Why does odysseus crew kill the cattle

Even if you survive, you will return late and humiliated, having caused the death of all your men. Translation , The Odyssey, W. Conclusions Odysseus is less responsible overall for the demise of his men.

Thoughts: To what extent is the demise of his crew a failing of his leadership and decision making? And if we believe that it is, then Odysseus holds more culpability here Homer names very few of the crew, and they are treated in the story as expendable The ones that are named are reckless, drunk, or refuse orders Even though Odysseus is often placing his men in danger and having to use his own cunning to get out of those situations, many of those situations are due to poor decisions in the first place.

Cicones: Odysseus: 'Then I said we must run away. Everyone else "harbored their ships inside, crammed close together. My Experience. Odysseus lost six men from the crew of each ship to the Ciconians at Ismarus. They were attacked at night by the survivors of the town they'd sacked. Odysseus' men want to stay with the Lotus Eaters.

Odysseus taunts the Cyclops, who almost destroys their ship with a rock, his crew begs him to stop. Odysseus chooses 12 men to come with him to explore the Cyclops island. As a result Polyphemus calls down a curse on him from Poseidon, his father, sets in motion the destruction of the entire crew. It's Odysseus that chooses to bring the jars of wine. His crew begs him to steal some cheese and animals and get back to the ships and sail away.

Polyphemus eats two men upon discovering them in the cave, two for breakfast, two more for dinner. Odysseus crafts the escape plan, but chooses the best ram for himself. Reckless curiosity incident with Aeolus' bag of gusty winds. Odysseus then lost all ships except for the one in which he was traveling when they landed at Laestrygonia, the home of the cannibal giants.

Laestrygonian king eats one crew member. Laestrygonians spear men 'like fish'. Eurylochus comes back to the camp and tells the story. Odysseus lands on Aeaea, island of Circe. Odysseus asks to be taken there, Eurylochus begs him not to. Grasps Odysseus' knees but it doesn't make any difference. The stag keeps the crew alive. The crew does not want to explore the island.

Intervention of Hermes stops Odysseus meeting the same fate. Eurylochus is the first crew member to be named. Odysseus makes Circe sweat an oath not to form plans to hurt him anymore, but he doesn't ask her to turn his men back into humans. Polites speaks and suggests calling out to Circe, she invites them in except Eurylochus and turns them into pigs. Has a nice bath, changes into fine clothes, and sits down for dinner before raising the issue of his men. Odysseus encourages his men to drag their ship onto land, put all their stores inside the caves, and to eat and drink with Circe.

Eurylochus warns them not to do this, reminds them of the Cyclops. Odysseus thinks to cut Eurylochus' head off. After a year his men encourage Odysseus to get going on his journey.

Elpenor, drunk, falls off a roof and breaks his neck, goes to Hades. The crew go to Hades, Eurylochus and Perimedes make the sacrifice to summon the spirits of the dead. Elpenor arrives, complains that they just left him there, unburied. Circe gives Odysseus the plan for getting home - tie yourself to the mast for the sirens, go the route of the Scylla, don't eat the cattle of the sun. Odysseus protects his men from the sirens' song. They broke their oath to him by doing so, and he knows that this action will mean their destruction.

Odysseus warns the men to not slaughter the cattle because Helios is the god of the sun who sees everything and will find out that his cattle have been slaughtered, and he will kill them. Odysseus made the men swear an oath not to eat any cattle, but they were trapped on the island for a month by an inopportune wind; eventually their stores ran out and the men began to starve.

How does Eurylochus justify killing the cattle? He convinces the men that it would be better to die at sea than die of starvation on an island with so much readily available food. He tells them that if they make sacrifices to the gods, the gods will spare them for having touched the sacred cattle. Why is Odysseus unable to keep his men from killing cattle? Do the members of the crew deserve the punishment they receive for killing the cattle? Who owns the heifers and sheep on the island?

What does Eurylochus symbolize? What threat did Helios make in response? What did Zeus destroy the ship with? Why is Zeus angry with Odysseus men? How do the sirens kill people? Previous Article How does a paper bridge work? Next Article Which cultural influence can be seen in the metalworking skills used to make the Vapheio Cup? Ben Davis April 27, Why do you think Eurylochus was able to convince the sailors successfully that they should eat the cattle?

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