The Great Wanderings: Scylla and Charybdis
In book twelve, after Odysseus is back from the Underworld, Circe provides him with specific instructions on how to make it back home safely. Within her instructions she presents two route options for him. In this journey, Odysseus must decide what passage is right for him and his crew to follow, though their is some consequences behind both routes. He has the choice to either sacrifice six of his men or risk losing his entire ship. With the option of taking either one route or the other, the ultimate goal for him and his crew is to get home alive.
The main obstacle that Odysseus faces are the two monsters, Scylla and Charybdis. With Charybdis, she takes form as a monstrous mouth. She swallows huge
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This might have seemed to be a selfish choice that Odysseus made, but Odysseus knew that if he told his crew more, that the boat would fall into chaos, and everyone would have died.
Within the epic adventure of Scylla and Charybdis, the style of passages is pretty evident when it came to Odysseus selecting the safest route for him and his crew. Scylla and Charybdis are both derived from Greek mythology idiom of “caught between a rock and a hard place.” With the set goal of wanting to get home alive, he has to face the obstacle of wanting to sacrifice two men or risking his entire ship sinking to the ocean floor. Either way, in life, there is never an easy way when it comes to making a difficult decision.
In The Odyssey, Scylla and Charybdis address the Greek tradition for teaching. Along with the excitement and other interests, the episode taught a valuable life lesson. The lesson was rather simple, as with most of the lessons in The Odyssey and it was presented at the very end of the story. To understand the lesson, however, you must first realize the twist Homer put onto the ending of the story;
"Then Scylla made her strike, whisking six of my best men from the ship " (Odyssey
Odysseus’ trait of being risky as a leader overrides the crewman’s idea of quickly leaving. Even though Odysseus survives, many of his crewmates die to the cyclops. This not only makes his crew weaker because they have less men, but it also decreases the crewmates’ trust in Odysseus, harming them as a whole. His idea satisfied his personal desires, but it ended up being harmful to his crew. Odysseus and his men later end up blinding the cyclops and escape his cave.
As eager as Odysseus is to get back home to his wife and son in Ithaca, the shipmates on board with him are struggling with hunger and the loss of energy. Looking at Odysseus’ intense determination to return to his town, it seems as if the only idea that is filled in his mind is to go back to Ithaca without looking at the tired condition of his shipmates. Odysseus’ yelled difficult orders and tasks that were expected to be fulfilled by his sailors, and for the most part they were able to complete it. Looking at the poor men rowing day and night over the monstrous waves, Odysseus never gave them a chance to take a break and enjoy a single meal, until one shipmate decided to speak up. Even so, Odysseus was narrow-minded and thought only about
One bad decision that Odysseus was made when he decided to sail towards Scylla and Charybdis when he could have sailed the other option, “One ship alone, one deep-sea craft sailed clear,/ the Argo sung by the world, when heading home/ from Aeetes’ shores” (12. 76-78). This quote shows that there was one ship that sailed past the Clashing Rocks unharmed. Odysseus could have chosen to sail this path, but he didn’t. A real hero would have taken the route that wouldn’t have killed any of his crew like the route with Scylla and Charybdis did.
Odysseus’s journey emphasizes the importance of staying true to ourselves, our goals, and our values in the face of temptation, even if it is difficult. It serves as a reminder that in order to achieve meaningful progress towards our goals, we must stay committed. In spite of the fact that Odysseus eventually conforms to Calypso’s temptation, Odysseus’s clear demonstration of his ability to resist Calypso’s abuse, and sustain his goal to return home highlight the strength of his character and his unfaltering commitment to his values. Odysseus remained true to his purpose to return home, even if it meant enduring the hardships along the way. By rejecting Calypso’s offers, he also puts his sense of duty ahead of his own desires.
With no regard for Penelope’s happiness nor her desire to be with Odysseus, the suitors pursue the principle they deem most important, political power; but this conflicts with Odysseus’ values to regain political stability and his desire to be with Penelope. Odysseus must then confront the suitors if he is to achieve his values, and decides he must slaughter all of the suitors. As the novel progresses, even Odysseus is found to prioritize his principles over others, as evident with his shipmates. When Odysseus’ ship must traverse past Scylla and Charybdis, he is faced with a decision, to either “mourn / six men” or “lose them all, and the ship, too” (Homer, Odyssey, 12.119). In this case, Odysseus must place his values of his return home and his life, over the lives of the six crew members.
In this tale, the witch, Circe, tells Odysseus he has a choice between letting the six headed monster Scylla swallow six of his shipmates or he can risk it all by going against the whirlpool Charybdis. Instead of being honest and upfront with his men, Odysseus keeps this knowledge for himself. A great leader would have communicated the facts and rallied the troops, seeking insight and ideas so that all may survive. Odysseus looked to increase the odds of his own survival by cowardly choosing to battle Scylla knowing he would probably not be one of the six to get eaten.
In the text, Odysseus says, “ I reached the crag of Scylla and dire Charybdis’ vortex” (Homer IXX. 464). Odysseus and his men are rowing towards the sea monsters layer. Scylla will kill them with the razor sharp teeth. Charybdis will swallow them in the seawater she gulps up. Odysseus knows that he is entering a very dangerous part of the waters.
His fate and journey are ultimately changed by the actions of others who are selfish, greedy, and foolish. The suitor’s greed gave him the extra desire to finally return to Ithaca, and his journey changed as he became desperate to return to Penelope. The selfishness crew caused his journey to be delayed, as he was forced to travel for ten extra days. The foolish crew, and their need to die with full stomachs caused Odysseus to be alone and stuck on an island with Kalypso resulting in more time away from
Also in the story of Scylla and Charybdis, Odysseus led his men to both of the monsters. Once his men began to get taken Odysseus could hear his men’s struggles, “Voices came down to me in anguish calling my name for the last time.” (936) In this final part of his journey to get home to Ithaca, Odysseus allowed all of his men to die when facing these sea monsters. He sacrificed his men, who had embarked on this extremely dangerous mission with him, for his own sake.
Similarly, Odysseus doesn’t communicate any of the information given to him by Circe. Odysseus is given two choices by Circe for the first part of the journey, sail close two different rocks, Scylla or Charybdis. While it is possible for the crew to avoid misfortunes by sailing near Charybdis, avoid when she sucks down the black water, Odysseus chooses to sail near Scylla where there is no avoiding the deaths of at least six crew members (12. 99-111). Additionally, Odysseus doesn’t fully take the advice of Circe and uses weaponry, even though Circe warns him not to arm himself no matter the circumstances (12. 234-235). Odysseus’ inability to fully follow directions proves his large ego, and belief that he can do no wrong.
In the story, The Cyclops, he had to either be eaten alive or figure out a way out of the cave. Odysseus and his crew members found a good way out. In the story, The Sirens Scylla and Charybdis, Odysseus needed to make a good decision that best helped him get out of that situation, he either had to choose going through Charybdis, which was a maelstrom, and lose everything including the ship or chose Scylla and lose 6 members of his crew. He chose to go through Scylla. All in all, it can be concluded that Odysseus was the strongest he could be and did everything he could.
Sometimes Odysseus’s emotional need for rest and relaxation got the best of him, but that was only on one occasion. Odysseus made the selection to use his motives and emotions to choose the right way of path and ultimately save him from what could've been a deadly consequence. One trial where is occurred is when the crew was getting caught up in the moment with the Cicones, Odysseus made the choice not to get caught up in victory, but to continue going on his journey. If Odysseus were to of been in that mindset, all of the crew could’ve possibly gotten killed. “Then I urged them to cut and run, set sail, / but
During these trials, many burdens were put on Odysseus’ crew, which led to all of his crew eventually all being killed before returning to Ithaca. The 2nd instance where Odysseus made a wrong choice that affected his crew is when he didn’t even really trust his crew. So he stayed up for days straight and
An example of Odysseus getting his men out of a difficult situation is in the story of “Scylla and Charybdis.” In the story of “Scylla and Charybdis,”
When reading the odyssey I noticed that Odysseus went through a lot of difficult tasks and journeys and has had more than one near death experience. If you read through the book you will notice that most of Odysseus’ hardships go with a life lesson that teach you what to do or not do in the future in that type of situation. One of the life lessons is when a has to hang onto the tree branch for a whole day to survive because Charybdis swallowed his ship. The symbol or life lesson in this part is determination because he wants to get home to his wife and son alive and it is a hard task,but he was willing do it because he had so much determination to get home. If odysseus didn’t have determination at that time he could have just let go because it hurt or it was hard ,but he didn’t because the need to go to his wife and son was greater.