ENG 2800
Prof. Peer
Alina Fadeyeva

Cover Letter

Dear Reader,
In this essay, I tried to prove the point that Odysseus is the one who is guilty of his misfortune. The writing consists of 3 ideas or claims that support the main point of the essay. I also added a bunch of quotes to support my claims. Through analyzing these pieces of evidence, I came up with a final claim.
It wasn’t too challenging for me to come up with the topic of the paper because the idea of ‘Whose fault is that?’ was bothering me throughout the whole poem. While reading it, I would always question Odysseus’s behavior and the way he treats others. By disagreeing with Odysseus’s views, I would easily think of some specific ideas and claims against him.
I assume my opinion on Odysseus isn’t one of the popular ones; therefore, it would be entertaining to go through to whoever read the poem.
Draft #1

Homer’s The Odyssey is the story of a hero named Odysseus who’s left to face different challenges along his life path. Throughout the epic poem, Odysseus is striving to come back home from Trojan War, but despite his multiple attempts, it is not happening earlier than in a decade. The main character is deeply convinced that Gods are in charge of his misfortune. Nevertheless, according to Zeus, the God of the sky, Odysseus brings his troubles on himself. Here the question arises – whether Odysseus’s behavior and attitude led to such circumstances or Zeus was someone who would hinder Odysseus in his crusade. Either way, it is evident from the poem that both Gods and Odysseus impacted the hero’s destiny.
On page 440 of the poem, Homer tells us a story about Aeolus and the bag of wings. As we all know Odysseus’s crew ends up opening a bag of winds, what sends them back to the island. In this case, the issues faced by Odysseus and his team are brought upon themselves due to their feelings of curiosity and jealousy.
‘This guy gets everything wherever he goes.
…Are coming home empty-handed. And now
Aeolus has lavished these gifts upon him.
Let’s have a quick look, and see what’s here,
How much gold and silver is stuffed in this bad. ’
The crew has no trust in Odysseus. Even though they spent a lot of years beside each other – they don’t believe his words. The way Odysseus treated the men resulted in them all being blown back to Aeolus. Perhaps, if Odysseus’s attitude towards his crew were different, they would have been able to make it home successfully. If only he were more understanding, sincere and loyal, everything could turn out the other way. Indeed, in our eyes, after this scene, Odysseus doesn’t seem that trustworthy to us either.
‘My evil crew ruined me, that and stubborn sleep.’
This quote shows that Odysseus thinks that the team took advantage of him sleeping to be greedy and selfish. Indeed, Odysseus is frustrated that his crew always disobeys his orders.
Even though Aeolus, the keeper of the winds, says: ’Begone! You are cursed by heaven!’ It doesn’t make me think it’s true. It could also be conceived, that it is Odysseus to blame. More likely he never fully respected or appreciated his crew. It is believed the more you respect, the more trust you receive. After reading the book 10, it becomes clear that Odysseus has taken part in his own misfortune.
We are also aware of the fact that Odysseus made the decision himself to go to Troy; thus he’s the one who is supposed to be responsible for this. In my opinion, he could have overseen the challenges he would face as well as suitors taking advantage of his household. However, Odysseus never seems to worry about the obstacles on his way. Because of his reckless behavior, he decides to start this journey. Nevertheless, when the result of his doings is not favorable, he tends to think that Gods conspired him. Zeus complains of all mortals including Odysseus in Book 1:
‘Ah how shameless – the way these mortals blame the Gods
From us alone, they say, come all miseries, yes,
but they themselves, with their own reckless ways,
Compound their pains beyond their proper share.’
It is evident from this quote – Zeus is not taking any responsibility for Odysseus’s misfortune. However, there is also a theory that Zeus agrees to control the destiny from time to time, meaning – the gods are capable of controlling the fate, but the actions of humans can increase their sufferings. If we accept this theory, Odysseus could affect the punishment of Zeus by being more genuine and less superior to his surroundings and the crew. Also because Odysseus tends to lie to everyone everywhere makes me feel that what happened to him is mostly his fault.
QUOTE
ANALYSIS
Although Odysseus is considered to be a hero, I don’t always see him as one.