Mythology of the Iliad and the Odyssey by Karen Bornemann Spies Page B
Authors: Karen Bornemann Spies
Ads: Link
flowed down their chins. As the men ate, they fell in love with the land of the Lotus-Eaters, for whoever ate a lotus lost all memory of his past life and never wanted to return home again.
After several hours, Odysseus realized that something was wrong. Fearing that his soldiers might have been killed, he gathered a search party. Quickly, the search party set off through the woods. They soon found their comrades, eating lotus and smiling dreamy smiles. One of the happy sailors handed a fruit to Odysseus. “Try a lotus. They are the most wonderful fruit on earth!”
Odysseus refused the fruit. “Come, men,” he said. “It is time to resume our journey to our home and our families.”
The three sailors looked confused. “Home? Families? Who would want to live anywhere other than this island?”
Odysseus wondered what had caused his sailors’ forgetfulness. He reached down and picked up one of the lotus fruits. As soon as he sniffed it, he immediately felt a wave of forgetfulness. Fearing that he, too, would lose all desire to journey home, Odysseus quickly dropped the lotus fruit. “Tie up these three men,” Odysseus commanded his search party. “Make haste to return to our ships. We cannot take a chance on any more of our crew eating the lotus fruit.”
The search party grabbed hold of the scouting party, and the three scouts began to weep. They were having such a wonderful time eating the lotus that they had no desire at all to return to their ships.
“Haul them to the rowing benches,” Odysseus ordered his search party. “Lash them fast so that they cannot escape.”
All the remaining sailors jumped aboard at once. They grabbed their oars and churned up the water to white foam with stroke after stroke of the oars.
“Quickly, men, we have no time to lose!” Odysseus urged them on. “That’s the way. We must make haste to leave the land of the Lotus-Eaters far behind us.”
Little did Odysseus know that another adventure awaited him.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q:
What did the Greeks do after winning the Trojan War?
A:
They celebrated wildly, dragging Cassandra, a priestess of Athena, out of Athena’s temple.
Q:
How did Athena punish the Greeks for their treatment of Cassandra?
A:
She convinced Poseidon to cause terrible storms that destroyed or knocked off course the ships of the Greeks.
Q:
How long was Odysseus gone from his home?
A:
He fought in the Trojan War for ten years and his journey home took another ten years.
Q:
When Odysseus and his crewmen started their voyage home, what did Zeus do?
A:
He caused winds to blow them off course.
Q:
What did Odysseus do when he and his men first landed on the island of the Lotus-Eaters?
A:
He sent out a scouting party of three men.
Q:
What happened to these men?
A:
They ate the lotus fruit, which made them lose memory of their past lives and instead want to remain on the island.
Q:
What did Odysseus do when his scouting party did not return?
A:
He and a search party found them, sitting and eating lotus. Odysseus and his search party dragged the missing men back to the ships.
Q:
How did the scouting party react when they could no longer eat the lotus?
A:
They wept, because they had no desire to return to their ships.
EXPERT COMMENTARY
According to Professor Barry B. Powell:
The figure of Odysseus, the Roman Ulysses, has always fascinated the imagination of the West. Although many meanings have been given to him, he is always cast in one of two categories: either glorified as the seeker of truth, the restless clever intelligence penetrating the secrets of the world, or damned as the treacherous deceiver, the exalter of intellect above the demands of the heart. Homer’s Odysseus belongs to the first category, but the anti-Odysseus tradition appears as early as Sophocles’
Philoctetes
(409 B.C. ) and is then refined by Euripides, Virgil, and others. 3
Powell noted that the Romans held a particularly negative view of Odysseus:
The Romans
After several hours, Odysseus realized that something was wrong. Fearing that his soldiers might have been killed, he gathered a search party. Quickly, the search party set off through the woods. They soon found their comrades, eating lotus and smiling dreamy smiles. One of the happy sailors handed a fruit to Odysseus. “Try a lotus. They are the most wonderful fruit on earth!”
Odysseus refused the fruit. “Come, men,” he said. “It is time to resume our journey to our home and our families.”
The three sailors looked confused. “Home? Families? Who would want to live anywhere other than this island?”
Odysseus wondered what had caused his sailors’ forgetfulness. He reached down and picked up one of the lotus fruits. As soon as he sniffed it, he immediately felt a wave of forgetfulness. Fearing that he, too, would lose all desire to journey home, Odysseus quickly dropped the lotus fruit. “Tie up these three men,” Odysseus commanded his search party. “Make haste to return to our ships. We cannot take a chance on any more of our crew eating the lotus fruit.”
The search party grabbed hold of the scouting party, and the three scouts began to weep. They were having such a wonderful time eating the lotus that they had no desire at all to return to their ships.
“Haul them to the rowing benches,” Odysseus ordered his search party. “Lash them fast so that they cannot escape.”
All the remaining sailors jumped aboard at once. They grabbed their oars and churned up the water to white foam with stroke after stroke of the oars.
“Quickly, men, we have no time to lose!” Odysseus urged them on. “That’s the way. We must make haste to leave the land of the Lotus-Eaters far behind us.”
Little did Odysseus know that another adventure awaited him.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q:
What did the Greeks do after winning the Trojan War?
A:
They celebrated wildly, dragging Cassandra, a priestess of Athena, out of Athena’s temple.
Q:
How did Athena punish the Greeks for their treatment of Cassandra?
A:
She convinced Poseidon to cause terrible storms that destroyed or knocked off course the ships of the Greeks.
Q:
How long was Odysseus gone from his home?
A:
He fought in the Trojan War for ten years and his journey home took another ten years.
Q:
When Odysseus and his crewmen started their voyage home, what did Zeus do?
A:
He caused winds to blow them off course.
Q:
What did Odysseus do when he and his men first landed on the island of the Lotus-Eaters?
A:
He sent out a scouting party of three men.
Q:
What happened to these men?
A:
They ate the lotus fruit, which made them lose memory of their past lives and instead want to remain on the island.
Q:
What did Odysseus do when his scouting party did not return?
A:
He and a search party found them, sitting and eating lotus. Odysseus and his search party dragged the missing men back to the ships.
Q:
How did the scouting party react when they could no longer eat the lotus?
A:
They wept, because they had no desire to return to their ships.
EXPERT COMMENTARY
According to Professor Barry B. Powell:
The figure of Odysseus, the Roman Ulysses, has always fascinated the imagination of the West. Although many meanings have been given to him, he is always cast in one of two categories: either glorified as the seeker of truth, the restless clever intelligence penetrating the secrets of the world, or damned as the treacherous deceiver, the exalter of intellect above the demands of the heart. Homer’s Odysseus belongs to the first category, but the anti-Odysseus tradition appears as early as Sophocles’
Philoctetes
(409 B.C. ) and is then refined by Euripides, Virgil, and others. 3
Powell noted that the Romans held a particularly negative view of Odysseus:
The Romans
Similar Books
