Kubus 1
Mikaeel Khan
Mr. Kubus
English 1
01 February 2021
Zeus’s Opinion About Mortals in Book 1 of Homer’s Odyssey In spite of Zeus praising Odysseus as a higher mortal and freeing him from the island of
Ogygia, we actually come to the conclusion from Zeus’s speech that he thinks of mortals as puny little creatures that are unintelligent and thus, must always offer sacrifices to the gods.
Additionally, we also learn from Zeus’s arrogant speech that immortals can just toy around and mess with a puny little mortal’s life. Arrogantly and selfishly, Zeus doesn’t free Odysseus from
Ogygia instantly because Poseidon is furious that “Odysseus blinded his son, the Cyclops,
[Polyphemus]” (1.74-76). Zeus completely overlooked the fact that Odysseus blinded
Polyphemus as he was just trying to defend himself and was just trying desperately to escape from the Cyclops. Furthermore, Zeus continues his speech about the blinding of Polyphemus by saying that “The nymph Thoosa bore him, daughter of Phorcys, [lord of the barren brine]”
(1.77-78). Aiming to seem like the blinding of Polyphemus is such a big deal, Zeus immaturely adds irrelevant details about Polyphemus’s mother and his mother’s father to make it sound like
Polyphemus is an important creature despite the fact that Polyphemus completely rejects the gods and shows them no amount of respect compared to Odysseus. Additionally, he also says
“the strongest of all the Cyclopes, nearly a [god]” (1.76-77). What this statement conveys is that
Zeus high, and mighty, reveals that if you are not ordinary, or if you are very strong, then no matter what you do, you won’t be punished or be disrespected as much as a person who is puny and mortal, no matter what small thing they did. Worst of all, Zeus selfishly says that Poseidon Kubus 2 has been after Odysseus “not killing him, but keeping him away from [his native island]”
(1.81-82). What this text essentially shows about the big headed Zeus is that he insolently thinks that gods can just toy around with weak little mortals. As long as they're not killing a small little mortal, it is okay to do whatever they want to these undersized mortals. In summary, unlike a fair king, Zeus disrespects the mortals and believes that he and the gods are allowed to ruin a mortal's life as long as they're not killing that mortal.
Work Cited Kubus 3
Homer, and Stanley Lombardo. The Essential Odyssey. Hackett Pub., 2007.