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Characters and Motivations Book Nine
As you read Book Nine, record the major descriptions, actions, motivations, and key quotations of Odysseus.
Description of Episode
Character Traits (^) Actions and Motivations Key Quotations that Reveal Character Traits
The Cicones
On the way home from Troy, Odysseus and his men stopped to raid Ismarus, the home of the Cicones. He allowed his men to steal food, wine, and women, but when it was time to go, his men would not obey. Because they delayed, a strong ally of the Cicones came and slaughtered many of their men.
impulsive
rash
prideful
Odysseus is the one who allows the men to sack the city, yet he seems bewildered when they won’t leave their feasting and partying to head back to the ships.
“There I sacked the city, killed the men, but as for the wives and plunder, that rich haul we dragged away from the place--we shared it round” (9.46-48).
“Then I urged them to cut and run, set sail, but would they listen?” (9.50-51).
The Lotus eaters
After the storm, Odysseus and his men are driven to the land of the Lotus-eaters, men who eat flowers that make them lethargic.
resolved
strong
determined
Odysseus knows that if his men remain with the Lotus-eaters, they will never see home again; therefore, he forcibly puts the men back in the ship.
“But I brought them back, back to
the hollow ships, and streaming tears--I forced them, hauled them under the rowing benches, lashed them fast and shouted out commands…” (9.110-113).
The Cyclops
Odysseus and his men stop at the land of the Cyclopes, giant one-eyed creatures. After being trapped in a cave with a cannibal named Polyphemus, Odysseus concocts an elaborate scheme to blind the giant and then escape. Upon leaving the land, he brags to the cyclops about who gouged out his eye, thus bringing down the curses of Poseidon upon himself and his men.
clever
strategic
foolish
prideful
Odysseus does not have to go into the cyclops’s cave, and he certainly doesn’t have to stay to meet the creature; however, he wants to see Polyphemus so that he will have bragging rights. Additionally, Odysseus could have escaped scot-free but chose instead to yell his identity to the brute.
“From the start my comrades pressed me, pleading hard, ‘Let’s make away with the cheeses, then come back--hurry, … to our swift ship, put out to sea at once!’ But I would not give way--and how much better it would have been--not til I saw him…” (9.253-257).
“So they begged but they could not bring my fighting spirit round. I called back with another burst of anger, ‘Cyclops--if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you
so--say Odysseus, raider of cities, he
gouged out your eye, Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca!’” (9.257-262).
In the space below, explain what Odysseus was like at the beginning of his journey home from Troy.
Odysseus seemed to be puffed up with pride after leaving the Trojan War victorious. He makes some
terrible decisions as a leader, and those decisions cost men’s lives.
one ship left in his fleet.
Circe
In the last episode of Book Ten, Odysseus and his men stop at Aeaea, where they encounter a beautiful enchantress named Circe. Circe and Odysseus live together as man and wife for one year.
unfaithful
disloyal
Motivated by a desire for an opulent life safe on land rather than a tumultuous existence on the sea, Odysseus decides to live with Circe. His men have to beg him to leave her.
“And there we sat at ease, day in, day out, till a year had run its course, feasting on sides of meat and drafts of heady wine… But then… my loyal comrades took me aside and prodded, ‘Captain, this is madness! High time you thought of your own home at last, if it really is your fate to make it back alive and reach your well-built house and native land’” (10.513-523).
In the space below, explain how Odysseus is a complex character.
Odysseus is a man of contradictions. He claims to want to go home to Penelope, but he also has no
moral qualms concerning living with another woman.
