Good Poseidon And The Unpredictability Of Greek Life Essay Example

As most people know, the epic poem The Odyssey relates the story of the Greek Odyssey who takes ten years to return home from the Trojan War. This length of time was due to the mere distance of his homeland but rather the interaction of various mythic figures who cause him trouble. Many of these interactions were the result of the influence of the sea god Poseidon, who intended to punish the war hero. The staggering length of this trial and enmity owes its existence not only to the god’s pride but also to his cruelty, demonstrating that the elements of the world can be just as vengeful as men themselves.
The source of Poseidon’s anger and enmity against Odysseus itself is not hard to understand. Early in the saga, Polyphemus, the man eating Cyclopes son of Poseidon, captured the hero and his companions pillaging his food supplies but was thwarted when Odysseus blinded him and escaped on the underbellies of sheep (Moford, Lenardon, and Shan 529). Understandably, the Greeks would want to escape this situation in any way possible, as the result if they failed was certain death in the belly of a monster. Equally as logical is Poseidon’s outrage against the man who horribly injured one of his mighty offspring. Any parent would feel anger when their offspring is killed or even injured. However, Poseidon was known for his tumultuous, ferocious and severe nature (Moford, Lenardon, and Shan 171). Furthermore, as a god, he held much more power and therefore, a greater ability to exact revenge on those who harmed his family and those under his protection and interest. Essentially, by harming Polyphemus, Odysseus turned the wrath of the uncertain seas upon himself.
As a group, the gods were prone to intense emotions and overreaction but this reaction was not unlike those of an average human. For example, when Polyphemus prayed for vengeance against Odysseus, he requested that all of the hero’s companions die during the journey so that, if Odyssey ever did return home, he did so without any friends (Lombardo 313). Such a request, both in the making and granting of it, depicts an utter disregard for figures who had little involvement in Odysseus’ crime, except to be traveling with him. As such, their crime was guilt by association. However, this rash verdict on the innocent is not only the habit of the gods and their offspring. In the poem “We Are Ants to the Gods,” Hermes points out that the killing of innocent men due to the action of one guilty man was not unlike a human stomping on a swarm of ants for the bite of one ant (Traskoma, Smith, and Brunet 62). Such an example very clearly illustrates the human like temperaments of the gods. Indeed, sometimes the gods are even more petty and mortal in their behaviors than some mortals.
Unfortunately, the gods controlled every element imaginable, which could make it seem to the Greeks that the very elements were hostile to them. Depending on which god a person angered and their situation in life, this hostility could be deadly. For example, Poseidon was the god of the sea but he also had control over earthquakes (Moford, Lenardon, and Shan 171). Odysseus’ famous journey took place mostly on the sea, which put him at the very mercy of this powerful god. However, as controller of both earthquakes and ocean, Poseidon could harm almost any mortal, unless that mortal was aided by another god in the moment of the attack. Other gods possessed similar grand jurisdictions, such as Apollo, the god of the sun and medicine, Hera, goddess of the earth, Hestia, goddess of the hearth’s fire, and Zeus, the god of the sky, among others. Each of these figures reigns over equally important aspects in the life of mortals. Additionally, as most Greeks never met the goddess in myth or in history, the actions of their elements were an even greater sign of their mysterious power.
In the epic poem The Odyssey, the Greek war hero Odysseus faces major opposition from the powerful god Poseidon because the former wounds the latter’s offspring. However, this hero was not the only one who faced the wrath of the gods. Greek mythology is filled with stories of similar retribution. Because this is such a prevalent theme in Greek culture and the gods were in control of everything in a mortal’s life, it expresses the idea that the lives of the Greek people were almost completely out of their own hands and subject to luck. Only by trying to act valiantly and honorably in their decisions could the Greeks hope to stand a chance of surviving and gaining whatever goals they happened to possess.

Works Cited

Lombardo, Stanley, ed. The Essential Homer: Selections from the Iliad and the Odyssey. Trans. Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2002. Print.
Morford, Mark P.O., Robert J. Lenardon, and Michael Shan. Classical Mythology. 10th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Print.
Traskoma, Stephen M., R. Scott Smith, and Stephen Brunet, eds. Anthology of Classical Myth: Primary Sources in Translation. Trans. Stephen M. Trzaskoma, R. Scott Smith, and Stephen Brunet. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2004. Print.