The Death Of Odysseus In Homer's The Odyssey

The Odyssey is an epic poem written by the Greek author, Homer, in the 8th century. Odysseus, the main character of the story, is portrayed as “a man of outstanding wisdom and shrewdness, eloquence, resourcefulness, courage, and endurance” (Encyclopædia Britannica). He faces dangerous beings, death, and the mistakes of his men as he makes his journey home from the Trojan war.

Odysseus was the king of Ithaca and fought in the Trojan War alongside the Greeks. He was married to Penelope and had a son named Telemachus. On his journey home, Odysseus encounters many mythical beings. For example, they meet Polyphemus, a Cyclops who eats a few of Odysseus’ men and happens to be the son of Poseidon. Another fearsome creature they face was Scylla, a six-headed sea monster they had to sail past in order to continue on their journey home. Odysseus faced many dangers, which almost lead him to his death on many occasions.

Death was quite common on the journey back to Ithaca. When the crew sailed past Scylla, six men were taken for each head the monster had. The Cyclops Polyphemus ate several of Odysseus’ men in the cave. When the men had eaten Helios’ cattle, everyone but Odysseus were killed. Many times had death occurred, but a few were due to the mistakes of the men who sailed home with Odysseus.

In the Land of the Lotus-Eaters, three of the men ate the lotus, causing a lethargic trance upon them, and had to be tied to the ship in order to keep them from returning to the island. Due to hunger, the crew went and ate Helios's Cattle, which Tiresias warns Odysseus not to let his men do. At one point, it was Odysseus’ fault his men died. In Polyphemus’ cave, he tells his men to eat the cheese as they expect the Cyclops to welcome him into the cave as a Greek custom. However, he's not too happy when he comes home, telling them he doesn't follow the custom and goes on to eat his men in