Role Of Temptation In The Odyssey

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Kayla Cruz Mrs. Baker Honors English 9 April 15, 2013 Temptations of The Odyssey “Ever notice that the whisper of temptation can be heard farther than the loudest call to duty.” said by Earl Wilson. Odysseus and his crew often face many different temptations in The Odyssey. Him and his crew deal with hunger, seductive women, and the desires of riches and home over the course of their journey. Even though they overcome an exuberant amount of these roadblocks, they also fall into an abundance of them as well. Giving into temptation can lead to unforeseen difficulties later on. Undoubtedly, Odysseus’s crew almost always gave into temptation when they could not bear with hunger any longer. Firstly, two crew members met a group of the Lotus Eaters, who offered them some flowers to eat. They decided to eat it, and soon enough…show more content…
In the beginning of the book, the crew travels to Aeolia, where the Wind God gives Odysseus a bag containing all the bad winds. The sailors could not restrain their curiosity to see what valuables it contained. Due to this incident, horrible winds and hurricanes are unleashed, sending the ship back to Aeolia. In Ithaca, Penelope tricked the suitors three years, tempting them by saying she would choose a husband after she finished weaving a shroud, however, when nightfall came Penelope would unravel her day’s work. In the poem “Penelope to Ulysses”, it illustrates her as a spider saying “…each night I unweave the web of my day…About me the insistent buzz of flies drones louder every day.” (797,2-5), while the flies are the suitors. When Penelope decides to have an archery match, the suitors are allured more by the riches and kingdom that comes with marriage rather than the marriage to Penelope itself. “…you recommended this house to feast and drink in, day and night,…you found no justification for yourselves—none except your lust to marry me.”(799,

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