While I am enjoying reading Homer’s The Odyssey, the ridiculous events that take place make me a little impatient when reading it. Book ten, in particular, was when I really started to feel my patience with the story dwindle. Around lines 471-482, Eurylochus tries to keep Odysseus and his shipmates from joining Circe, “Poor fools, where are we running now? Why are we tempting fate?-why stumble blindly down yo Circe’s halls? She’ll turn us all into pigs or wolves or lions made to guard that palace of hers-by force, I tell you-just as Cyclops trapped our comrades in his lair with hotheaded Odysseus right beside them all-thanks to this man’s rashness they died too” (243).The reason this passage stuck out to me as I was reading book ten is because is the only part in the book that seemed rational. I understand that Homer’s The Odyssey is a story and that as a reader, I must accept what happens. However, I have trouble accepting that Odysseus simply had to blind Cyclops and simply had to stay an entire year at Circe’s place. I have trouble accepting that Odysseus actually wanted to go home for that year but could not for whatever unknown reason. Optimistically, I may think that all the men wanted to return back home after spending ten years in war and then a year at Circe’s place or in Circe’s “captivity”. Odysseus would especially want to reach home so that he can feel pride as captain over getting his shipmates back home. Cynically, I may think that Odysseus has never been all that eager to return home. In a sense, he would have no reason to wish for home. Staying at Circe’s house means having a steady supply of meat and wine. Odysseus can also mount “Circe’s gorgeous bed” (241). Circe had handmaids there that were willing to wait on Odysseus and the captain’s shipmates were there to keep him company. Later on in the story, when Odysseus and Calypso meet, the beautiful goddess says she will make him immortal and sleeps with him every night. Up to this point in the story, Odysseus has not objected to much at all. All Circe had to do to get his trust was say some words and I have not read anything that proves that Odysseus attempted to resist Calypso’s plans.
Eurylochus warned the crew about Circe’s possible intentions which makes sense considering she is a powerful goddess and they are mere mortals that were already tired out by the unfortunate events they had gone through. Eurylochus also questioned Odysseus’ integrity like I am as well in my analysis. He blamed the deaths of their comrades on Odysseus’ rashness. Instead of acknowledging Eurylochus words, Odysseus just referred to it as a “mutinous outburst” (245).
Odysseus is evidently a very suspicious character. His sincere motives and intentions are not very clear at all. The suspicion he stirs in the reader makes him less reliable as a character in terms of knowing what to believe.