Odysseus is a Suitor

     Something that struck me while reading book nine of the Odyssey was how horrible of a person Odysseus could be. There were multiple occasions in the one book where Odysseus did things that most heroes wouldn't have done. For example, when he ends up at the lands of the Cicones he sacks their city, kills their men, and enslaves the women as concubines. The book doesn't suggest that there is any military significance to this so it is just straight up piracy. However, what really seemed weird to me was that they were blown to that land by Zeus and since Odysseus himself said Zeus is on the side of guests, it would suggest that Zeus was trying to make Odysseus's crew guests there. This explains why Zeus was mad at them and why he gave them bad luck in their fight.
     But beyond that, I think it shows something a little more important. It draws a connection between Odysseus, the hero of the story, and the suitors, some of the antagonists of the story. For one, both show up where they don't belong. Odysseus is trying to get to his home but instead ends up at the Cicones and the suitors should probably be at their houses but instead, they are all at Odysseus's house. For two, both commit acts of piracy or similar to piracy. Odysseus raids the town and takes all their wealth while the suitors are at his house taking all of his wealth. And lastly, both try to take the wives of the men who are gone. In Odysseus's case he succeeds and enslaves the women and we see the suitors still trying to convince Penelope to marry them and forget Odysseus. I think it is interesting that so many parallels are drawn especially considering the Telemachus has grown up hating the suitors while wondering who his dad is and it seems like he's going to find out his dad acts basically like the suitors. 

Personal Reflection

     One hero narrative that really has had an impact on me is The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. The Name of the Wind follows the hero of the story Kvothe, but in a way that is slightly different from most hero narratives. Instead of simply following the hero from the beginning of their journey, The Name of the Wind starts with the Hero's journey already over for Kvothe. He is known as a hero by many people and yet he chooses to hide his identity and live his life as the owner of a tavern. Eventually, a scribe comes to town and convinces Kvothe to tell his story. This results in a dual story where Kvothe is both telling the story of his past while dealing with new problems arising in the present. Something that struck me about that part of the story was that the scribe really had to work hard to convince Kvothe to tell his story. That mixed with the fact that Kvothe was living under the radar despite his hero status was revealing. It showed me that he didn't want to look back because there was some aspect of his journey to becoming a hero that he was ashamed of. And while I certainly am not on some heroic quest it still made me think that whatever I ended up doing I never wanted to look back and hate the choices I made to that degree. 
     Another thing that stood out to me about The Name of the Wind was the fact that Kvothe is seems to be given the chance at redemption. I say seems because the series isn't concluded yet but the build-up suggests that Kvothe will have to once again become some sort of hero. I liked this because it made me think about a sort of comeback story. Like if I dindn't do something right the first time I could always try harder to do better the next time.
     The last thing that really made me think was actually a sort of character in the book. It was basically a demon tree that showed anyone who got close to it a horrible vision of the future. That person would then try with all their might to prevent that future but in the end that would just end up being the cause of the horrible future they saw. I feel like this has really had an impact on what I do, becuase I also don't like to go too far because I often feel like it actually make the problem worse.