Odysseus Is Not To Blame In Homer's The Odyssey

In Homer’s The Odyssey, it seems that throughout all of Odysseus’ perils, he is never to blame. It is either the gods, his crew, or some other group of people that put him in a bad spot. In Book IX, Odysseus hatches a plan to escape the great cyclops, Polyphemus, and he succeeds, losing only a few men in the process. Despite the terrible hand he was delt by being placed in this situation, he gets off nearly unscathed. However, it is after this great escape that he winds himself right back into trouble, taunting the cyclops into calling down a godly curse. So, despite his claims that he had been cursed by outside sources, and fated to face great suffering, one of Odysseus’ biggest losses was his own fault, and his hubris go the best of him.

Having narrowly avoided disaster using his wit, Odysseus had gotten out of a pinch once again. Unfortunately, it is here where we are introduced to a new side of Odysseus, and while it is only this once that we truly see it, it proves to be more costly than most other unfortunate events that befall him. While his crew rows their ship away from the island, Odysseus begins hurling insults at Polyphemus and taunting him for losing (Book 9, Lines 530-536). These actions, prideful in nature end up proving quite costly. Initially, they seem to have again avoided disaster, as after the first insult, Polyphemus throws a massive rock at the ship, narrowly missing it. After this near miss, Odysseus commits the biggest blunder of them all: revealing his true identity (Book 9, Lines 558-562). The plan he so cleverly concocted is all for naught, and the name of “Nobody” no longer bears any meaning. This information was truly vital, and without it, Polyphemus was powerless. Now instead he is armed with the name of his attacker, and also with his father, whom we find out is conveniently Poseidon. Polyphemus calls out to his father and asks him to curse Odysseus and his crew saying, “Hear me, Poseidon … If truly I am your son, and you acknowledge yourself as my father, grant that Odysseus, who styles himself Sacker of Cities and son of Laertes, may never reach his home in Ithaca. But if he is destined to reach his native land, to come once more to his own house and see his friends again, let him come late, in evil plight, with all his comrades dead, in someone else's ship, and find troubles in his household” (Book 9, lines 585-595). While Odysseus seemed to have gone through some rough stuff, nothing compares to the curse he has brought upon himself after this misstep. Not only will his return be greatly delayed, but his crew will all die, and when he does finally arrive home, his house will be