In the original Odyssey by Homer we read about the conflict between Odysseus and Polyphemus. Polyphemus is the son of Poseidon and lives in Sicily, which happened to be one of the places that Odysseus landed during his travels. In the original Odyssey when Odysseus lands in Sicily it seems that Polyphemus is the villain. Polyphemus captures Odysseus and some of his men and locks them all away in a cave with a gigantic rock blocking their only way out. Homer then makes it seem that Odysseus gets Polyphemus drunk and stabbed his eye out as an act of self defense. However, this does not seem to be the same story we get in Mason's retelling of the myth. Rather than Polyphemus being the villian, which Homer made him out to be, Odysseus is the real villain. Before Odysseus and his men came along, Polyphemus was living a peaceful life alone. He lived in the cave which was lovely to stay in both in the winter and the summer. His normal life consisted of taking care of his goats, making cheese, fishing, and cutting firewood. When Odysseus and his men landed on Sicily, they all just invaded Polyphemus' home when he was not home. Polyphemus was in shock when he returned to his humble home to find strangers sitting within his cave. In an attempt to scare them off he struck one of the men with his staff. Then after the man fell to the floor injured, Odysseus tried to apologise for intruding. All of them then enjoyed a nice dinner, where Odysseus said his name was Nobody. Eventually, Polyphemus fell asleep as Odysseus dragged on about his adventures. While Polyphemus was asleep Odysseus stabbed him in the eye with a spear. When Polyphemus awoke out of his sleep he was then embarrassed as he yelled "Nobody stabbed me". It is completely clear that Odysseus is the villain of the story. The pain that Odysseus and his men caused to Polyphemus was extremely uncalled for. All Polyphemus wanted to do was live a happy and peaceful life. Odysseus is a cold hearted, evil, and wick man who only focuses on himself, which is clearly painted in the interaction between Odysseus and Polyphemus. Aside from this incident with Polyphemus there are multiple other times we see Odysseus being cold hearted and self centered. Throughout his adventures his men get themselves into situations that Odysseus needs to help them get out of, but when he helps he does not focus on saving his men, rather he focuses on saving himself. When Odysseus' men get into trouble with Circe, and are transformed into pigs, Odysseus is not focused on saving his men but rather he is focused on Circe. This pattern continues until Odysseus returns home with virtually no men. He always made it seem like he sacrificed himself for his men, but it was really his curiosity getting the best of him, like when he allowed himself to hear what the sirens were saying as his men rowed the ship through the territory. We need to start looking at Odysseus like the villain he is and less like the hero he pretended to be. It has gone on long enough that Polyphemus has been seen as the villian, he deserves justice.
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November 2021
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