Homer's epic The Odyssey is superimposed on the context of a typical ancient Greek society. As the main character, Odysseus, and his companions travel from place to place en route to their hometown of Ithaca, various people greet them in a display of hospitality much appreciated in ancient Greece. Such hospitality largely involves preparing feasts and offering each guest large quantities of food. Some guests, however, naturally take advantage of this hospitality, demonstrating their lack of discipline and good manners. Although food is positively associated with the Greek tradition of hospitality, Homer uses it in a negative sense in The Odyssey to represent the gluttony, lack of self-control, and lack of civility found in various characters. Say no to plagiarism. Get Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original EssayFood as Symbolism of Gluttony in “The Odyssey” After docking their ship on the island of the lotus eaters, Odysseus's men embark on a gluttonous feast of lotus fruit, which causes them to neglect their duties to Odysseus. They are so mesmerized by the delicious taste that "all those who ate the honey-sweetened fruit...were not willing to withdraw a message or go away, but they wanted to stay there with the lotus-eating people, feeding lotus”. , and forget the way back” (IX: 94-97). Odysseus, the leader of the group – and at that moment the only man in full possession of his faculties – finally leads them "crying, by force, back to the ships... in all haste, lest someone else Do not taste the lotus and forget. the way back” (IX: 98-102). Without Odysseus, the men would never have been able to find their way back to the ships, and their gluttony would certainly have led to their downfall. Odysseus's men once again show their lack of self-control by slaughtering Helios' cattle for dinner against Circe's orders. This time, their actions result in disaster. Odysseus tries to dissuade his companion Eurylochus from hunting the herds by reminding him of Circe's warning: "if you harm them, I attest to the destruction of your ship and your companions" (XII: 137-141). Eurylochos, however, ignores Odysseus's warning and says to the others: "All deaths are detestable to miserable mortals, but hunger is the saddest way to die... Come, let us cut the best of the cattle from 'Helios and let us sacrifice him to the immortals. ...we will build a rich temple to the sun god Helios Hyperion...but if, angry with his high-horned cattle, he wishes to wreck our ship...I would much rather swallow the waves and lose my life once and for all, than to be pinched to death on this desolate island (XII: 340-351). The men feast on Helios' finest livestock, and seven days later they leave the island to begin the next stage of their journey. Their serious error of judgment is, however, not forgotten by Zeus; a great storm hits the ship and Odysseus' men are “thrown into the water, swaying like sea crows, carried away by the waves” (XII: 403-419). Odysseus mourns the fate of his companions, although he is forced to accept it; “Even so, he could not save his companions, despite all his efforts; They were destroyed by their own imprudence, these fools, who devoured the oxen of Helios, the sun god, and he took away from them the day of their return” (I: 6-9). As Odysseus and his men continue their journey, they encounter many strange creatures, including the monstrous Cyclops, whosecomplete lack of civility manifests itself in their propensity to eat people without hesitation. When Odysseus meets one of these cyclops, Polyphemus, and tries to ask him questions, Polyphemus: [jumps] and [reaches] his companions, [catches] two of them together and [slaps them], like one kills puppies, against the ground… then he [cuts them up] limb by limb and [prepares] supper, and like a lion, without leaving anything, he [eats] their entrails, the flesh and the marrow bones. the same (IX: 287 -294). In an attempt to make the monster drunk, Ulysses then brings him wine, which he “imprudently empties” three times (IX: 362). When Polyphemus finally gets drunk, he falls asleep, “and the wine [gurgles] from his throat with pieces of human meat. It is his vomiting of drunkenness” (IX: 371-374). This graphic imagery conveys the brutality and gluttony of the Cyclops as fearsome man-eating creatures. Odysseus and his men also encounter a race of giants known as the Laistrygones; they seem like nice people, until they devour some men. After being directed to the house of the Laistrygonian king, Odysseus and his crew find the wife of Antiphates, a fearsome queen as tall as a mountain peak. Immediately, she summons King Antiphates, who immediately seizes one of Odysseus' companions and eats him for dinner (X: 114-116). He then calls the rest of the Laistrygonian giants, who arrive "swarming from all directions, by tens of thousands, and not like men, like giants... bombarding [the] men with rocks the size of a man... and [carrying] them far away for their joyless feasts” (X: 118-124). The fearsome creatures destroy all the ships except that of Odysseus himself, and he narrowly escapes from the terrible island. Once again, watching their friends get eaten, Odysseus's crew experiences firsthand the gluttony so prevalent among wild and uncivilized monsters. Perhaps the most insolent, disrespectful and gluttonous characters in the epic, the potential suitors of Odysseus' wife Penelope, are often described. at different stages of feeding. In fact, in one of the very first references to them in the work, the goddess Athena complains about how they "slaughter forever [Odysseus's herded sheep] and the bent-horned cattle" (I: 88-92). They also eat greedily at Penelope's table, arousing the resentment of the swineherd Eumaios, who growls: "the fat pigs are devoured by the suitors, who have no respect for anyone, no pity... they forcibly eat his assets and save. nothing… and they violently draw out the wine and waste it” (XIV: 80-95). Odysseus is also angry when he returns home to find the suitors sitting at another feast, and he decides to murder them before they can indulge again. He shoots an arrow at Antinous, who is “about to lift a beautiful golden goblet with two handles… stirring it to drink wine” (XXII: 8-11) and it pierces the suitor in the throat. . As he is dejected, Antinous drops the goblet and “with a kick [pushes] the table away from him, so that all the good food [is] scattered on the floor, bread and meats cooked together” (XXII: 19). -21). This scene is the culmination of the suitors' scandalous gluttony and the symbol used to represent it throughout the epic: when the suitors are finally punished for their behavior, the food spills onto the floor, just as their blood flows. two. in mind: this is just a sample.Get a personalized article now from our expert writers.Get a custom essayConclusionThe powerful symbol of food as an instrument of gluttony in The Odyssey suggests that.