Ancient Literature in our Modern World

For today’s discussion, I chose a quote in Book 12: (Odysseus)

Zeus with thunder and lightning together crashed on our vessel,/ and, struck by the thunderbolt of Zeus, she spun in a circle,/and all was full of brimstone. My men were thrown in the water,/ and bobbing like sea crows they were washed away on the running/ waves all around the black ship, and the god took away their/ homecoming.” (lines 415-420)

Here is some background before I explain the quote. Odysseus’s men were warned multiple times not to kill the cattle of Helios by Circes. However after running out of food, the crew were getting hungry. Eurylochos’s patience broke and then persuades the crew to help him kill and eat the cattle. Eurylochos thought that they would build a rich temple for Helios and stock it with many dedications after killing and eating the cattle. But then Eurylochos said if the god Helios is angered over the killing of his cattle then let them die in the ocean rather than starve to death on a desolate island. Then the crew went ahead and started eating the cattle while Odysseus was away.

I thought this quote was really interesting if you look closely to what Odysseus is stating. In the beginning of the quote, Odysseus mentions how Zeus has brought great despair on his men by striking it with his thunderbolt due to the event where Odysseus’s crew member, Eurylochos persuaded the men to slaughter Helios’s cattle and skin them. Then Odysseus says how he loses all his men due to “the god” who takes away their fate of reaching home. This statement stuck out to me because physically it was a god’s doing which prevented them from reaching home but isn’t it the mens fault for not listening to the warnings which were given to them? I feel they should have known the consequences for their actions and Eurylochos also stated it earlier in the book that he’d rather die in the ocean than on the island.

Question:

Do you think that Poseidon was the one behind the storms that made them stay on Helios’s island for about a month because Odysseus taunted his son and told him who he is?