Odysseus does not just want to take some food and go back to the ship. He says, "At first my men begged me to take some cheeses and go, then to drive the lambs and kids from the pens down to the swift ship and set sail. But I would not listen, though it would have been best, wishing to see the giant himself, and test his hospitality." Odysseus wants to stay and wait for...
Odysseus does not just want to take some food and go back to the ship. He says, "At first my men begged me to take some cheeses and go, then to drive the lambs and kids from the pens down to the swift ship and set sail. But I would not listen, though it would have been best, wishing to see the giant himself, and test his hospitality." Odysseus wants to stay and wait for the Cyclops because of a concept called xenia. It referred to the religious imperative to offer hospitality to strangers and travelers because they were believed to be protected by Zeus. Odysseus expects Polyphemus to offer him and his men such hospitality, and this would include a gift as well, most likely one of some value. In other words, he gets a little greedy. And this greed ends up costing him six men when the monster eats them, two at a time. Polyphemus declares himself to be more powerful than the gods, and so he refuses to follow their laws.
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