Bunting, Kramer, Solanki, Vandermerwe 1

Alex Kramer, Anesh Solanki, Kyra Bunting, Nathan Vandermerwe

Ms. Villasenor

Honors English Period 5

20 March 2019

Temptation Activity: Calypso and Lotus Eaters

Assigned Incident​: Lotus Eaters

Types of Temptation with Incident:

​Leadership​: “[Odysseus] brought them back, back/ to the hollow ships, and streaming

tears— I forced them,/ hauled them under my rowing benches, lashed them fast/ and shouted out

commands to my other, steady comrades”( 9.110-113). Odysseus leads his shipmates away from

the lotus flower because he realized that if they stayed on the island it would be hard for them to

leave. He is being a great leader when he resists the lotus and helps his shipmates resist the

temptation of the lotus.

​Loyalty/Promises:​ “Any crewmen who ate the lotus, the honey-sweet fruit,/ lost all desire to

send a message back, much less return,/ their only wish to linger there with the

Lotus-eaters”(9.106-108). After eating their first lotus, the shipmates’ loyalty shifted from

Odysseus to the lotus. They became loyal to the lotus and completely forgot about what their

whole journey was for.

​Hospitality: ​“So off they went and soon enough they mingled among the natives,

Lotus-eaters, Lotus-eaters/ who had no notion of killing my companions, not at all,/ they simply

gave them the lotus to taste instead”(9.102-105). The lotus-eaters demonstrate hospitality when
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they offer their lotus to Odysseus’s shipmates for their enjoyment. They never meant any harm,

the lotus-eaters just wanted the shipmates to stay with them.

Summary​:

After Odysseus and his men left Cicones, they were. almost to his native land of Ithaca. Until

a strong North wind blew them way off course. Odysseus and his men spent nine days at sea, and

then on the tenth they landed at the island of the lotus eaters. Odysseus sent two scouts ahead to

see if the native people were friends of foes. The natives had no intention to harm the men, they

just gave them a taste of the lovely lotus flower. Which made the scouts forget all about their

mission and made them want to stay with the natives and eat lotus flowers. However, Odysseus

did not let that happen. He dragged the crew members to the boat, and forced the crew to leave

the island right away.

Relation to the modern world:

The incident with the lotus eaters is a very important event in the journey of Odysseus. This

event made Odysseus step up as a leader, and drag his men out of a hard situation. Also this

event really solidified Odysseus's urge to get home to Ithaca, and to get home to Penelope. This

can relate to the real world through the use of drugs. Drugs make people feel like they're in a

trance, and that they aren't really in the real world. Similar to the way the lotus flowers make the

crew members feel different, and make them want to stay forever. Also similar to being addicted

to drugs, once the shipmates ate the flowers, they want more and more.

Assigned Incident:​ Calypso

Types of temptation with Incident:

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Faith​: “In the nights, true,/ he'd sleep with her in the arching cave- he had no choice-/

unwilling lover alongside lover all to willing”(5.170-172) Odysseus does not want to sleep with

calypso and wants to stay loyal and faithful to his wife and family.

Hospitality​: “She had bathed him and decked him out in fragrant clothes/... stowed two skins

aboard-dark wine in one, ... one held water-added a sack of rations,/ filled with her choicest

meats to build his strength,/and summoned a wind to bear him onward, fair and

warm”(5.290-294) Calypso gives Odysseus everything he needs to go on his journey home.

Although she doesn’t want him to leave she sends him out with everything that will help him

survive.

Glory​: “Three, four times blessed, my friends in-arms-/ who died on the plains of Troy those

years ago,/ serving the sons of Atreus to the end. Would to god/ I’d died there too and met my

fate the day the Trojans,/ swarms of them, hurled at ​me ​with bronze spears,/ fighting over the

corpse of proud Achilles!/ A hero’s funeral then, my glory spread by comrades-/ now what a

wretched death I’m doomed to die!” (5.338-345). Odysseus would have rather died in battle

instead of because of the ocean (Poseidon’s anger) because he would receive honor but he didn’t

die in Troy so his glory is fading away.

Summary​:

Calypso holds Odysseus captive on her island, Ogygia, as punishment for harming

Polyphemus, with everything he could ever want or need and no way to leave. There she also

tries to seduce him. The Gods devised a plan to help him get home while trying to please

Poseidon. The plan would include many hardships and trials and Calypso used this to her

advantage, trying to convince him it would be better to stay with her. But he was separated from
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the world which made him feel isolated and as well as making him crave for his own identity,

and he of course missed his family.

Relation to the modern world​:

On Ogygia Odysseus has everything, but he is held there against his will. He is up upset that

he is not able to leave, and he wants to go home. This can be related to the real world through

someone being in jail. In jail the person has everything they need to survive, yet they are there

against their will. And like Odysseus a prisoner would want to go home, and see his or her

family.