The Odyssey, Books 6-10

            In Book 9, The Cyclopes, Odysseus has to rely primarily on his own cunning and his own ideas to get them out of Polyphemus’ cave and back to their ship. He doesn’t really have any help from any of the gods to get him out of there; he’s left to his own devices and has to rely on himself and be a leader to the rest of his men. While he is continually loyal to his men and tries as hard as he can to get them home, he does need extra help sometimes. In Book 10, Circe, he meets Aeolus and gets a lot of help from him…which is then ruined and they end up right back at Aeolus’ island searching for a way home once again. I was so surprised and a little appalled that Odysseus would ask for that much help a second time—“’Put things right for me, my friends. You easily could.’ It was with these placatory words that I appealed to them”—when he had already received a ridiculously helpful and not to mention valuable gift. Instead of working out how to solve the problem himself, he appeals to Aeolus a second time kind of expecting the same thing to happen as before. The Laestrygonians straight up kill most of his men, and all Odysseus can do is run away. He thought it would be a good idea to not go into that little protected harbor; why didn’t he tell the rest of his squadron to moor their ships the same place he did?

            Odysseus shouldn’t expect hospitable hosts everywhere he goes, especially since it’s already taken him so long to get home already and Poseidon hates him after blinding Polyphemus. He has to rely on himself, like escaping from the Cyclops. He used his brain, like he did in Troy, and he wasn’t relying on luck from the gods or anything (at least not simply praying to them for a way out instead of trying to think of one himself). It’s a little like Odysseus has to prove himself in order to get home, and has to prove that he’s still a good man and a worthy one after being at war for ten years.