Skilar Wright -The Odyssey

Scylla and Charybdis -Summary

1700 BCE

Scylla and Charybdis -Analysis

1700 BCE

Sirens -Summary

1600 BCE

Circe outlines the challenges he'll face on his return journey and offers advice on how to overcome them. Odysseus passes Circe's advice on to his soldiers as he sets sail. Odysseus and his crew must negotiate the straits between Scylla and Charybdis once they have passed the Sirens' island.

Sirens -Analysis

1600 BCE

The Sirens represent, passion, and danger. Any ship passing by the isle is enticed to halt and listen to the Sirens' lovely songs. Odysseus and his men survive because odysseus shuts their ears and the men tie him down.

Circe -Analysis

1500 BCE

Circe is a unified figure in classical mythology. She is quite human, like the other Greek gods, yet her personality features remain consistent across each narrative. She is lonely, sexual, deceitful, and greedy. 

Circe -Summary

1500 BCE

Odysseus and his crew set sail towards Aeaea, the abode of Circe, the lovely witch-goddess. Circe converts a group of Odysseus' soldiers into pigs after drugging them. To defend himself from Circe's drug, he urges Odysseus to ingest a plant called moly. Odysseus obeys Hermes' orders, overwhelming Circe and compelling her to revert his troops to their human forms. Circe falls in love with Odysseus, and he and his crew dwell with her for seven years.

Bag of Wind -Summary

1400 BCE

When Odysseus paid a visit to Aeolus, the deity of the winds, his crew became concerned because he was not sharing riches with them. They opened a bag he had given them in order to examine what was inside, and they were able to liberate the bad winds from his ship. The guys sailed for nine days before arriving to Circe's island. 

Bag of Wind -Analysis

1400 BCE

Aeolus's response shows the ways in which chance is conflated with fate, luck with justice. The episode also illustrates the dangers of sleep and forgetfulness. When Circe erases the men's memories, she turns them into pigs at once.

Cyclops -Summary

1380 BCE

Odysseus headed for home with his soldiers and ships after ten years of battle against Troy. The island, unbeknownst to them, was inhabited by the Cyclops people. The Cyclopses were colossal beings with only one eye in the center of their forehead. Odysseus stepped forward and offered the Cyclops some wine. In a drunken stupor, the Cyclops fell fast asleep and was subsequently blinded by Odyssesus' sharpened point.

Cyclops -Analysis

1380 BCE

The story of Odysseus' encounter with the Cyclops gives us important lessons about maintaining self-control in shifting circumstances. These teachings are as relevant now as they were in Odysseus' day. The first and most obvious lesson is that while coping with change, self-control is a useful skill. The dangers of arrogance and pride, Odysseus is delighted with himself after duping the Cyclops Polyphemus.

Lotus Eaters -Summary

1320 BCE

The lotus-eating creatures only exist for a short time. In Book IX of the Odyssey, Odysseus begins to tell the story of his ten-year trip. He recalls how he and his men searched for a way home on neighboring islands. One of the islands was home to the Lotus Eaters. The narrative of the Lotus Eaters by Odysseus is brief and to the point.

Lotus Eaters -Analysis

1320 BCE

The Lotus Eaters symbolize one of Odysseus' obstacles on his return journey: laziness. These were folks who had lost sight of their goals in life and had succumbed to the tranquil indifference that comes with eating the lotus.

Trojan War - Summary

1180 BCE

Trojan War, in Greek mythology, was a war between the Greeks and the people of Troy. The strife began after Paris abducted Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta. For nine years the Greeks ravaged Troy's surrounding cities and countryside. At night the Greeks returned; their companions crept out of the horse and opened the city gates.

Trojan War Analysis

1180 BCE

Schliemann's excavations at Troy and research indicate that a siege may have occurred during the Mycenaean period. Homer's Iliad covers the majority of the story, from Agamemnon and Achilles until Hector's funeral. Hector and Achilles are sad figures because they are aware of the awful fate that awaits them. They do, however, act out their fates with bravery. In a heartbreaking manner, this tale foreshadows the fall of Troy; human choice and divine inevitability are intertwined here.