In lines 110-135 of book eleven, Odysseus recalls what Tiresias tells him during their encounter in The Kingdom of The Dead. Tiresias explains to him that because he blinded Poseidon’s son, Cyclops, the god will not make it easy for Odysseus to get home, although it is possible for him to return to Ithaca. Tiresias then tells Odysseus “if you only have the power to curb their wild desire, and curb your own, what’s more, from the day your good trim vessel first puts in at Thrinacia Island, flees the cruel blue sea. There you will find them grazing, herds and fat flocks, the cattle of Helios, god of the sun who sees all, hears all things. Leave the beasts unharmed, your mind set on home, and you may all reach Ithaca-bent with hardship, true-but harm them in any way, and I can see it now: your ship destroyed, your men destroyed as well.” Since we know that Odysseus lost his ship and his crew and ended up in Calypso’s castle, this leads me to ask, what did he and his crew do to deserve this? Tiresias explains to Odysseus that if they are good and don’t give into their desires, they will make it back to Ithaca.
This makes me believe that when the ship got to Thrinacia Island, the men saw the cattle and took it upon themselves to steal and/or feast, therefore giving into their desires. I believe this because it seems that Odysseus’ crew have always given in to their deepest desires. This is shown when the ship is so close to their homeland of Ithaca, but is blown back off course because of the men’s jealousy of Odysseus. Instead of having self-control, the crew had to open the sack that Odysseus had gotten from Aeolus because they thought it contained some sort of expensive treasures. Instead, it let out all of the winds and sent them the wrong way, away from home. The men had to pay for giving into their desires rather than having self-control. This is why I believe it happened again later on, on their journey. It seems Odysseus and his men have to pay the price whenever they give in to their desires, instead of being good. Tiresias even warned Odysseus of this happening beforehand, and let him know it would delay his trip indefinitely.