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Greetings traveler! You have just stumbled upon the travel blog of the very handsome Odysseus and his merry men. We will be documenting our adventures in this blog. We hope that you would enjoy reading this blog, and that you might even be encouraged to follow in Odysseus's footsteps and kill some monsters.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Thoughts of Alex: The Bag of Wind and the Laistrygones

"...and the evil counsel of my companions prevailed, and they opened the bag and the winds all burst out. Suddenly the storm caught them away and swept them over the water weeping, away from their own country."
The Odyssey of Homer, by Lattimore ~ Book X

I am one of Odysseus's faithful followers, however my name is of no importance. I am one of those good men who travelled alongside the great hero but was not given much emphasis. But if you must know my name, it's Alex. 

I recall of an instance when my companions were just big bigots and their actions caused us dearly. I shall tell it to you as it had happened.


We seafarers had been wandering the ocean for the gods know how long when finally we came across the Aiolian Island where the great Aiolas, son of Hippotas resided. He godly and just as he was, received us and entertained us for a month. After this long time, we were well rested and ready to depart. The god sent us on our way with supplies, generous with his provisions.

For nine days we sailed, day and night without end. The thought of once again being in the land of our fathers burned in our hearts. Alas, on the tenth day, beloved Ithaka was within my sight. I could almost hear the crowds calling our names. How I longed to experience our long awaited warm welcome. But no, our long awaited homecoming was delayed once more.

There was bag of made of oxen skin given to the god-like Odysseus by Aiolas before we left. Among us men, only Odysseus knew of its contents. He didn't inform us what was in it but just commanded us not to open it until we reach Ithaka. He guarded the bag attentively until sleep fell upon him on the tenth day.

Thoughts of greed slithered into the mind of one of my companions and he in turn influenced the others.

“Odysseus receives gifts and treasure wherever he goes. What about us who go through the same hardships but receive nothing? I'm sure the bag must contain treasure and he wants to keep them all for himself. How about we take the compensation we deserve? Our lord won't notice the difference if we take a few pieces here and there,” he said.

Evil counsel prevailed. The others agreed with his reasoning, the decision was made. One of them gently lifted Odysseus's arm which held the bag. Another snatched away the bag. It was only I who opposed this act of treachery.

I tried to wake the god-like Odysseus up. “My lord, please wake up!!! They're going to open the---” Someone covered my mouth.

I tried to struggle so my companions, growing angry, tied me to the mast of the ship and stuffed particles of clothing down my throat. At that point, I was completely incapacitated. There was nothing more I could do. Despite this, I still continued to fight. My eyes widened and became bloodshot. I continued to struggle within my ropes but it came to no end. The ropes were expertly tied, then again, I could expect nothing less from my companions. I gave up on my attempts at freedom and just stood there, waiting in anticipation.

Finally, the silver string that held the bag close was pulled and out came gold and silver which those greedy men divided amongst themselves. At least this is what I wished had happened.

No, out of the bag came a massive wind storm that swept us away from Ithaka, the land I've longed for so much. Damn those bigots. Odysseus was awakened by the storm and for some reason, seemed to know what was happening.

“I thought I told you, 'Not until Ithaka!'” he screamed to the world. It felt like the winds intensified at this statement.

It was at this moment that the men felt the error in their ways. Many men grieved and wept that day.

Eventually we were blown back to the Aiolian island. This time however, we received no welcome.

Aiolan called us and recognized us as cursed by the gods and consequently, didn't help us. We were driven out of his house. It was cold... very cold. But I do to some extent agree with him. I am cursed by having such stupid companions.

Having no where left to go, we once again wandered the sea in search of hope.

Six days later, we arrived in another unknown land. Odysseus dispatched 3 of his men to search for people. I was one of these men. Soon, we came across a fair maiden drawing water from a well spring.

I politely inquired of her, “Who is the great king that rules over this land?”

She answered with a point of a finger to a high-roofed house. There we met the great king. Or the great giant king I should say. Fear strangled me and my movements were constricted. The king, who was as big as a mountain, grabbed me. I could barely breathe within his tight clutch. My eyesight began to dim. I saw in the distance, the two men who came with me, running away.


And the last thing I heard before I passed out was, “We Laistrygones are having a feast tonight!”

When I woke up, I was already here in the Underworld, among the dead. I'm a cursed man, with no hope of ever returning back to my home Ithaka. I'm one who died as someone elses dinner. All this because, of those fools. But then again, it was our leader, Odysseus who never told us what exactly was in the bag to begin with. All this could have been diverted, if only things went little differently.

Sources for images:
http://www.philipresheph.com/demodokos/odyssey/od14.htm
http://www.01515.06sc.thinkquest.nl/Moiren/engels/laistrygones.html

-Aldrich Mayoralgo

4 comments:

  1. Javi: You have a good narration of events. It is complete. However, you could have added some personality and commentaries more on 'Why Odysseus did not say what was inside?' That could have lowered the level of curiosity of the men and therefore lessen the chance of them opening it.

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  2. Anaxagary: I know right?! I was there witnessing this although when I saw you get tied up, I got scared to tell Odysseus. This is very sad. I guess I shall see you in many years to go in the UNDERWORLD. αντίο! (Goodbye)

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  3. I liked how one of the crew of Odysseus who were "just there" in the story was portrayed. He was portrayed as one of the more loyal members of Odysseus's crew, for he went against the actions of the rest of the crew who were blinded with curiosity and greed. I also liked how his loyalty slowly changed because of one event that transpired, which was his death. He sought the cause of his death, and then the cause of this cause, and after that he decided that one of the root causes of all this was Odysseus's actions.

    Odysseues was portrayed as a person who caused a series of unfortunate events to transpire because of one "mistake" that he did, which was not revealing to his crew the true contents of the bag.

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  4. You know, my dear Alex, the true reason why I did not reveal to anyone the contents of the bag that Aiolas had given to me was because I feared that my own crew would not believe me if I had told the truth. It was almost impossible for one to fit a very strong gust of wind inside a small bag. Our philosophers would not permit it! I was afraid that if I had told you the truth, the more your curiosity would overshadow your actions. I had not realized that all this would happen. I admit, on my part, that I failed the crew for not learning to put my trust on them. That was my flaw.

    I shall send your regards to your family.

    Hoping you're having fun down there,
    Odysseus.

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