Darmok

In The Odyssey, Odysseus desires to return to his Ithaca. Throughout his journey home, he is delay by Poseidon who wishes to punish him for blinding his son, Polyhemus. With the help of Athena, a goddess, Odysseus was able to return home. In the New York Times, there is an article about a Sergeant in the U.S military who is going through a similar journey. Sergeant Osvaldo Hernandez “decided that he wanted nothing more than to join the Police Department.” (A 27) however, Osvaldo Hernandez was arrested in 2002 for gun possession. Hernandez stated that he had the gun for self-defense. Odysseus blinded Polyphemus to protect himself and crew members.

Due to his arrest, the Police Department would not allow Osvaldo Hernandez to become a Police Officer. Hernandez’s Athena comes in the form of Governor Paterson who pardoned Hernandez of his gun possession charge. Both Odysseus and Hernandez paid a huge price for a single mistake that they made.

Haberman, Clyde. A Mistake the police won’t forgive. Oct 11, 2010

October 11, 2010 on Page A 27

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/nyregion/12nyc.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=a%20mistake%20the%20police%20won’t%20forgive&st=cse

There was news during the month of august about the trapped miners in Chile. They were trapped about 150 ft. away from the ground after the mines blocked the passage. And recently, the miners are said to be in the process of getting freed after spending 66 days underground. The families have tented and stayed in the desert for the rest of the time since the miners were trapped. The camp they are residing is called Camp Hope, with the hope that the miners can be rescued. The drilling and rescuing the people out seems to be very hard process and can cause other problems. John E. Urosek, chief of mine emergency operations for the United States Mine Safety and Health Administration said “There’s only about two inches clearance around it, and they’ll have to pull it out of that depth so many times, it could get wedged.”
I find it to similar to the story of Odyssey. He is like the miners who are trapped and can’t get home. In the Odyssey text, he left for the war and doesn’t return because he is trapped in the sea-girt island. “so long a castaway upon an island in the running sea; a wooded island, in the sea’s middle.” (1:65) Athena, the green-eyed goddess helps, Telemachus about his father and that he should go in search of him. She gives him positive felling about the return of his father just like all the other warriors who were home already.

In The Odyssey, while Odysseus and his men are on sailing back to Ithaca from Troy, they venture over to the land where the Cyclops lives. This was Odysseus’ idea to go over to the island and see what is over there. In the Odyssey, Odysseus says, “’The rest of you stay here, my friends-in-arms. I’ll go across with my own ship and crew and probe the natives living over there. What are they– violent, savage, lawless? Or friendly to strangers, god-fearing men?’” (Odyssey, Book 9, 361)  Although he knows the Cyclops is on the island he still decides to sail over there with his men to explore. When Odysseus and his men finally arrive and are face-to-face with the Cyclops they realize the danger they are in. The Odyssey states, “Lurching up, he lunged out with his hands toward my men and snatching up two at once, rapping them on the ground he knocked them dead like pups– their brains gushed out all over, soaked the floor– and ripping them limb to limb to fix his mean he bolted them down like a mountain-lion, left no scrap, devoured entrails, flesh and bones, marrow and all!” (Odyssey, Book 9, 364)  Odysseus comes to the realization that they are not going to be able to escape from the Cyclops, which means that, in time, they will all be killed at Polyphemus’ mercy. Odysseus’ decision to journey over to the island has now put himself and his men in great danger, and he now decides to devise a plan to escape. Odysseus brings the Cyclops wine in attempt to get him drunk. When the Cyclops asks who he is, Odysseus answers that his name is Nobody. The Cyclops becomes intoxicated enough to fall over, when this happens Odysseus stabs him in the eye until the eyeball bursts. When the Cyclops’ friends hear screaming they call out to Polyphemus, however he answers that it is Nobody. This answer makes his friends believe that there is nobody hurting him and that it must be a plague sent to harm him. Which results in the success of Odysseus’ attempt to escape the Cyclops and be on his way home.
This part of the Odyssey is very similar to an article in the New York Times, Tangled Tale of American Found in Afghanistan. In this article an American man, Mr. Owuo-Hagood, made a conscious decision to go to Afghanistan for money purposes. The NY Times states, “They said that he had tried to make money traveling to China and Turkey to buy clothes for resale back home, and that he had been drawn to Afghanistan by revelations of its untapped mineral wealth.” However when he got there and began meeting with the Taliban he started to put Americans in danger, similar to the way Odysseus put his men in danger after willingly going to the Cyclops’ island. Mr. Owuo-Hagood began telling villagers and the Taliban about the American military, where to shoot them to do the most damage, teaching them about maps, and how to fire rockets into American bases. Then, after Mr. Owuo-Hagood was in Afghanistan for a short while, his father received an e-mail which caused him to believe his son was being held against his will. The article says, “Mr. Owuo-Hagood’s father said that sometime in August, he received an e-mail supposedly from his son, but written by someone whose first language was clearly not English, saying he was ‘under control of the Taliban.’” Which shows another similarity between The Odyssey and this article, an American man is being held by the Taliban in Afghanistan and Odysseus was being held by the Cyclops on his island. Mr. Owuo-Hagood has recently escaped and returned to his home in the United States unharmed. The article says, when he encountered American troops, “He asked for their protection, saying that he had been abducted by the Taliban and held for months but had finally managed to escape, according to Western officials in Kabul.” The last similarity between the story and this article is that, just like Odysseus, Mr. Owuo-Hagood was able to escape.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/world/asia/12taliban.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=us

“How can one human be so inhuman to another simply on the basis of who they are?”  (Sam Dolnick and Colin Moynihan, A17).  The New York Times reports that in the past week a group of gang members attacked three men because the gang members thought that these three men were gay. During the assault they tortured the victims with burning cigarettes, box cutters blades. This group of young men went around showing off their toughness by attacking people who were different.

Similar to the victims in the attack, Odyssey suffers the same punishment when he returns to his home. When Odyssey and Eumaeus are heading to town, they are confronted by Melanthius who taunts them: “Look!”  he sneered one scum nosing another scum along, dirt finds dirt by the will of god it never fails! Wretched pig-boy, where do you take your filthy swine. This sickening beggar who licks the pots at feast?” (A, p 465)  Melanthius attacks these two men because they are different, but he doesn’t know one of these men is Odyssey the great King of Ithaca. Melanthius not only kick and punch Odyssey but also, he violated the laws of the city which are to give food to the poor and welcome to their home to a stranger.

The New York Times: