Sympathy In The Odyssey

Sympathy, the feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else's misfortune, can push an unwanted burden onto the shoulders of a reader. When reading different stories, antagonists might provoke sympathetic thoughts. A character that has the ability to spring the feeling of pity upon a reader can force a mixed perception of the activities during a story. Antagonists have had the unnoticeable trait of creating a lenity for themselves. Polyphemus, the antagonist Cyclops from the epic poem The Odyssey, demonstrates this attribute through Odysseus’ malevolent actions toward the one eyed beast. The Cyclops Polyphemus can raise the sense of sympathetic ideas through torturous acts against him, the lack of trust from fellow Cyclopes, and the ease of hoodwinking him.

After getting Polyphemus drunk, Odysseus explains what his crew did to inflict pain onto the Cyclops, “I drew it from the coals and my four fellows/gave me a hand, lugging it near the Cyclops/as more than natural force nerved them; straight/forward they sprinted, lifted it, and rammed it/deep in his crater eye” (374-378). Odysseus thought that shoving a colossal plank into Polyphemus’ eye could not suffice the task, so he ignited it in flames to create more affliction. Not only did the Cyclops get drunk, but got blinded with a plank, the pity for Polyphemus was created. While the Cyclops bellows in pain, Odysseus illustrates the incident, “Eyelid and lash were seared; the pierced ball/hissed broiling, and the roots popped” (383-384). The vividly described pain, exhibited by the hissing of the Polyphemus’ eyeball, causes the reader to sympathize the Cyclops. When the reader hears such a horrific event happening to any character, they would condole them with peace. A sympathetic character, Polyphemus, finds his pity through torturous