Life Lessons

Many authors have explored the theme life is a journey in their works. Homer

portrays this as a central idea in his works the Lotus Eaters, The Cyclops, The

Sirens, and The Challenge, from his epic The Odyssey. Storytellers told these

stories through word of mouth, and not only did they learn important life lessons

but also recorded history, learned about customs, beliefs, and values of the

cultures from which they sprang. Homer’s works included many details on Greek

culture such as the many gods and monsters they believed.

After leaving the land of the lotus eaters, Odysseus and his crew

sailed through the murky night only to arrive to the land of the Cyclopes, a race of

giant one-eyed monsters who “have no muster or no meeting, no consultation or

old tribal ways.” (Homer 1050) By stating this, Odysseus emphasized how

uncivilized this group of creatures were. They then dwelled in the cave where the

Cyclops lived, and once the Cyclops returned from pasturing his sheep, he was

angered to find Odysseus and his men eating his food and drinks. The Cyclops

trapped Odysseus and his men there tormenting them as it states here “he

clutched at my companions and caught two in his hands like squirming puppies to

beat their brains out, spattering the floor. Then he dismembered them and made

his meal, gaping and crunching like a mountain lion-everything: innards, flesh,

and marrow bones. We cried aloud lifting our hands to Zeus.” (Homer 1053).

Odysseus had to get out of there. And he knew exactly what to do. He got the

Cyclopes drunk, and made sure he was fast asleep. Then sharpened olive log to a

point and positioned it above the Cyclopes eye and once the Cyclopes woke up,

they drilled it in his eye. Now once the Cyclopes was screaming for help from his

brothers, cleverly,