In book 9 of The Odyssey, Odysseus and his men come across the Cyclops island when Odysseus and his men go inside of a cave (where the cyclops are with sheep) Polyphemus (the cyclops) provides them with food and shelter. The cyclops treated them nicely.
Odysseus never told Polyphemus his real name, Odysseus tells Polyphemus his name is “ Nohbody” . When the cyclops wakes up he has some of Odysseus’s men for breakfast. When the cyclops goes back to sleep, Odysseus told his men to carve a huge wooden pole and sharpen the end in fire for later that day. They get the cyclops drunk off of wine, so the cyclops will open the vault that leads outside, Polyphemus lays down and Odysseus then stabs him in the eye with the pole, Odysseus and his men hide under sheep while exiting the cave, so the cyclops cannot feel them and take them.
The cyclops then calls out for his dad (Poseidon) and tells him to make their way back home difficult and longer. Some of the disagreements that had happened were that Odysseus said out loud that he was better than everyone including the gods, and the gods didn’t agree with his opinion so the gods (mostly Poseidon- Polyphemus father) made his journey longer and worse. Some things that could have reduced problems are that Odysseus doesn’t say out loud that he is better than the gods he could have kept that to himself even though he was happy they left , also he should not have stabbed Polyphemus in his only eye, he should’ve just left him alone, because Polyphemus didn’t even know none of their names or Odysseus could have killed him some other way, so he couldn’t have been able to call for his father. During the rest of their journey it was not easy they faced a lot of difficult times especially Odysseus. Something else that could have reduced problems is that they just stayed on that mini island and never went to the cyclops island, this would’ve helped them not be in any situations and gotten home sooner. Some people can form proper communications with others while believing in what they want to believe in. For example if someone were to believe that you’re going to fail, that does not mean that you’re not going to even try, you are going to want to prove them wrong and still believe in yourself. Just because one person believes in something doesn’t mean that you have to too.
Everyonehas their own culture and things that they believe in doesn’t mean you have to change yours. If they need something to talk about they can talk about what they believe in and why. It’s okay to hear someone’s opinions about something, but you cannot change their minds about something they believe in. Some personal experiences that I had that can kind of relate to Odysseus, is that Ihave said stuff I don’t mean and stuff that can effect someone. I have never hurt someone as much as he did but I have missed someone like how he missed Penelope and his son Telemachus.
Another thing I can relate to is how he protected his men like he said he would (even though some died), I always try my best to look out for the ones I care about. Like Odysseus if I believe in something I will always keep trying to reach my goal, no matter what or who tries to get in my way. When Odysseus faced difficult times he did not give up he used his head (sometimes) and figured out how he could get through it and I do that, I usually think things through before I do something that I willregret. Respecting the hosts customs of wherever you are at is important, because you don’t know them well which means that you don’t know what they are capable of. In the Odyssey, some of Odysseus men got ate, because they just went wondering in a strangers cave (the cyclops), if Odysseus and his men would’ve stayed there any longer than they probably would’ve got ate too.
