Examples Of Violence In The Odyssey

Ta-Nehisi Coates, an author and journalist, once wrote “All I know is, the violence rose from the fear like smoke from a fire.” What Coates meant in this quote is that the more afraid somebody becomes the more they turn to violent behavior as they think that solving problems rationally would cause them greater pain than simple violence. As the protagonist in Homer’s epic The Odyssey Odysseus lives many years away from home, naturally growing more and more afraid of the world so his first response to danger becomes pure violence, sometimes necessary and at times unnecessary. Through Odysseus’s actions in The Odyssey the Greek ideal image of how a man should be is shown as he himself suffered little harm, ending up with his wife, son, and all

After becoming trapped in Polyphemus’s cave, Odysseus lies to Polyphemus telling him that he and his crew got shipwrecked on the island, Polyphemus senses the lie and starts to go on a rampage eating a part of Odysseus’s crew. According to "The Odyssey ¨snatching 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 from limb to fix his meal¨(Homer 220). As Odysseus’s pride takes over, he decides to lie which results in the death of a few of his men by consumption of the great cyclops Polyphemus. If Odysseus had been more humble and told Polyphemus the truth, he could have saved his men from a grueling death. Adding on, after narrowly escaping Thrinacia Odysseus taunts Polyphemus, telling him where to find him and who he is so whenever someone asks who blinded Polyphemus he could say exactly who, giving Odysseus the proud title of the blinder of the cyclops. According to The Odyssey “Cyclops if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you, say so–say Odysseus, raider of cities he gouged out your eye Laertes son who makes his home in Ithaca… Or if he’s fated to see his people once again and reach his well-built house… let him come home late and come a broken man-all shipmates lost”(Homer 227 228). Without fail Odysseus shows his prideful nature most likely as a cause of being praised and letting his fame make him over confident even when quarreling with a god's son. This would apparently prove to be a critical mistake as Poseidon decides to take revenge on Odysseus by making his life a