning meal. His actions are very civilized towards his animals but uncivilized towards other men.

3. Circe is portrayed in the story as a very attractive and powerful woman which she uses that for her advantageous. When Ulysses appeared in her house she gave them warm hospitality which later she poised them and turned them into pigs however, Ulysses was not effect by her poisoning and that’s what turned her on. Circe uses their desire for help to her advantageous. She knows she’s the powerful one and therefore, allows herself to do whatever she wants with them. She is acting this way because she never had someone that she truly wanted so she allowed herself. When Ulysses came around she liked him and tried to get his attention. She was worried about him and tried to tell him to be careful while going on his way back home. Circe is a kind of woman that likes powerful men, who can control her, and ones she sees that she doesn’t have that she uses her powers to her advantageous.

Odyssey

1.When a tsunami hit India in 2004, many people who were already facing poverty were reduced to live off nothing and still remain homeless to this day. While Western society blames nature for devastating India, the natives believe that a power far greater was to account for. Bahram Shahmardaan, studied the local people of India and found that they believed that their God Shiva was trying to restore balance to humanity.

“Historically when mankind has strayed away from the Divine, then the Divine Will has asserted to re-establish the balance between Truth and un-Truth in manifestation. According to Hindu mythology when human kind strays from the Will Divine then Shiva also known as Michael in the Old Testament, takes the form of Natarâja the Re-Creator or Destroyer and dances His Dance of Destruction which results in catastrophic upheavals.”(http://www.shahmardaan.com/tsunami.htm)

2.Although Chapter X describes the Cyclopes as barbaric and monstrous, they practice a very civilized role of farming and herding. The Cyclopes were described as having a vast number of sheep which it also milks and lets out to eat. Unlike the crew who slaughtered the animals on board their ship, the Cyclops didn’t believe in the Gods and sacrifices and followed a simple farming life. Also, they were able to light fires and produced cheese from their goats.

3.Circe plays the role of a seductress in many ways. Firstly, she is able to tame animals and enchant them to protecting her home. Also, she was able to feed the men and poison them into forgetting their homes. Circe was able to get them inside her home with her beautiful singing and colorful loom. She was subdued in the way that she was attracted to Ulysses and was submissive to the power of attraction and lust. She might me associated with being weak over the power of man and her feelings. In addition, she might be linked to being manipulative to get what she wants.

1. Many natural disasters have occurred in the past three years. Hurricanes and Tsunamis have been two main types of natural disasters that have occurred since 2005 (Hurricane Katrina, Tsunamis is Asia). When such terrible things happen people often find a spiritual meaning to it. Many see is as a warning from God to appreciate what we have at the cost of other and change our lifestyles and become better people (“There is an underlying assumption that must be accepted before we can make much sense out of the acts of nature – often legally referred to as ‘acts of God.’”). As to the logical meaning, many scientists are studying the possibility of Global Warming causing these disasters, due to changes in the temperature and sea currents.
2. The Cyclopes are introduced as barbaric in Chapter X, but reading further in the story I found myself thinking otherwise. The way Cyclopes treated his animals, especially the goats gave me a sense of tenderness. He even let the female goats have their young ones back. Who I found to be more barbaric than the Cyclopes was Ulysses, they way he barged in the Cyclopes cave and demanded to be treated as a visitor. Also the method he used to blind Cyclopes. He drunk him first and then damaged his eye (“we bore the red got beam into his eye, till the boiling blood bubbled all over it was as we worked it round and round, so that the steam from the burning eyeball scalded his eyelids…”)That was even more barbaric and cruel than anything.
3. Circe is portrayed as a seductress in the beginning of the story. She was a confident woman, with a very high self esteem. She is a beautiful woman and she knows this, so she use it to her advantage in controlling any man she wants to have. Later on we also see her as a woman who is subdued by Ulysses. Her magic doesn’t work on him, plus he has the courage to stand up to her and put her in her place. He gains control of her and her feelings; therefore Circe falls madly in love with Ulysses. I think that Circe fits into the category of women who use their physical appearance to their advantage in order to accomplish their task or meet their goal. Also she fits into the stereotype where women fall in love with their person they can’t be with. There can be a hundred guys in love with her, but she has to choose the guy who doesn’t love her.

sean g odyssey

After doing some research on Hurricane Katrina, I found some thoughtful reasons for the cause of the hurricane, but I also found some ridiculous reasons. The topic of global warming came up a million times throughout a number of blogs. Some locals said that this was God's "caveat" to stop polluting the earth. I read in another online article that many of the fundamentalist Christians from Louisiana believed that Katrina was a punishment for homosexuals. The hurricane hit on the 29th, and the "Southern Decadence" festival (also called 'Gay Mardi Gras') was set to start on the 31st. I am not a very religious person, although I do consider myself spiritual. Realistically, hurricanes happen. Global warming definitely could have been a major reason for this hurricane. Homosexuals definitely were NOT the reason for Katrina. Fundamentalists seem to be causing troubal around the world, no matter what their religion is.

As for the Cyclops, you can go back to the old phrase "Don't judge a book by its cover". Although the cyclops had a bestial facade, there was much more to this creature than given credit for. The cyclops cared for his goats and ewes tenderly. He let the female goats interact with their children. He kept them in separate flocks. Although the Cyclops did have some barbaric tendencies, I believe Ulysses was the stimulus for his violent actions. If he would have left the cyclops alone, he would have been practicing his pacifist ways! (I know thats a bit extreme to call a cyclops a pacifist)

Circe seems to be the type of woman that can get any man she wants, or at least that is how she is potrayed in the Odyssey. She is confident of herself and controlling of men. That is, until she meets Ulysses. Ulysses is the one man who was uneffected by the posion. She is subdued to Ulysses and Ulysses only. She wants him, its pretty obvious. I don't know what kind of stereotypes she fits in to, because these aren't really stereotypes as much as they are relatable characteristics to SOME women.

Odyssey

Can it be that there is more to tsunamis and earthquakes than what we are told? A tsunami is “an unusually large sea wave produced by a seaquake or undersea volcanic eruption. “ This is the definition given by Random House Unabridged Dictionary. However, this type of explanations is not enough for some people. Could Tsunamis or earthquakes just be a test on the human race? “The Islamic view is that when something awful like this happens, God is watching people's reaction. “ This is a quote from The San Diego Union Tribune on January of 2005. Could it be that the only reason that we have natural disasters are to test human beings? “God’s ultimate goal for all of us is to experience and demonstrate genuine love.” Although people may understand how storms originate, they still want an explanation as to why them? There is no scientific answer that can satisfy their inquiry, which is why they try to find a spiritual one. Natural disasters, such as these really do bring out the best in people. Was it not amazing how people pulled together during Hurricane Katrina?

The ways Cyclopes are described in the beginning seem to have no reflection of how barbaric they are. For example, the way that the Cyclopes live in caves and that they are rulers of their own family, without care for the rest of their communities has no reflection on their character. But what seems more civilized than anything else, is the way the Cyclops treats his animals. The Cyclops has a routine of milking the ewes and she-goats, then letting them have their young back. When I read that there seemed almost a tenderness that was reflected upon the Cyclopes. The same type of tenderness is shown when the ram is the last animal to come out of the cave. The Cyclops seems to show affection for the ram, speaking to him as if he were his friend. When the Cyclops was said to have devoured Odyssey’s friend it seemed so out of character. I was actually not expecting that at all form the character. I thought the opposite, and wondered if this Cyclops was going to be different from how they are usually personified, but that was not the case.

Circe can be seen as a beautiful woman, how uses her beauty to her advantage. She uses her feminine mystic to allure men. Men have this perception of women, in which we seem to be offering so many things to them, such as a home, stability, food, but in the end there are all lies and we turn on them. Such was the case with Circe. She offered them shelter and food then turned them into pigs. Men say that what women really want is to be subdued, to have a strong enough man which they will be able to look up to. This can be said was the case with Circe. No one had ever had the chance to stand against her. Odyssey was able to subdue her with no problem, because she was looking someone that can measure up to her. I guess Circe can be seen as the typical woman who is waiting for a man to come into her life. Circe is waiting for a man to come and save her.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

odyssey

Natural disasters have been recorded for centuries, but the latest increase could just be proof of better record keeping. Our constant modernized technology helps us, the society and the world as a whole, better understand why they could possibly occur. Centuries ago, natural disasters were associated with Gods and their feelings and emotions. Since with lack of technology, there was no possible way to explain hurricanes and tornados, the society believed that there was a divine and all-powerful being that was behind the disasters. Even though today that principle is still applied by religious groups, science also has its own explanation and suggests that factors such as pollution and physically destroying our land are involved. As far as the current events are concerned, people tend to blame God for putting them though such pain, meanwhile others argue that it is the government that either uses high-tech technology to mess with the weather or is too “incompetent” to help its people. "If George Bush's government were as good and decent and focused as the people of New Orleans, whole parts of the city would not still look like the storm just hit. This is a national disgrace. While President Bush continues to fail New Orleans, the American people and the residents of the city have not. Almost all of the progress that's been made has been the work of the proud residents of the city and generous Americans, working without and often in spite of the federal government. Our government needs to support their efforts and help get New Orleans back on its feet. And we need to do everything possible to make sure this never happens again”, Domenico Montanaro speaks about Katrina from the MSNBC news. Katrina Reactions. 2008.MSNBC News. 16 Sep. 2008 .
Don’t judge the book by its cover. Even though cliché, it could be relevant to Cyclops. Even though they are represented as very big, one-eyed monsters, they are not dumb. Cyclops knew that he could not get off the island and therefore made sure that he always had plenty to eat. He separated his herds into age groups and raised them well not only for meat but dairy products as well. He also used the rock for not only protecting his property, but to also serve as a shield against weather. It is all about survival, and Cyclops made sure to use their strength and size to their best ability.
Circe is presented to the reader as a woman with power. Not only is she capable of using herbs to drug men and make them forger, but she also has magical powers which enable her to turn humans into animals. She uses hospitality to lure the guests in, and once trapped, as if feeling superior, she turns them into creatures. But knowing her tricks, could make anyone capable of stopping her. It gives an impression that she likes a man with power, someone who is able to control her. If she can’t make a man like her, she feels weak and gives in to whatever demands are thrown at her.

Odyssey IX-X

1, It is totally impossible for human beings to control natural disasters so when it occurs, people usually do not think why it happens and why the specific place and people has to be suffered. In fact, some people try to make a disaster meaningful. Even though the disaster hurts people a lot, as long as there is a better meaning of why that happens, some people are able to get rid of their sorrow.
In an article Religion and the Rise of Jim Crow in New Orleans, an author Kelly J. Baker states that aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the differential between blacks and whites in New Orleans stand out in bold. “We must ... come to terms with the ugly truth that skin color, age, and economics played a deadly role in who survived and who did not.” It was a time of a judgment whether or not blacks and whites can cooperate to recover such a huge damage on New Orleans. It seems like Baker argues that there were definitely some reasons why such a huge Hurricane hit a city like New Orleans where a racial segregation still exists.

Literature Resource Center
Baker, Kelly J. "Religion and the Rise of Jim Crow in New Orleans." The Journal of African American History.

2, Although, Cyclopes are sometimes represented as barbaric, they have certain moral behavior. When Ulysses came to Cyclopes’ cave, he was hiding himself and watching Cyclopes. To Cyclopes, the way he shows up in his sight was really unacceptable, because Ulysses took advantage of Cyclopes which is that he only has one eye. Secondly, it makes sense that Cyclopes are stronger than Jove so they do not care and need no help, therefore they have no reason to do some favor for Ulysses. What Cyclopes wanted was to keep their life as it used to be, and not being bothered by strangers.

3, In the book, Circe is represented as an attractive women who easily gets men in her hand. One of the reasons why she is able to get a lot of attentions from men is because she knows who she is. Also she knows the way to use her advantage as a beautiful woman efficiently. When Ulysses’ crews got into her place, she was subdued and served a poisoned meal which turns crews to be like pigs but they still have a sense and memory of the past as human beings. Her attitude made difficult for men to have a doubt about why she has hospitality. Circe insulted them for her sake. But the men could not escape because they could not disgrace themselves in public. She knows how men are proud of themselves. On the other hand, when she met Ulysses, she turned to be a seductress, not only because the poison did not work for him, but also she was attracted by him. She tried to get attention of Ulysses by telling him that there will be many dangers on his way back home and telling him how to protect himself. Until Ulysses shows up, she does not really care about others, but she worries so much about Ulysses.

Odyssey Books IX - X

1. I think that sometimes when any natural disaster occurs in a foreign country that is devoutly religious, some of the residents don't necessarily FIRST think of nature being a reason for such a tragedy. They tend to think in terms of the acts of others against their religion being the catalyst for such devastation. This was evident in an article I found in the Washington Post from January 8, 2005 regarding the South Asian tsunami of 2004, whose effects were felt continents away. Some in Indonesia - one of the hardest hit places - placed the blame on Muslims who they feel were removing prayer from their daily routine and choosing a lifestyle different from what they had religiously followed for years. This was an interesting quote that I found from that article:

In Israel, Sephardic chief rabbi Shlomo Amar, one of the country's top religious leaders, called the disaster "an expression of God's wrath with the world. The world is being punished for wrongdoing -- be it people's needless hatred of each other, lack of charity, moral turpitude."

It is pretty powerful that instead of first looking at what happened in nature to cause this kind of disaster, some are looking at other people to place blame.

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57758-2005Jan7.html)

2. Cyclopes was assumed to be barbaric because of how huge he was and the fact that he had only one eye. With no way off the island and neighbors scarce, it was his flock of sheep and goat and his role as sole shepherd that seem to grant him serenity. He cared for and nurtured them - keeping them in separate flocks, milking the female goats and ewes, and letting them bond with their young. This routine was something that he did twice a day - in the mornings when he awakened and at night before his supper. It wasn't until Ulysses infringed upon his privacy did he feel the need to defend himself and adopt what we may see as barbaric ways. He had no way of knowing what Ulysses intentions were (though we know that Ulysses went there with the INTENT of evil-doing). In defending his property, his flock, and himself, he did get hurt, but not before he showed Ulysses that to come upon another man's land with the intent of evil could have dire consequences.

3. Circe is a seductress in the fact that she has a way to lure men - not by force - but by 1.) singing so beautifully and 2.) being in a position where the men could see her making a colorful loom. Those two factors would pique their curiosity so much that they would have to find out who "she" is. She probably didn't realize the first time this happened that she had that control and once she put two and two together, she used that control to get what she wanted - the opportunity to drug these men and turn then into animals - animals that would protect and also worship her. She is subdued because although she turns these men into animals, she doesn't cage them or kill them, they roam free. She knows that they need her, so she's confident that they will not go anywhere - as she is the only person who would be able to turn them back into men.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Odyssey Books IX-X

1. According to Gangaji, an American born teacher and author residing in Ashland, Oregon, death is “a way the earth has recycled its crust, and in that region it will actually become more fertile than it was before.” According to Gangaji bad things happen to make people think different and maybe become better human being, like Hiroshima that created a peaceful Japan. Sometimes face the death makes people think different. Death in the Tarot has two different meanings: The negative side means the death, but the positive side means a new beginning. On the other hand, the former vice president Al Gore and scientists believe that global warming is responsible for all those natural disasters such as tsunamis and hurricanes. According to scientists researches the temperatures are changing dramatically making the ice to melt creating flooding. The pollution and degradation of our ozone is causing the connection of hot and cold air producing tornados and hurricanes.
2. The Cyclops share the island without thinking about fighting with the neighborhood, she appears to me to be not as bad as they show in the book. In my interpretation Ulysses was bad creature than the Cyclops. The Cyclops didn’t have a boat and never traveled to fight and conquest other land. The Cyclops showed that although she was a monster she knew how to take care of the animals. As mentioned, the Cyclops used to “milked her goats and ewes, all quite rightly, and then let each have her own young one." Also the Cyclops knew how to administrate her food supply. On the other hand, the way Ulysses introduced himself as “people of Agamemnon, who has won infinite renown throughout the whole world, by sacking to great a city and killing to many people.” The way Ulysses introduced himself he showed the he was more barbarous than the Cyclopes, and he was interesting in power. While animals kill only when they are hungry, human kill for power.
3. At the beginning I see the character Circe as a seductress, when she seduced the men with her soft voice. Also she could convince the men to eat the food and transform them in pigs, showing her power over men. At the end she was sorry for what she did to the guys, and although she liked Ulysses, she let him go back to his city. At that time, she appears to be more subdued, and she not only let Ulysses to leave the island, but she also helped him to find his way home.

Odyssey Books IX-X

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Odyssey IX-X

Monday, September 22, 2008

Odyssey

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Odyssey

Alex Samusevich

Friday, September 19, 2008

bfilip Odyssy IX-X

Odyssey IX-X

maria cedeno

Thursday, September 18, 2008

odyssey

odyssey

laura's

ODYSSEY

Odyssey

Odyssey

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Odyssey IX-X

Odyssey

sean g odyssey

Odyssey

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

odyssey

Odyssey IX-X

Odyssey Books IX - X

Monday, September 15, 2008

Odyssey Books IX-X

Odyssey IX-X

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