Great Works I: Remixing Memory

I will discuss the passage in book ten, around line 290-300.Eurylochus told Odysseus, “Don’t force me back there, captain, king- leave me here on the spot. You will never return yourself, I swear, you’ll never bring back a single man alive. Quick, cut and run with the rest of us here- we can still escape the fatal day!(Homer, Odysseus,(239)” Odysseus replied, “Eurylochus, stay right here, eating, drinking, safe by the black ship. I must be off. Necessity drives me on. (Homer, Odysseus, page238)”. Eurylocus wanted to escape away from nymph Circe. Circe is a beautiful nymph, lives in a luxurious palace in Aeaean Island. She bewitches people, and captives them in her palace, by make them drink a magical potion. Eurylocus went in her palace with a group of about twenty comrades. After entering in her palace, Eurylocus felt that there is a trap there, so when the nymph served them the drink he did not drink it. Circe bewitched all his fellow comrades by make them drink the potion. Eurylocus observed the whole scene and got very scared. He came back, told Odysseus the whole story, and told him to run away from there. But Odysseus refused to do so. Odysseus went to the nymph’s palace knowing that he may be will not be able to come back from there. The question raises here, is Odysseus a responsible captain and merciful king? If Odysseus wanted, he could escape away without rescuing his friends but he did not do that. He went to Circe’s palace knowing about all the risks. While he was going there, on his way he met with the golden wand god Hermes. Hermes told Odysseus everything and warned him about Circe’s trap. Though Odysseus did not try to escape away, did not scare, he moved ahead. He wanted to go there to rescue his fellow companions. Nobody, no Gods or Goddesses ordered him to do it. He did it out of his sense of responsibility. He went inside the nymph’s palace, drunk the potion, but the potion could not do any harm to him because he had a magical herb with him given by Hermes, and that save him from the harmful potion. The nymph asked Odysseus to go to her bed. Odysseus responded to her offer. Now a questing can rise here, that why Odysseus respond to Circe’s offer? Odysseus responded to her offer because Hermes told Odysseus that if the nymph asked you to go in her bed do not refuse to do it. Odysseus do it for rescuing his friends, he did not had any attraction for the nymph in his mind. The whole time he stayed there with her in palace, he always thought about rescuing his friends. To see his friends’ pity situation, he lost his thirst and appetite. To see this Circe released his friends and told them the way to get their native land. Odysseus took the risk of going to the palace for rescuing his companions, and he did it. By doing this, he proved that he is a responsible captain.