Wednesday, 21 March 2018

What do the sailors do with the bag of winds in The Oydssey? What happens as a result?

At the beginning of Book X of the
Odyssey, Aeolus, keeper of the winds, gives Odysseus a bag of winds. Aeolus
treats this bag very carefully, coming down to the ship himself and tying it up with a silver
cord, so that not the slightest breeze can escape.

After nine days' sailing,
Odysseus goes to sleep, leaving the care of the ship to his men. They are now so close to Ithaca
that they can see the men tending the beacon fires on the shore. At this point, a rumor
circulates that the bag is full of gold and silver ,and the men complain that Odysseus is
keeping all this treasure to himself instead of sharing it with them.

The men
open the bag of winds. All the winds instantly escape and the storm-wind seizes the ship and
bears it away from Ithaca all the way back to the isle of Aeolus. When he hears what has
happened, Aeolus sends Odysseus away with angry curses, since it appears that he is hated by the
gods. Odysseus departs from the isle and the men are punished for their folly by having to row
the ship, since this time there are no winds to help them on their way.

No comments:

Post a Comment

In 1984, is Julia a spy? Please provide specific examples from the book. My teacher says that he knows of 17 pieces of evidence which proves that Julia...

There is some evidence to suggest thatwas a spy throughout 's classic novel . Julia portrays herself as a loyal admirer of Big ...