The Odyssey - Book 12 - Odysseus recounts his odyssey: Three Perils
- No Beeswax: Odysseus could have stopped up his ears with beeswax
as he did his men's. Why did he choose instead to be
tied to the mast? What do you think this might
symbolize about Odysseus? Has he made similar choices
in previous experiences? [Discuss Ody Bk12 Q01]
- A Gambling Man: Circe next warns Odysseus about the
triple threat that lies beyond the Sirens. Notice
that she says she will not tell him how to get past
the next dangers "A choice of routes is
yours.
you must decide for yourself." (62)
- The first is the tall cliffs
called the Clashing Rocks (Planctae). The
only ship to survive going past that hazard
was Jason and the Argonauts, because he was
helped by the goddess Hera. (The story of
Jason was a competing story of Homer's
Odyssey at the time. Does he mention it here
to say that HIS Odysseus will get past all
these dangers because Odysseus is greater
than Jason?)
- On the other side are two
dangers Scylla and Charybdis. Circe
(119) thinks the better choice her is to sail
closer to Scylla and lose six men in the
process rather than risk more loss by
steering closer to Charybdis, who is more
dangerous. Odysseus' reply is so in
character: "Deadly Charybdiscan't
I possibly cut and run from her and still
fight Scylla off when Scylla strikes my
men?" Isn't that perfect Odysseus: he
calculates but wants to see how much he can
win.
- So, as Dimock notes (p. 167), Odysseus's choice is NOT between Scylla and Charybdis, as the choice is usually framed, but between "Jason's exploit and something peculiarly Odysseus's own. To do it Jason's way and succeed is to be the world's luckiest, or, in Homeric terms, most god-favored man.This is certainly a type of heroism, but most of us would probably admire more the man who is willing to accept suffering for the sake of a statistically better chance of success. This is what Scylla and Charybdis represent." As you read the section of Scylla and Charybdis (lines 218-282), especially the section when the six men are killed, reflect on that aspect of Odysseus's character by which he deliberately selects the well-considered risk, knowing as he does that some loss is inevitable. [Discuss Ody Bk12 Q02]
- The well-warned danger: the cattle
of the sun god:
- The Well-warned Danger: No danger in the whole epic is as
well-warned as the next: the island of the sun god.
Book 1.9 speaks of it; Teiresias warns Odysseus about
it; and Circe emphasizes it. Yet here Odysseus loses
the last of his men. While Odysseus is sleeping,
Eurylochus and the men, starving as they are, choose
to slay the cattle despite their knowing it is
forbidden. Reflect on how you interpret the symbolism
of their choice and the fact that now Odysseus alone
remains of all the men. [Discuss Ody Bk12 Q03]