Odysseus
We went to recover the body of Elpênor and gave him a proper burial. Kirkê joined us and told me of the perils we faced. Her advice was very similar to Teirêsias’s prophecy. She told me that we would have to sail past the Seirênês, women who used their singing to lure sailors to their death. When we came to them, upon my instruction, my crew tied me to the mast after I put beeswax in their ears. We sailed past unharmed, but there was more peril yet to come. Next came the monster Skylla and the maelstrom Kharybdis. Kirkê warned me that six of my men would be lost to Skylla and they were; I mourned the loss of my friends and felt pity in my heart. We made it past Kharybdis to the island of Hêlios. My men convinced me to stay there although I wanted to heed the advice of Kirkê and Teirêsias. They both predicted grave danger should we disturb the immortal cattle there. We had no intent to harm the cattle but as months of storms went by, the men grew hungry and while I was asleep, killed some of Hêlios’s sacred herd. Apparently (I was later told this) Zeus promised to sink our ships for Hêlios. He kept this promise, my ships were scattered to bits in the middle of the sea and I was the only survivor. Afloat on part of the ship, I went back past Skylla and Kharybdis to the island of Calypso.
I can’t understand why my men give into temptation so much! This is at least twice now (and I’m hardly even trying to count) that they have gotten us into HUGE trouble! I told them specifically that they must not, at all costs, touch the cattle. When they opened the bag of wind, they sent us all the way back to where we started. The same thing happened when they killed the cattle only they all died too... I, however, was basically right where I began and certainly no better off. What is it that makes them give into temptation so easily? With the wind, they did it for purely selfish reasons but with the cattle, they were starving and needed food. Giving into temptation for selfish reasons had a much smaller effect than giving into vital temptation. Could this mean that giving into the id can have a variety of different consequences? I would probably say so. However, my men depended on their id-like state for food that day and that was what caused them to drown. Perhaps once they began to depend on their id, the sea (water!) was able to swallow them.
We went to recover the body of Elpênor and gave him a proper burial. Kirkê joined us and told me of the perils we faced. Her advice was very similar to Teirêsias’s prophecy. She told me that we would have to sail past the Seirênês, women who used their singing to lure sailors to their death. When we came to them, upon my instruction, my crew tied me to the mast after I put beeswax in their ears. We sailed past unharmed, but there was more peril yet to come. Next came the monster Skylla and the maelstrom Kharybdis. Kirkê warned me that six of my men would be lost to Skylla and they were; I mourned the loss of my friends and felt pity in my heart. We made it past Kharybdis to the island of Hêlios. My men convinced me to stay there although I wanted to heed the advice of Kirkê and Teirêsias. They both predicted grave danger should we disturb the immortal cattle there. We had no intent to harm the cattle but as months of storms went by, the men grew hungry and while I was asleep, killed some of Hêlios’s sacred herd. Apparently (I was later told this) Zeus promised to sink our ships for Hêlios. He kept this promise, my ships were scattered to bits in the middle of the sea and I was the only survivor. Afloat on part of the ship, I went back past Skylla and Kharybdis to the island of Calypso.
I can’t understand why my men give into temptation so much! This is at least twice now (and I’m hardly even trying to count) that they have gotten us into HUGE trouble! I told them specifically that they must not, at all costs, touch the cattle. When they opened the bag of wind, they sent us all the way back to where we started. The same thing happened when they killed the cattle only they all died too... I, however, was basically right where I began and certainly no better off. What is it that makes them give into temptation so easily? With the wind, they did it for purely selfish reasons but with the cattle, they were starving and needed food. Giving into temptation for selfish reasons had a much smaller effect than giving into vital temptation. Could this mean that giving into the id can have a variety of different consequences? I would probably say so. However, my men depended on their id-like state for food that day and that was what caused them to drown. Perhaps once they began to depend on their id, the sea (water!) was able to swallow them.
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