Week 3: Miles Bruck

After reading the poem the Odyssey I was able to make some connections throughout the story regarding battle tactics, the difference between good and evil, and finally the historical context in which this story took place.

The Odyssey is considered an epic poem because it’s thought to be a long narrative which critically analyses and explains a hero or god’s life. Throughout the poem Odysseus is faced with many hardships and challenges which ultimately test his abilities as a leader and as a man. One of many of Homer’s points throughout the poem is that although Greece has a strong military, there are other ways to deal with war and with battle. In the Odyssey, Odysseus is challenged with an enemy 5 times his size and happens to be very hostile. Instead of fighting the Cyclops monster vs. man, he devises a plan to outsmart the Cyclops in order to return his crew and himself home safely. As a part of this plan when the Cyclops asks Odysseus his name, he tells the beast that his name is “nobody”. After he tricks the beast into drinking lots of wine, Odysseus gouges the Cyclops one eye with a burning torch. As the Cyclops is screaming with pain he asks his friends, and family to help but when they ask who is hurting him the Cyclops simply responds “Nobody’s killing me not by force but by fraud” (Homer pg. 224). Polyphemus and the other residents of the island do not believe the Cyclops, and therefore Odysseus escapes. This proves that although man for man the humans were beat it’s really the intellectual battle which wins the war.

Throughout the story Homer tries to separate the good and evil characters but as I was reading the poem I almost felt bad for the Cyclops because of the mistreatment he received from Odysseus. I do not approve of the Cyclops eating people, but I still felt a sense of sadness because that was how the Cyclops basic instincts and that’s how he’s supposed to act. I asked myself the question why it is okay for us to eat meat and not okay for the Cyclops to eat humans. I know coming from the human perspective that’s a tough concept to comprehend but I tried to put myself in the monsters shoes in order to broaden my view and perspective on the issue. In addition after Odysseus clearly defeats him he continues to taunt the Cyclops from his boat which clearly shows his disrespect for other creatures.

In conclusion I in fact really enjoyed learning about this story and it has really given me a new perspective on old literary works. Previously I couldn’t necessarily find the value or information in ancient literature but after dissecting and analyzing this story so profusely I have a new desire to learn from these records.