Why Is Odysseus Forgetful

In The Odyssey, Odysseus proves to be a weak leader by being overconfident in Book 9, forgetful in Book 10, dishonest in Book 12, and having a short temper in Books 21-23. Odysseus has been gone from home for twenty years. Ten years in the Trojan War, and ten years trying to get back home. Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, has waited for her husband to return home, and has gotten to the point where she believed that her husband was dead. However, he was not dead. The reason that Odysseus has not returned home is because Polyphemus put a curse on him, which made his journey more brutal while trying to return home. At first, they did not believe the curse, but days passed and the curse started to become true. Odysseus wasted a year on an

Odysseus showed this when they sailed to Aeaea, home of the goddess Circe. Once, Odysseus went to rescue his men from her, and drank the drink, which failed on him. Circe wanted him as her lover, Odysseus ended up sleeping with her but his mind was with his men. She gave him back his men, but she wanted him and his men to stay with her. He accepted her offer and stayed with her for one year, until one of his men reminded him about home. “Captain, shake off this trance, and think of home- if home indeed awaits us, if we shall ever see your own well- timbered hall on Ithaca.” (Homer, Book 10 Lines 183-185). After he heard this, he felt pain and decided it was time to go. When he told this to Circe, she told him that he must go to the underworld to talk to a blind prophet who will tell him how to get home. When she mentioned the underworld, it feared

If he would have not lied to his men about the obstacles they would be facing, things probably would have ended very differently. Circe told him what types of obstacles he will encounter and what two paths he could take. Of course, Odysseus wanted to take difficult challenges, how to defeat Scylla and or the Charybdis, which can cause death. Due to what can happen, he decided not to tell men about difficult challenges that they have to do to return home. He does not want his men to panic because panicking can lead to a worse situation. The men survived The Sirens, but once they are close to the Scylla, Odysseus told them nothing. “I told them nothing, as they could do nothing. They would have dropped their oars again, in panic, to roll for cover under the decking.” (Homer, Book 12 Lines 161-164). Six of his were killed. Finally, they reached the island called Thrinacia. He told his men not to eat the cattle, but he did not mention what can happen if they do. Due to eating the cattle, all men on the ship died except for