How Did Odysseus Get Punished

As we read the Odyssey by Homer we have learned that gods and goddess were an important part of the lives of the people in ancient Greek. The people had an admiration for the gods. They would pray, ask for help in any kind of situation, and do sacrifices for them. We can also say that the gods are like a parental figure to the people in the Odyssey; if the people respected and obey them they would not get in trouble and sometimes get rewarded, but if they disrespected and disobey them chances are that they would get punished. In the Odyssey, we see that Odysseus, the main character, is the enemy of a powerful god. This powerful god is Poseidon, god of the sea, he tries to ruin Odysseus ’s journey back to his home, Ithaca. Odysseus

After having Odysseus tell the Phaeacian all his troubles after the Trojan War and having to land on their island, the King of the Phaeacian, Alcinous, offered to help Odysseus to get back home. Alcinous sent some of his men to travel with Odysseus. As the ship was away and traveling back home, Poseidon talked to Zeus, about a plan that he has for the Phaeacian after helping Odysseus and dishonoring him. His plan was to destroy the beautiful ship of the Phaeacians and ring a mountain around their city. Zeus had his part on the disastrous plan as well, he tells Poseidon to “wait until the people are watching the ship sail into the harbor”, then “turn the ship into stone near the shore” and then to raise the ring of mountains around the island (95). Having agreed to the plan, Poseidon went to the land of the Phaeacians and waited to commence his plan. After Poseidon accomplished his plan, Alcinous told his people that they would no longer provide “convoys for strangers” and that they would have to sacrifice “twelve bulls to Poseidon” hoping that he would forgive them and not put the ring of mountains. “They got busy at once, prepared the sacrifices, and prayed aloud to King Poseidon”

When Odysseus was arriving home Athena sets out to Sparta to tell Telemachus about his father's arrival, as well as the awful plan the suitors were planing for him. When she arrived in Sparta she finds Telemachus talking with his friend which is the son of Nestor. Athena tells Telemachus that he must go back home because the suitors were trying to persuade his mother to marry one of them, but something she did not tell him was that his father was home. She also warns him about how the suitors were trying to ambush and kill him. She tells him to avoid going the regular path that he would normally go through because some suitors were “staying in the strait of Ithaca”, ready to attack him (114). After hearing Athena, Telemachus set out to sea and advises the path as Athena told