odysseus nobody.docx

1、odysseus nobodyKing of an island off the western coast of Greece; one of the heroes who fought in the Trojan War. On his trip Home from Troy, Odysseus and his shipmates encountered a number of perils. At one point their ship was blown far off course, and they fetched up on a small wooded island, whe

2、re they beached the vessels and gave thought to provisions. Odysseus had noticed a larger island nearby, from which came the sound of bleating goats. This was encouraging to his growling stomach, and he detailed a scouting party and led it to the far shore. Here they found a huge goat pen outside a

3、cave and, inside, all the cheeses and meat they could desire. They were lounging in drowsy contentment when the shepherd came Home. The sight of him brought the Greeks to fullest attention. He was as big as a barn, with a single glaring eye in the middle of his forehead. He was one of the Cyclopes,

4、giant blacksmiths who had built Olympus for the gods. This particular Cyclops was named Polyphemus. He and his neighbors lived like hermits with their flocks. If the Greeks were shocked, Polyphemus was pleasantly surprised. For here before him at his own hearth was a treat that would nicely vary his

5、 diet. Taking care to roll a boulder into the mouth of the cave - a stone so huge that even a full crew of heroes could not stir it - he promptly snatched up the nearest two of Odysseuss men, bashed out their brains on the floor and popped them into his mouth. Then with a belch he curled up in a cor

6、ner and drifted happily to sleep. Odysseus naturally was beside himself with concern. What had he led his men into? There was nothing for it, though, but to wait out the night in terror, for the boulder blocked the door. In the morning the Cyclops rolled the massive stone aside, called his goats tog

7、ether and let them out, some to pasture and others to the pen in the yard. Then he sealed the entrance again. That night he had more Greeks for dinner. Desperate, Odysseus conceived a plan. To begin with, he offered the Cyclops wine. This was especially potent wine, which he and his men had brought

8、ashore in skins. The Greeks customarily mixed water with their wine to dilute its strength. But the Cyclops had never drunk wine before, diluted or not, and it went straight to his head. Before he conked out, he asked Odysseus his name. Nobody, replied the hero. Well, Mr. Nobody, I like you, said th

9、e Cyclops drowsily. In fact, I like you so much that Im going to do you a favor. Ill eat you last. With these encouraging words he fell fast asleep. Odysseus jumped up and put his men to work. They put a sharp point on the end of a pole and hardened it in the fire. Then, with a mighty heave-ho, they

10、 rammed it into the Cyclops eye. In agony Polyphemus groped about blindly for his tormentors, but the Greeks dodged him all night long. Help, come quickly! he shouted at one point, and his fellow Cyclopes came running. Whats the matter? they called in at the mouth of the cave. Im blinded and in agon

11、y, roared Polyphemus. Whose fault is it? they shouted back. Nobodys, said Polyphemus. Well in that case, responded the Cyclopes as they departed, youve got a lot of nerve bothering us. In the morning, as usual, Polyphemus called his flock together and rolled the boulder aside to let them out. He pla

12、nted himself in the door to bar the Greeks escape. Muttering at great length to his ram, he sought sympathy for his affliction. Whatever you do, he told the beast, dont trust Greeks. So saying, he stroked the animals wooly back and sent him from the cave. Little did he know that Odysseus himself clu

13、ng to the rams belly. And, in a similar fashion, his shipmates had escaped beneath the rest of the flock. When Polyphemus realized the deception he rushed to the seaside, where Odysseus and his men were rowing hard for safety. The hero could not resist a taunt. Just to set the record straight, the n

14、ames Odysseus, he called across the water. But you have Nobody to thank for your troubles - nobody but yourself, that is. With a mighty curse Polyphemus threw a boulder which almost swamped the ship. But the rowers redoubled their efforts. They left the blinded Cyclops raging impotently on the shore

15、. And so it was that the next time Odysseus and his crew put in at a beautiful but slightly spooky island, the hero had second thoughts about who would go out and scout for provisions. Having himself led the shore party last time and almost been eaten by the Cyclops for his pains, this time Odysseus

16、 put someone else in command and sent him out with half the crew. The rest stayed in camp and alternately worried about the scouts and thanked their lucky stars that they hadnt been picked. Their worries were justified. The explorers had come upon a snug little house in a clearing, where a beautiful

17、 woman invited them in for tea. Theyd already observed that the yard was full of lions and wolves of a surprisingly docile nature, but they chose to overlook this portent that something might be amiss. All but one of the sailors accepted the invitation and went inside. Whereupon their hostess, who t

18、urned out to be an enchantress by the name of Circe, turned them into swine. The one crew member who hadnt shared this fate reported back to Odysseus, who must have thought a grouchy thought or two about the responsibilities of captaincy before he set out to see what he could do for his men - or, ra

19、ther, pigs. When he was approaching the house, he happened to run into the god Hermes. Or perhaps it was something more than happenstance. Those of the Olympians who werent trying to make Odysseuss life miserable were bent on helping him, and theyd sent their herald with a timely bit of aid. This wa

20、s in the form of a sprig of moly, a magical sort of plant which, Hermes assured Odysseus, would counteract the witchs spells. Sure enough, Circe had no sooner said hello to her latest visitor and raised her magic wand to turn him forthwith into a porker than Odysseus drew his sword as Hermes had ins

21、tructed him to do. And holding the moly to his nose like smelling salts, he said: Drop that thing right now or your wand-waving days are over! (Or words to that effect.) Circe was so taken aback that she not only spared Odysseus her spells but restored all his men to human form. She and Odysseus bec

22、ame great friends. The hero stayed with her for many a day, and when at last he set out again Circe gave him essential advice about the perils ahead. It was Circe who told Odysseus that he would have to make a side trip to Hades. Only the blind prophet Teiresias could tell him how to find his way Ho

23、me at last, and Teiresias happened to be dead. So Odysseus sailed west until he reached the stream of Ocean, the broad river that encircles the earth (or so the ancient Greeks conceived their geography). And here he found the frontier of Hades. At the confluence of the infernal rivers Styx and Acher

24、on, Odysseus dug a pit and poured sacrificial blood into it. At which the ghosts of the dead thronged up, eager to drink the vital liquid and regain their living strength. Odysseus held them all at bay until he had talked to Teiresias, and then he decided to speak to various other deceased celebriti

25、es. Among these was the great hero Achilles. Achilles had been the best fighter of the Greeks besieging Troy. He had slain the Trojan hero Hector in single combat and was only brought down himself by the connivance of the god Apollo. Now he lived in paramount honor among the heroic dead. Odysseus ha

26、iled him as first among mortals while living and now virtually on a par with the gods, albeit consigned to Hades. Enough, smooth-talking Odysseus! Achilles interrupted. Id rather be a lowly farmhand - and a living man - than king of these hollow dead. Then cheered somewhat by tidings of the prowess

27、of his son, he went striding off across the fields of asphodel, a gray and ghostly flower. Such was the version of Hades sung of by the minstrel Homer. And though others sang of the fields of Elysium, where the likes of Achilles lived on in splendid company, in pleasant surroundings, in heroic pursu

28、its of the hunt and banquet, Achilles words haunt the memory. Though the humblest toil await, how sweeter indeed the dawns pink light under an open sky than the strange paradise at the edge of the western world. Now Odysseus faced an awesome series of challenges, the first of these in the form of th

29、e enchanting Sirens. There were two or three Sirens, who had the bodies of women with bird heads and bird feet, or bird bodies with womens heads and voices. Some say that they acquired this form when, as attendants to the goddess Demeter, they witnessed the abduction of her daughter Persephone by Ha

30、des, god of the dead. Persephone was gathering flowers in a meadow one day when a huge crack in the earth opened up and Hades emerged in his chariot. He snatched up Persephone and descended to his realm again. Demeter, goddess of the harvest, was heartbroken, and while she wandered the length and br

31、eadth of the earth in search of her daughter, the crops withered and it became perpetual winter. At length Hades was persuaded to surrender Persephone for one half of every year, the spring and summer seasons when flowers bloom and the earth bears fruit once more. The half year that Persephone spend

32、s in the Underworld as Hades queen coincides with the barren season. The Sirens, meanwhile, had been punished with bird legs for not thwarting the abduction, or they were given wings to extend the scope of Demeters search for Persephone. In later years they settled on a rock in the west, off the coast of what is now called Italy. Here the sweetness of their singing, together with the strains of flute and lyre, lured sailors to their doom. Those who heard the haunting melody lost all thought of Home and languished on the Sirens rock until they died. Or they forgot th