一楼度娘

Differences Between Being Under Control and Being Wild
Have you ever made some rash decisions before and received consequences for it? Did you ever found it hard to resist and reject tempting offers? In The Odyssey,Homer shows how the characters react to different temptations and the consequences that follow their decisions and actions. Many of the characters in The Odyssey has make different decisions either because of their greeds or because of their moral heart. Those who shows self-control to tempting offering and those who perform rash actions have all receive the consequence they deserve, either negative or positive. This is why in the story The Odyssey, both the negative effect and positive effect of temptation will lead to different consequences that the people deserves.
Homer shows the value of self-control or restraint in The Odyssey through the action and decision each character make throughout the story. In the story, Odysseus shows this value during his voyage home and after he reached his homeland.For example, in one of the scenes, Odysseus decides to leave Circe’s Palace to continue on his journey back home. This scene:
so all that day till the sun went down we sat
and feasted on sides of meat and heady wine
.........................................................................
but I went up to that luxurious bead of Circe’s
hugged her by the knees
and the goddess heard my supplication:
‘Circe, ....it’s time to help me home.’(Book 10: 524-526,329-533)
shows that Odysseus resist and reject the temptation of living a luxury life with Circe. Instead, Odysseus decides to continue his journey where he know that he will encounter many pain and misery.When Odysseus continue on his journey,he is trap in the Island of Ogygia, being treat as a honor guest by goddess Calypso.When Calypso is force to let Odysseus go,she say to Odysseus:
royal son of Laertes,Odysseus,man of exploits.
still eager to leave at once and hurry back
to your own home,your beloved native land?
Good luck to you,even so. Farewell!
but if you only knew,down deep,what pains
are fated to fill your cup before you reach that shore,
you’d stay right here,preside in our house with me
and be immortal....(Book 5:224-231)
However, like Circe,Odysseus rejects her tempting offering of both a peaceful life and also the chance of becoming an immortal. While Odysseus resist many tempting offering from different immortals and creatures throughout his voyage,he also need to restrain himself from telling the truth to his beloved wife.When Odysseus listens to Penelope and watch her tear gliding down her face,he wants to tell her the truth but restrain himself :
She dissolved in tears,streaming down her lovely cheeks,
weeping for him,her husband,sitting there beside her.
Odysseus’ heart went out to his grief-stricken wife
but under his lids his eyes remained stock-still—
they might have been horn or iron—
his guile fought back his tears.(Book 19:240-245)
By being able to resist the temptation from different people,Odysseus show the value of restraint by being able to control himself and make right decisions.
However,Homer not only show the value of restraint but also how people lost that value,turning to the value of ate too.In the story, Odysseus and his comrades did not alway restrain themself from the temptations throughout their journey.When Odysseus and his comrades manage to sail off the Island of Cyclops,Odysseus could not resist the tempting fame and glory that he will receive by being able to blind a man-eating cyclops, he yell to Polyphemus his real name,which he should not do:
‘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’(Book 9:558-562)

While Odysseus and his comrades manage to continue on their journey,they make another rash decision.When Odysseus and his comrade land on the Island of the Sun, the comrades of Odysseus could not ignore and control their desire for food during food shortage,finally start slaughtering god Helios’ cattle,which Odysseus had warned them not to do:
‘Listen to me,my comrades,brothers of hardship.
All ways of dying are hateful to us poor mortals,
true,but die of hunger,starve to death—
that’s the worst of all.So up with you now,
let’s drive off the pick of Helios’ sleek herds,
slaughter them to the gods who rule the skies up there.’
.........................................................................................
So he urged,and shipmates cheered again.
At once they drove off the Sungod’s finest cattle—
.........................................................................................
Once they’d prayed,slaughtered and skinned the cattle.
(Book 12:366-371,779-380,385)
Other than Odysseus and his comrades,the suitors of Penelope back in Ithaca are also making wrong judgments.One of those wrong judgment is when the suitors decided to not listen to Leodes,who can see the future,and continue the test given by Penelope:
Antinous turned on the seer,abuses flying:
“Leodes!what are you saying?what’s got past your lips?
What awful,grisly nonsense—it shocks me to hear it—
‘here is a bow to rob our best of life and breath!’(Book 21:190-193)
All these wrong judgments and decisions made by Odysseus,his comrades,and his wife’s suitors later will all turn into harmful weapons,having those who commit such action pay for it.
While The Odyssey is full different reactions and response toward temptation, those responses usually each will be follow by a consequence.Odysseus and his comrades need to face the punishments from the gods throughout their voyage to pay for what they have done beforehand.One of the punishment or curse is from Poseidon, the father of Polyphemus.When Odysseus told Polyphemus his real name,Polyphemus start to pray to his father,asking him to curse Odysseus,making Odysseus’ whole voyage became more difficult and dangerous:
‘Hear me—
Poseidon,god of the sea-blue mane who rocks the earth!
................................................................
come,grant that Odysseus,raider of cities,
Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca,
never reaches home.Or if he’s fated to see
his people once again and reach his well-built house
and his own native country,let home come home late
and come a broken man—all shipmates lost,
alone in a stranger’s ship—
and let him find a world of pain at home!’
..............................................................
Poseidon,heard his prayer.(Book9:585-586,588-595,597)
Throughout Odysseus’ whole journey,Poseidon is not the only god that is putting obstacles in it.Zeus,the king of gods, is punishing Odysseus and his comrades for what they did to Helios’ cattle:
Zeus who marshals the thunderheads insisted,
.................................................................................
And as for the guilty ones,why,soon enough
On the wine-dark sea I’ll hit their racing ship
With a white-hot bolt,I’ll tear it into splinters.’(Book 12:413,416-418)
Zeus’ punishment,however, is matching to the prayer of Polyphemus,because Zeus killed every single comrade of Odysseus with his lighting bolt.While many of the consequences toward ate or rash actions are all negative,when Odysseus restrain his desire he also receive a positive consequence.When Odysseus is back to his homeland Ithaca,he need to restrain his desire to tell the truth to his belove,misery wife Penelope.However,by doing so, he manage to find out who is loyal and who is not in his own palace and killed all the suitors like his plan:
“you tell those women to hurry here at once—
Just the ones who’ve shamed us all along.”

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And once you’ve put the entire house in order,
March the women out of the great hall—between
The roundhouse and the courtyard’s strong stockade—
And hack them with your swords,slash out all their lives—
(Book 22:458-559,465-468)
This also shows the nemesis for making the decision of betraying instead of staying loyal to who they should be loyal to.There will always be a consequence following every decision people make,and this value is show throughout the whole story.
The Odyssey shows many values that are still value by some cultures in this world,while restraint and also nemesis are a part of those values.In The Odyssey, Odysseus and many characters such as the suitors and Odysseus’ comrades all have show some parts of those two values.They show us that if they restrain themself and make right decisions,they can receive great endings that they all deserves.So,we can learn from The Odyssey that restrain temptation can bring us good result and can’t resist the temptation offered can ruined our life.Therefore,The Odyssey is not just only a story about a great hero but also has many values and lessons we can learn from.