Gluttonous Odyssey Essay

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How would you describe it when you eat too much? Is this action triggered by excessive hunger? Or is it a case of gluttony? Probably not hunger, because an individual would stop eating when he or she is satiated. So, why would one want more? This may be because one feel greedy about the food, which sounds more like the expression of gluttony. In The Odyssey, by Homer, similar gluttonous instances are present which consequently produce negative outcomes. The characters are involved in all sorts of gluttonous activities such as munching on lotus plants, devouring and feasting on cattle, and gulping down wines, which impairs their senses to forth coming troubles. While gluttony is a repetitive event in The Odyssey, practically everyone who indulges in the gluttony is ultimately punished for their misdeeds. Henry Fairlie, in his book The Seven Deadly Sins Today, supports that “gluttony is a grievous sin if it induces us to find all our contentment in gratifying of our appetites” (Fairlie, 171). When Odysseus and his comrades reach land of lotus-eaters, they feast on lotus plants and forget about their homeland (IX: 94-97). It looks like the sweet and pungent smell of lotus might have caused comrades’ wisdom to fade out, and greedily involve in gluttonous activity. This giving in of the temptation to feast by Odysseus’ comrades causes their morale to degrade and make them incompetent to succeed through the challenges of their journey back to Ithaca. But what makes this instance gluttonous is the idea that the shipmates want to feast on lotus plants even if they have abundant supply of food in their ship. This event foreshadows the troubles that the Odysseus and his companions will face in days to come. In a similar way, gluttony as a sin can be depicted again in the scene where Odysseus and his men gluttonously sacrifice Cyclopes’ cattle and eat his cheese (IX:
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