Life Is Precious (The Odyssey Essay Example)
Life is precious it is given and taken and it should never be taken unnecessarily no matter the reason. Many lives are lost during the events taking place in The Odyssey which is a perilous journey with hundreds of men journeying to fight in the trojan war and only several dozens returning home. Odysseus wasted lives in The Odyssey and The majority of those lives did not have to be lost but were lost due to the pride and foolishness of their commander Odysseus. The Trojan War lasted 10 years and was fought in the city of Troy which is only several months away but it took the fleet of Odysseus 20 years to return to Ithaca which is not the length of a normal journey back to Ithaca.
Time is also not the only thing that was lost many lives were too and most of them were lost because of the commander of their fleet. Odysseus is very prideful and likes to show off and will never back off from a challenge even if it will cost other individuals lives. One primary example of Odysseus risking lives for the sake of his pride and image is when the fleet of Odysseus travels to the island of the cyclops Odysseus wants to enter the cave of the cyclops but several men object saying “why not take these cheeses, get them stowed, come back, throw open all the pens, and make a run for it? (homer 3)”. In response to the soldier’s statement, Odysseus says “ I wished “to see the caveman, what he had to offer – no pretty sight, it turned out, for my friends(homer 3)”.and this evidence is significant because it demonstrates that Odysseus wasted lives even though the men had the alternative
Odysseus is also very forgetful one way he demonstrates his forgetfulness is when he is discussing with the cyclops and he says “ I shall tell you. My name is Nobody: mother, father, and friends, everyone calls me Nohbdy(homer 6)” this is used as an elaborate ruse into making the cyclops think his name is nobody and this is useful because the cyclops then cannot pray to his father earth god because that would result in many casualties. after Odysseus and his crew left the island.
After the crew sails off of the island, one of the crew members or Odysseus( the text does not state who) decided to yell at the cyclops saying “if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes’ son, whose home’s on Ithaca! (homer 6)”.The consequences of the actions of Odysseus or his crew informing the cyclops were disastrous and could have been avoided. If Odysseus decided to inform the crew of his plans or if he was the one to inform the cyclops of his name to not speak to the cyclops about his identity. the majority of his crew would still be alive.
The big takeaway of this essay is that lives are precious and should not be wasted unnecessarily and to become a good leader you have to learn to not waste effort or lives or people’s patience no matter what situation you are in. This essay is also supposed to show you that you should not allow personal beliefs or self-image temper with the lives of those around you.
